Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Frank L. Kidner
San Francisco State University
Maria Bucur
Indiana University
Ralph Mathisen
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Sally McKee
University of California, Davis
Theodore R. Weeks
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Cover image: Portrait of an African, c. 1757–1760 (oil on canvas) thought to be Olaudah Equiano c. 1780, attributed to
Allan Ramsay (1713–1784). Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, Devon, UK/Bridgeman Art Library.
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9-CRK-11 10 09 08 07
Brief Contents
Maps xix
Features xxi
Preface xxv
About the Authors xxxi
Chapter 16 State Building and the European State System 1648–1789 442
v
vi Brief Contents
Chapter 20 Restoration and Reform: Conservative and Liberal Europe, 1814–1847 566
Index I-1
Contents
The Sea Peoples and the End of the Bronze Age 28 The Greek Dark Ages 61
Summary 29 Competition and Conflict 65
Echo The Return of the Mummy 30 Gender Roles 65
Greek Religion and Culture 67
The Archaic Age, 776–500 B.C.E. 69
Chapter 2 Iron Age Civilizations,
1200–500 B.C.E. 32 The Revival of Trade and Culture 69
Choice Deborah Leads the Hebrew People Against The Evolution of Greek Literature and Thought 70
the Canaanites 34
vii
viii Contents
Catholic Reform, 1500–1570 397 Christian Reform, Religious War, and the
Reform by Religious Orders 397 Jews 435
Reform in the Papacy 399 Jews in Poland and Western Europe 435
Catholic Missions Overseas 402 War in Poland, 1648–1667 436
Reformation and Society 403 Sabbatai Sevi 436
Educating the Young 403 Summary 438
Poor Relief 404 Echo War Stories 439
Family Life 405
Jews in the Age of the Reformation 406 Chapter 16 State Building and the European
Summary 407 State System 1648–1789 442
Echo Media Revolutions 408 Choice Louis XIV Decides to Rule France on His
Own 444
Introduction 445
Chapter 15 A Century of War and Wonder,
Absolutism in France, 1648–1740 445
1550–1650 410
The Sun King at Versailles 445
Choice Jacques Callot Publishes the “Miseries and
Misfortunes of War” 412 Forty Years of Warfare 447
Introduction 413 Voice Louis XIV Advises His Son 448
Europe’s Economy and Society 414 A Unified French State 450
Europe’s Continuing Overseas Expansion 414 Louis XV 451
A River of Silver 415 The Austrian Habsburgs, 1648–1740 451
A Revolution in Prices 416 Leopold I 452
The Hunt for Witches 417 The Turkish Siege of Vienna and the Reconquest
of Hungary 453
The Fate of Spain and the Flourishing of the
Netherlands 418 The Habsburg Monarchy 454
Philip II 418 The Rise of Prussia, 1640–1740 454
The Spanish War Against Islam 419 Territorial Consolidation 455
The Revolt in the Netherlands 420 Taxes to Support an Army 456
The Dutch Miracle 421 King Frederick William I 456
Dutch Civilization 423 Russia and Europe, 1682–1796 457
Political Contests and More Religious Wars 424 Peter the Great and Westernization 457
France’s Wars of Religion 426 Catherine the Great and Russian Expansion 460
The Resurgent French Monarchy 426 The Pugachev Rebellion and Russian Society 462
The Habsburg War Against Islam 427 The English Constitutional Monarchy,
1660–1740 462
The Thirty Years’ War 427
The Restoration: Charles II 462
The Peace of Westphalia 428
James II 463
Voice Simplicius Simplicissimus Encounters Some
“Merry Cavalrymen” 429 The Glorious Revolution 463
Reformation and Revolution in the British The Georges from Germany 466
Isles 430 Two World Wars, 1740–1763 467
Elizabeth I 430 The Wars 467
The Early Stuart Monarchs 431 Eighteenth-Century Warfare 467
Civil War, Revolution, and the Winners and Losers 469
Commonwealth 433 Summary 473
Oliver Cromwell 434 Echo Palaces 474
Contents xiii
Choice Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Introduces Voice Olaudah Equiano Describes Passage on a
Smallpox Inoculation in England 478 Slave Ship 520
Introduction 479 The Spanish and Portuguese Empires 522
A Revolution in Astronomy 480 The French and British Empires 523
Ancient and Medieval Astronomy 480 World War and Britain Victorious 524
A New View of the Universe 481 The American Revolution and Britain
Subdued 524
Models of Scientific Knowledge 482
European Society in an Age of Enlightenment 525
Why Change Occurred 483
Comfort and Privacy 525
The Impact of the New Science 484
The Problem of the Poor 527
Scientific Networks 484
Popular Social Protest 528
Science and Religion 485
The Social Order 529
Science and the State 486
The Nation 530
The Nature of History 487
The Beginning of Industrial Production 531
The Enlightenment 487
Mechanization and Mass Production 531
The Early Enlightenment 487
Why Britain? 533
Voltaire 488
Summary 534
Voice Voltaire Attacks Christianity 490
Echo Trafficking in Human Beings 534
Enlightenment Religion 491
Diderot and the Encyclopédie 492
The Late Enlightenment 493 Chapter 19 Revolutionary France and
Napoleonic Europe, 1775–1815 536
Society and the Enlightenment 494
Choice Olympe de Gouges Becomes a
The New World of Reading 494 Revolutionary 538
Enlightenment Sociability 497 Introduction 539
The Enlightenment and Politics 497 From Crisis to Constitution, 1775–1789 539
Enlightenment Debates 498 The French Monarchy in Crisis 540
Europeans and Non-Europeans 499 The Estates-General 541
Slavery 500 Trouble in Paris, Trouble in the Countryside,
Men and Women 501 Trouble in Versailles 543
Summary 503 The Constitutional Monarchy, 1789–1792 545
Echo Coffeehouses 504 The New Constitution 546
Voice Olympe de Gouges Asserts the Rights of
Chapter 18 Trade and Empire, 1700–1800 506 Women 548
The Break with the Catholic Church 549
Choice Samuel Gamble Sets Out from London on
a Slaving Voyage 508 Foreign Intervention 550
Introduction 509 The Republic and the Reign of Terror, 1792–1795 551
Economic Recovery 509 The End of Monarchy and Monarchs 551
The Expanding Population of Europe 510 Foreign War and Civil War 552
The World of Work 512 The Republic of Virtue 553
Changing Notions of Wealth 513 The Rise of Napoleon, 1794–1804 555
The Consumer Revolution 515 French Expansion 556
London 516 Order and Administration 557
The Napoleonic Code 558
xiv Contents
The Revival of Western Europe 813 Voice Václav Havel Calls on the Power of the
The Economic Miracle 813 Powerless 853
Recovery in France 814 Reform in the Soviet Union 855
The European Community 814 Cultural Leaps over the Wall 856
Great Britain and the Welfare State 815 Whose Sexual Revolution? 856
The Restructuring of Eastern Europe 816 Religious Revival 858
The Communist Takeovers 816 Postmodernism 858
Voice Jakub Berman Defends the Communist The Americanization of European Popular
Takeover in Poland 818 Culture 859
Yugoslavia’s Independent Course 819 The Collapse of the Soviet System, 1989–1991 859
Anti-Tito Purges 820 The Velvet Revolution 859
State-Controlled Economies 819 Violent Struggle in Romania 862
De-Stalinization 821 The End of the Soviet Union 862
Superpower Conflicts and Colonial Independence Summary 864
Movements, 1945–1968 823 Echo Peace Protests 864
Superpower Confrontations 823
Colonial Independence Movements 825
Chapter 30 Europe in a Globalizing World,
The Nonaligned Movement 828 1991 to the Present 866
Cultural Developments and Social Protest 829 Choice José Bové Plows Down a McDonald’s 868
Consumption and Conformity 829 Introduction 869
Moral and Spiritual Crisis 830 Eastern Europe After Communism 869
Youth and the Counterculture 831 Russia from Foe to Partner 870
1968 832 The Dismemberment of Yugoslavia 872
Summary 834 Postcommunist Transitions in Eastern Europe 875
Echo The Volkswagen Transporter 834 European Integration 877
From Community to Union 877
Chapter 29 Lifting the Iron Curtain, The European Union in Operation 879
1969–1991 836 Nation-States in a New Context 881
Choice Václav Havel Chooses Dissent 838 European Security and International
Introduction 839 Organizations 883
Politics in Western Europe 839 Europe and Globalization 884
Relaxed Tensions and Renewed Cooperation 840 Economic Globalization 884
Security and Economic Challenges from the International Security and Terrorism 886
Middle East 842 Instant Communication and the Internet 889
The Transformation of the Left 843 The Future of the West 890
The Antinuclear and Environmental Old Institutions, New Directions 890
Movements 846
Voice Pope Benedict XVI Speaks of the Future of
The New Conservatism 847 Christianity 891
Social Change in the West 848 Who Is a European? 892
The Feminist Revolution 849 Summary 894
New Populations 850 Echo I Want My MTV 894
Growing Crisis in the Communist East 851
Détente and False Prosperity 851 Index I-1
Charter 77 and Solidarity 852
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Maps
1.0 The Near Eastern World, ca. 1500 9.2 The Migrations of the Vikings, Magyars,
B.C.E. 3 and Muslims 257
1.1 The Fertile Crescent 10 10.0 Merchants, Pilgrims, and Migrants on the
Move, 1000–1300 263
2.0 The Assyrian and Persian Empires,
900–500 B.C.E. 33 10.1 The Growth of the Kingdom of France
278
2.1 Peoples of the Early Iron Age 37
10.2 Population and Economic Centers
3.0 The Greater Greek World During the
283
Peloponnesian War, 431–404 B.C.E.
59 11.0 Europe Ravaged from Within 293
3.1 Ancient Greece, ca. 1050 B.C.E. 11.1 Hundred Years’ War 303
63
11.2 The Great Schism 310
3.2 Greek Colonization, ca. 750–550
11.3 The Spread of the Ottoman Empire and
B.C.E. 70 the Contraction of the Byzantines
4.0 The Hellenistic Kingdoms in 280 314
B.C.E. 89 12.0 The Spread of New Cultural Expression,
4.1 The Empire of Alexander, 323 B.C.E. 1300–1500 323
95 12.1 The Growth of Printing 337
5.0 Roman Expansion to 44 B.C.E. 13.0 Europe in 1556 349
115
13.1 The Expansion of Russia, to 1725 363
5.1 Early Italy, ca. 760–500 B.C.E.
120 13.2 Map of Martin Beheim, 1492 366
6.0 The Roman Empire in 117 C.E. 13.3 World Expansion, 1492–1535 372
145 14.0 Catholics, Protestants, and the Eastern
6.1 Trade Routes of the Roman Empire Orthodox in 1555 381
160 14.1 Cities and Towns of the Reformation in
7.0 The Roman World in the Fourth Germany 390
Century 175 15.0 Europe in the Age of the Religious Wars
7.1 The Spread of Christianity to 600 C.E. 411
185 15.1 The Netherlands 421
7.2 The Barbarians and Rome 194 15.2 Dutch Commerce in the Seventeenth
8.0 Three Civilizations, 800 205 Century 423
8.1 Justinian’s Empire 209 16.0 Europe in 1715 443
8.2 The Spread of Islam 221 16.1 The Growth of Austria and Prussia to 1748
455
9.0 Europe and the Mediterranean, ca.
800 235 16.2 The Partition of Poland and the Expansion
of Russia 461
9.1 Trade in the Carolingian World
255 16.3 European Claims in North America Before
and After the Seven Years’ War 470
xix
xx Maps
17.0 Europe During the Scientific 25.2 Western Front, 1914–1918 723
Revolution and the Enlightenment
26.0 Europe Following World War I 743
477
26.1 The Russian Civil War, 1918–1922 758
18.0 The Atlantic World, 1700–1789
507 27.0 Axis Victories in World War II, 1942
773
18.1 Industry and Population in
Eighteenth-Century Europe 511 27.1 The Expansion of Germany 789
18.2 The Worldwide Slave Trade 519 27.2 Allied Victory in Europe 794
19.0 Europe in 1789 537 27.3 War in Asia 796
19.1 The Ratonalization of French 27.4 The Holocaust 799
Administration, 1789 and 1790 28.0 Europe Following World War II 805
547
28.1 UN Mandate for Israel and Palestine, 1947
19.2 Napoleonic Europe, 1810 561 809
20.0 Europe After the Congress of 28.2 East European Stalinism 817
Vienna, 1815 567
28.3 Decolonization Movements, 1945–1968
20.1 Kingdom of Poland, 1815 572 826
21.0 Railroads and Industrial 29.0 From European Community to European
Development in Europe in 1850 Union 837
595
29.1 The Fall of Communism, 1989–1991
21.1 Industrialization in England, ca. 1850 860
599
30.0 The European Union in 2007 867
22.0 Political Europe in 1900 623
30.1 The Breakup of Yugoslavia 873
22.1 Revolutions of 1848 632
30.2 Israel-Palestine Since 1948 886
22.2 Unification of Italy 633
22.3 Unification of Germany, 1871
639
23.0 Industrialization and Railroads,
1870–1914 655
23.1 European Cities with Populations
over 100,000, 1800 and 1900
663
24.0 European Colonies Around the
World, 1900 683
24.1 Partition of Africa, 1870–1914
693
24.2 Growth of British India 696
24.3 Central Asia 701
24.4 Asia in 1914 706
25.0 Europe in World War I, 1914–1918
715
25.1 Balkans, 1912–1913 720
Features
Choice
Akhenaton Decides to Make Aton the Main God of Egypt 4
Deborah Leads the Hebrew People Against the Canaanites 34
Socrates Chooses Death 60
The Maccabees Decide to Revolt 90
Spartacus Decides to Revolt 116
Boudicca Chooses to Revolt Against Rome 146
Constantine Decides to Become a Christian 176
Empress Theodora Changes Emperor Justinian’s Mind 206
The Pope Crowns Charlemagne Emperor 236
Thomas Becket Defends the Liberties of the Church 264
Joan of Arc Recants, Then Retracts Her Recanting 294
Leonardo da Vinci Seeks Employment 324
Isabella of Castile Finances Columbus’s Voyage Across the Atlantic 350
Teresa of Ávila Chooses to Reform the Carmelites 382
Jacques Callot Publishes “The Miseries and Misfortunes of War” 412
Louis XIV Decides to Rule France on His Own 444
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Introduces Smallpox Inoculation in England 478
Samuel Gamble Sets Out from London on a Slaving Voyage 508
Olympe de Gouges Becomes a Revolutionary 538
The Grimm Brothers Begin Work on Their German Dictionary 568
Friedrich Engels Denounces Capitalist Exploitation 596
Theodor Herzl Creates Modern Zionism 624
Marie Curie-Sklodowska Chooses to Study Physics 656
Cecil Rhodes Creates the Rhodes Scholarship 684
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Leads the Russian Revolution 716
Alexandra Kollontai Becomes a Revolutionary 744
George Orwell Commits Himself to Socialism 774
Ana Pauker Submits to the Communist Party 806
Václav Havel Chooses Dissent 838
José Bové Plows Down a McDonald’s 868
xxi
xxii Features
Voice
Akhenaton, “Great Hymn to Aton” 23
The Song of Deborah 42
Aristophanes Suggests How to End the War 83
Plutarch and Arrian Describe Alexander’s Mass Marriages 97
Polybius Describes the Roman Constitution 126
Vibia Perpetua Records the Events Leading to Her Martyrdom 168
Ammianus Describes the Huns 196
Church Councils Condemn and Restore the Use of Icons 228
Pope Gregory Sends Instructions to a Missionary 244
Anna Comnena Describes the Crusaders 274
Eleazar of Mainz Writes His Last Testament 317
Erasmus Defends His Translation of the Greek New Testament 334
Isabella of Castile Writes Her Last Will and Testament 368
The Pastors of Geneva Establish Rules for Proper Christian Conduct 394
Simplicius Simplicissimus Encounters Some “Merry Cavalrymen” 429
Louis XIV Advises His Son 448
Voltaire Attacks Christianity 490
Olaudah Equiano Describes Passage on a Slave Ship 520
Olympe de Gouges Asserts the Rights of Women 548
Jacob Grimm Writes a Foreward to the German Dictionary 581
Friedrich Engels Describes the Condition of the Working Class in England 603
Theodor Herzl Speculates on the Impact of Jewish Immigration to Palestine 645
Marie Curie Recalls Her Youth in Russian Poland 668
Cecil Rhodes Writes His Own “Confession of Faith” 688
Lenin Proposes His “April Theses” 733
Alexandra Kollontai Advocates a New Type of Woman 762
George Orwell Reflects on Nationalism 800
Jakub Berman Defends the Communist Takeover in Poland 818
Václav Havel Calls on the Power of the Powerless 853
Pope Benedict XVI Speaks of the Future of Christianity 891
Echo
The Return of the Mummy 30
From the Lydian Shekel to the Silver Dollar 57
Features xxiii
For years we five professors from across the country perience has taught us that a politically centered
have taught Western Civilization courses without the chronology is the most effective way to help inexperi-
textbook we really wanted to have—a textbook with enced students get a sense of what came before and
a coherent strategy for helping students to study and what came after and why. Political chronology helps
learn. In 1999 we commenced to develop such a text. them perceive trends and recognize the forces for his-
This book is the result. torical continuity and change.
The five of us bring to this book a variety of back- If there are sensible reasons for organizing the text
grounds, interests, and historical approaches, as well around a political chronology, there are pitfalls as
as a combined total of nearly one hundred years of well. The chief one is the disaffection many students
teaching history. Two of us completed graduate de- may have felt in the past with a history that seems lit-
grees in literature before turning to history. We have tle more than a list of persons, reigns, and wars
all studied, worked, or lived on three continents; we (“Kings and Things”) needing to be memorized. To
are all American citizens, but not all of us were born avoid this pitfall we have adopted an approach that
in the United States. Although we come from differ- centers on dynamic exchanges between states and
ent parts of the country and have different historical political elites on the one hand and citizens or sub-
specializations, all of us teach in large state university jects on the other. In this textbook students will read
systems. We have a strong commitment to the kinds and think about the ways taxation, the need for
of students who enroll in our schools and in com- armies, and judicial protection affect ordinary people
munity colleges—young people and nontraditional and vice versa—how the marginal and unrepre-
students from richly diverse cultural and ethnic back- sented affect the politically powerful. Our approach
grounds who are enthusiastic and prepared to work focuses both on what states and their political elites
but have little knowledge of history and few formal want from the people who live in them and on what
skills in historical analysis. We were gratified to be de- benefits they provide to those people. In turn, we also
veloping a new kind of textbook that met their needs. consider what ordinary people do or do not want
We conceived of a textbook that would be lively from the state, and what kinds of people benefit and
and absolutely up-to-date but did not presume a do not benefit from the state’s policies. When rele-
great deal of prior knowledge of western civilization. vant, we also treat the state’s lack of impact.
We also wanted to include new types of learning aids Religion: Our second theme takes up the history of
that were fully integrated into the text itself. Our western religion. We have aimed for an expansive
greatest hope is that students who use this book will treatment of religious activity that includes its institu-
come to understand how the West has developed tions and beliefs but is not confined to them. Our text-
and, at the same time, to see the importance of the book ranges widely over issues of polytheism,
past for the present. In other words, we want to help monotheism, civic religion, philosophically inspired
them value the past as well as understand it and thus religion, normative religion, orthodoxy and heresy,
to think historically. popular practices, ultimate spiritual values, and sys-
tematically articulated agnosticism or atheism. Since
Approaches and Themes from beginning to end we emphasize religious issues,
this book is set apart from most Western Civilization
This textbook introduces the cultural unit we call “the texts that treat religious matters fairly consistently up
West” from its beginnings in the ancient Near East to through the sixteenth century but then drop them.
the present. It is focused around five themes: politics, Our distinctive post–1600 emphasis on religion
religion, social history, biography and personality, arises from our sense that religious beliefs, values,
and individual and collective identity. and affiliations have continued to play a central role
Politics: Our book’s first theme centers on western in European life up to and including the twenty-first
politics, states, and the state system from the emer- century. Although in part compartmentalized or
gence of civilization in Mesopotamia and Egypt privatized in the last several centuries as states pur-
down to our own century. Politics provides the un- sued various secularizing agendas, religious sensibil-
derlying chronological backbone of the text. Our ex- ities still have had considerable impact on economic
xxv
xxvi Preface
behavior, social values, and political action, while si- engaging the interest of students in this approach. We
multaneously adjusting to or resisting changes in hope our book will stimulate productive class discus-
other aspects of life. In addition, of course, they regu- sions of what it meant to live as a woman or a (male)
larly influenced European activity in colonies and citizen in the Athenian city-state, as a peasant or a
empires. landlord in the relatively stateless world of the early
In our treatment of religion we do not focus simply Western Middle Ages, as a man or woman during the
on the dominant religion of any time or place. Ju- French Revolution, and as a soldier or nurse in the
daism, for example, is discussed throughout the trenches of World War I.
text, while Islam, introduced in Chapter 8, is dis- Biography and Personality: To give focus and im-
cussed again in connection with such issues as the mediacy to the themes we emphasize, we have cho-
Moriscos of Spain, the Habsburg re-conquest of Hun- sen to highlight the biographies of important or
gary, tension in Russian Central Asia and the Bal- representative figures in the past and, when possible,
kans before World War I, Soviet campaigns against to give students a sense of their personalities. We
religion, the arrival of Muslim immigrants in post– want key figures to live for students through their
World War II Europe, and the dissolution of Yugo- choices and actions and pronouncements. Biography
slavia. In addition, an emphasis on religious pluralism and personality are the focus of chapter openings and
in European life leads to discussions of the variety of are integrated into the chapter narratives. Portraits of
subcultures found in the West, many of which believe cities occasionally stand in for biographies by provid-
that their religious and ethnic identity is integral to ing a picture of the places and spaces that have been
their other values and practices. Indeed, our belief important in a particular era or have continuing sig-
that religion continues to play an important role in nificance across centuries.
modern European history rests in large part on the Identity: An emphasis on individual and collective
abundant evidence showing it to be a core compo- identity is another distinctive feature of our book. By
nent of life for subcultures within the larger western addressing matters of identity for each era, we be-
context. Catholic and Protestant Irish, Protestant lieve that we can help students see themselves in—or
northern Germans and Catholic southern Germans, as against—the experiences of those who preceded
Orthodox Russians, and Bosnian Muslims stand as them. To this end, the relationship between the indi-
examples of communities whose values and actions vidual and the group is examined as well as changing
have been significantly shaped by ongoing religious categories of identity, such as religion, class, gender,
allegiances and whose interactions with those prac- ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, occupation or pro-
ticing other religions have had lasting repercus- fession, generation, and race. In a real sense, this em-
sions. Our intention is to present the religious past phasis flows from the preceding four themes. It
of the West in all its complex, multifold voices to means that the political narrative is personalized, that
students who are more and more self-consciously history is not only an account of states, institutions,
aware of racial, cultural, and ethnic diversity in their and policies, but also of people.
own world.
We also believe that attention to religion reflects The West and the World
the current public debate over values, using students’
experience of this contested territory to stimulate In addition to emphasizing the themes outlined
their interest. Their awareness of current values- above, we have adopted a view about the West that
based programs can serve as a springboard for a shapes this volume. It derives from our rejection of
study of the past. Does one choose aggression, per- the tendency to treat the West as a monolithic entity
suasion, or passive resistance and nonaggression? or to imply that the West is “really” western Europe
Social History: The theme of social history is inte- after 500 and, after 1500, specifically northwestern
grated into the text as consideration is given to the Europe. We define the West more broadly. Through-
way politics and religion affect people and societies. out the book, students remain informed about devel-
Discussions of daily lives and family structures are il- opments in eastern Europe, western Asia, and Africa.
luminated through occasional spotlights on the expe- We show that, far from being homogeneous, the West
rience of a single, typical individual. We also pay represents a diversity of cultures. By taking this ap-
close attention to issues of gender norms and roles in proach we hope to be able to engage students in a
the past, drawing on the work of a generation of his- way that will lead them to understanding the causes,
torians concerned with the history of ordinary men, effects, and significance of the cultural diversity that
women, and children. We see many possibilities for exists in the modern world.
Preface xxvii
We also address the issue of cultural diversity by era of the chapter, sometimes from the same individ-
looking at the impact of the non-western world on ual featured at the beginning of the chapter in
the West from antiquity to the present. We discuss “Choice.” An explanatory headnote sets the context
both western knowledge and western fantasies about for the document. Students are then helped to ana-
non-western peoples, the actual contact or lack of lyze it historically through a series of marginal notes
contact with non-western societies, and the growing called “Exploration Points.” The points are also de-
global impact of Europe and Europeans during the signed to aid instructors seeking to integrate primary
last five hundred years. The emphasis is always on sources into their classrooms.
the West—on how the West did or did not make con- End-of-Chapter Feature: “Echo”: This feature is a
tact with other societies and, in the case of contacts, brief exploration of an interesting and often fun con-
on their consequences for everyone involved—but nection between the chapter’s era and the student’s
the effect is to place the West in its larger global con- life today. Topics often relate to material culture,
text as one of humanity’s many cultural units. identity and memory, and technology. For example,
Chapter 14, which deals with sixteenth-century re-
Pedagogy and Features form movements in the western church, picks up on
the important role of the new technology of the print-
One of the most common questions our students ing press in reformers’ programs to discuss “Media
ask is: “What’s important?” This textbook aims to Revolutions” down to the present. Chapter 28 takes
help them answer that question for themselves. We us on a journey in the post–World War II Volkswagen
have found that students can profit from a text that Transporter minibus as it caught on with Europeans
takes less for granted, provides a consistent and on both sides of the “Iron Curtain,” then with Ameri-
clear structure for each chapter, and incorporates pri- can hippies of the 1960s, and finally morphed into the
mary documents. For both teachers and students, suburban minivan of today.
“Western Civ” is often the most difficult history In addition, we have built into each chapter a
course in the curriculum. With this textbook, we strong framework of pedagogical aids to help stu-
hope to change its reputation. We have developed dents navigate the text. Each chapter opens with a
a strong pedagogy realized through a series of inno- map that provides a geographical orientation to polit-
vative features that will assist students in under- ical content. A timeline highlights seven to nine land-
standing the book’s content and help them master it. mark events that define the time frame. Each chapter
We also kept instructors in mind, because we believe opening also has an outline of chapter topics and
that carefully constructed chapters that convey basic subtopics, listed together with chapter features. A
information are the best support for teaching. In- chapter introduction provides an overview of chap-
structors may then build on the text or modify it to ter topics and themes. Chapter openings also include
meet specific needs. a chronology that lists events and serves as a guide
Chapter Opening Feature: “Choice”: Each chapter to the text and as a study aid. Each major chapter
opens with an account of an individual making a division begins with two focus questions that direct
crucial choice that mattered, that had important con- students’ attention to the central concerns and issues
sequences, and that can be used to introduce the about to be examined. Where events follow thick
chapter’s central concerns. Our intention in this fea- and fast, brief boxed chronologies outline their
ture is to foreground human agency, to spark the sequence. At the end of the chapter is a summary,
interest of students, and to guide them on into the preceded by three synthetic review questions that
chapter. Thus, Chapter 5, which introduces students prompt students to draw connections among the
to the rise of Rome, opens with Spartacus’ revolt in chapter’s focus questions. One review question in
73 B.C.E. to help them understand the role of slavery every chapter highlights the identity theme. Basic
in Roman political and social history. Chapter 22, answers to these questions can be found in the
which discusses the “triumph” of the nation-state summary, which reinforces what the students have
in the late nineteenth century, opens with an account read, but instructors will find that the review and
of Theodor Herzl’s endorsement of Zionism as a way focus questions prompt students to do more than re-
to discuss the impact of nationalist ideology and to gurgitate pat answers. Their aim has been to prompt
carry out the book’s emphasis on religious diversity critical thinking. At the end of the summary is a
in the West. thinking back, thinking ahead question that asks
Primary Source Feature: “Voice”: Each chapter has students to extend their thinking to previous eras or
a document from an individual who lived during the into the eras to come. At the end of each chapter is a
xxviii Preface
Frank L. Kidner is Professor of History Emeritus and religion of Late Antiquity. His teaching experi-
at San Francisco State University, where he taught ence includes Western Civilization and topics in the
from 1968 until his retirement in 2006. He has Ancient Near East, Greece, Rome, Byzantium, coin-
also taught in the Western Civilization program at age, and Roman law. He has written more than sev-
Stanford University and at Amherst College. His enty scholarly articles and written or edited ten books,
courses include Western Civilization, undergraduate the most recent of which is People, Personal Expression,
and graduate courses in Early Modern Europe, and and Social Relations in Late Antiquity. He is also the ed-
the history of the Christian Church as well as a itor of the Journal of Late Antiquity.
graduate course in historical methodology. He has
authored articles on topics in Late Antiquity and co- Sally McKee is Associate Professor of History at the
edited Travel, Communication and Geography in Late University of California at Davis, where she teaches
Antiquity. courses on Western Civilization and medieval history.
Her research focus has been Venice and its colonies
Maria Bucur is Associate Professor and John V. Hill and Mediterranean slavery, but her new project cen-
Chair in East European History at Indiana University, ters on nineteenth-century France. She is the author
where she teaches an undergraduate course on “The of articles that have won prizes and been antholo-
Idea of Europe” and other topics in nineteenth- and gized, and she has also published a three-volume
twentieth-century eastern Europe. Her research focus edition of Venetian-Cretan wills and a monograph,
is on social and cultural developments in eastern Uncommon Dominion: Venetian Crete and the Myth of
Europe, with a special interest in Romania (geo- Ethnic Purity.
graphically) and gender (thematically). Her publica-
tions include Eugenics and Modernization in Interwar Theodore R. Weeks is Professor of History at South-
Romania and the co-edited volumes Staging the Past: ern Illinois University at Carbondale, where he
The Politics of Commemoration in Habsburg Central Eu- teaches Western Civilization and world and Euro-
rope, 1848 to the Present and Gender and War in Twentieth- pean history. His research centers on nationality,
Century Eastern Europe. inter-ethnic relations, and antisemitism in eastern
Europe. He is the author of Nation and State in Late
Ralph Mathisen is Professor of History, Classics, and Imperial Russia and From Assimilation to Antisemitism:
Medieval Studies at the University of Illinois at Ur- The “Jewish Question” in Poland, 1850–1914, and his ar-
bana-Champaign. He is a specialist in the ancient ticles have appeared in several languages, including
world with a particular interest in the society, culture, Lithuanian and Belarusian.
xxxi
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Making Europe
2
CHAPTER
The Origins of Western
Civilization in the
Ancient Near East,
3000–1200 B.C.E.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
10,000 B.C.E. 9000 B.C.E. 8000 B.C.E. 7000 B.C.E. 6000 B.C.E. 5000 B.C.E.
3000 B.C.E.
8000 B.C.E. Beginning of Bronze Age 2700 B.C.E.
Neolithic Age begins civilization in Sumeria and Egypt Old Kingdom
in Egypt begins
Ti
TA
gr
is
Eup
R.
hr
Rhodes a
Knossos Ugarit ZA
te
sR
Phaistos SYRIA G
RO
.
Crete Cyprus
S
Byblos MT
Mediterranean Sea
NE
S.
STI
Sidon
LEVANT Babylon
E
Tyre
EL
PAL
KAS S I T E S
AM
BA
BY Uruk
LO
NI
A Ur
LOWER EGYPT Pe
r
Memphis G sian
ul
f
Thebes
Egyptian civilization
Old Kingdom (2700–2200 B.C.E.) and
Middle Kingdom (1250 –1786 B.C.E.)
N il e R .
Hittite Kingdom
dS
ea
4000 B.C.E. 3000 B.C.E. 2000 B.C.E. 1000 B.C.E. 1 B.C.E./1 C.E. 1000 C.E.
2050 B.C.E. 1760 B.C.E.
Middle Kingdom in Old Babylonian
Egypt begins Empire begins
2350 B.C.E. 1600 B.C.E. 1200 B.C.E.
Akkadian Empire 2000 B.C.E. Mycenaean civilization begins in Greece Bronze Age ends,
begins Minoan palace Iron Age begins
complexes 1570 B.C.E.
appear in Crete New Kingdom in Egypt begins
3
4 CHAPTER 1 The Origins of Western Civilization in the Ancient Near East, 3000–1200 B.C.E.
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Akhenaton Decides to Make
Aton the Main God of Egypt
In the fourteenth century B.C.E., the Egyptian Empire was at
its height, and its ruler, the pharaoh Amenhotep IV, was
considered to be a living god. The Egyptians worshiped many
other gods besides Amenhotep, such as the chief sun god Ra,
the bull god Amon, and Osiris, the god of the dead. All these
gods played important roles in the everyday life of an Egyp-
tian society that had been remarkably stable for sixteen
centuries. But then Amenhotep, who had complete authority
over Egyptian government and religion, decided to make a
revolutionary change in Egyptian religious practices by de-
Akhenaton claring there was only one god worth worshiping and forbidding the worship of
and Nefertiti all other gods.
For reasons that remain unclear, Amenhotep, a man of strong beliefs, had be-
A relief, ca. 1350 B.C.E.,
come completely committed to the worship of an obscure sun god named Aton,
shows Akhenaton and Nefer-
whom he made the single most important god in Egypt. To demonstrate his devo-
titi playing with their daugh-
tion to Aton, Amenhotep changed his own name to Akhenaton (“Glory of Aton”)
ters as they bask in the rays
and established a new capital city in honor of Aton, calling it Akhetaton (“The
of the sun god Aton. Aton
Horizon of Aton”), on the site of today’s El-Amarna. Akhenaton forbade the wor-
was depicted as a disc whose
ship of all other gods, but at the same time he decreed that only the royal family
descending rays terminated
would be allowed to worship Aton. Artworks were created that showed only
in human hands that over-
Akhenaton and his family, no one else, receiving the beneficial rays of Aton. To
saw the welfare of Egypt.
ensure that no other gods would be worshiped, Akhenaton closed and defaced
Akhenaton was devoted to
their temples.
the worship of Aton, and
Akhenaton’s religious reforms deeply affected the Egyptian people. The priests
determined to make him the
who oversaw the worship of all the other gods lost their livelihood. And ordinary
main god of Egypt. (Bildarchiv
Egyptians could no longer worship Osiris, the god who, they believed, gave them
Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art
their afterlife. Civil unrest arose, and the Egyptian army had to be called out to
Resource, NY)
maintain order. Over time, the army became so occupied with controlling internal
strife that it could no longer defend the Egyptian Empire and ultimately turned
against Akhenaton. His name and the name of Aton were erased from the monu-
ments; the temples of Aton were destroyed, Akhetaton was abandoned, and
Akhenaton disappeared from history. It may be that the army decided to get rid of
this unpopular pharaoh.
It remains a mystery why Akhenaton introduced measures that had such disas-
trous consequences. One school of thought sees his reforms as a calculated effort
to undercut the power of the priests and increase the power of the pharaoh. If so,
Akhenaton seriously miscalculated, and the plan went badly wrong. So perhaps a
more likely suggestion is that Akhenaton was a true religious reformer. He was
determined to make his god the primary god in Egypt regardless of what kinds of
misery and disasters doing so brought upon the Egyptian people and nation.
Before History, 2,000,000–3000 B.C.E. 5
humans used stone tools and were primarily con- How did methods of acquiring food change during the
course of the Stone Age?
cerned with acquiring sufficient food—by hunting
➜
Chronology
2,000,000 B.C.E. Homo habilis uses crude stone 1790 B.C.E. Hammurabi becomes king of Babylon
choppers to butcher animals
1730 B.C.E. Hyksos invade Egypt
1,000,000 B.C.E. Homo erectus learns the use of fire.
1600 B.C.E. Beginning of Mycenaean civilization in
40,000 B.C.E. Homo sapiens create cave paintings Greece
8000 B.C.E. Neolithic Age begins 1570 B.C.E. New Kingdom in Egypt begins
4000 B.C.E. Sumerians drain Tigris and Euphrates River 1500 B.C.E. Kassites settle in Mesopotamia
valleys for agriculture
1498 B.C.E. Hatshepsut becomes pharaoh of Egypt
3000 B.C.E. Beginning of Bronze Age civilization
Narmer unifies Egypt 1483 B.C.E. Thutmose III becomes pharaoh of Egypt
2700 B.C.E. Old Kingdom in Egypt begins 1400 B.C.E. Mycenaeans destroy Minoan civilization
2600 B.C.E. Building of the largest Egyptian pyramids 1350 B.C.E. Akhenaton institutes religious reforms in
Egypt
2500 B.C.E. Ebla becomes a commercial center
1200 B.C.E. Invasion of the Sea Peoples
2350 B.C.E. Sargon creates Akkadian Empire End of the Bronze Age
2050 B.C.E. Middle Kingdom in Egypt begins 1180 B.C.E. Ramses III defeats the Sea Peoples
2000 B.C.E. Amorites settle in Mesopotamia Note: B.C.E means “before the Common Era.”
Indo-Europeans settle in Iran, Anatolia, and
the Balkans
Minoan palace complexes appear in Crete
durable tools. People of the Old Stone Age left no banded together for protection and found shelter un-
written records, so their lives are known only from der overhanging cliffs. Beginning about a million
the study of the physical remains they left behind. years ago, a more advanced population, known as
These remains, known as material culture, consist Homo erectus (“upright human”), about the same
primarily of stone tools and the bones of slaughtered size as modern people, learned how to use fire. Flint,
animals. The material culture of past human societies a very hard and easily worked stone, became the pre-
is recovered and analyzed by the field of study known ferred material for making tools, which included
as archaeology. Using archaeological evidence, histo- weapons used to hunt big game, such as elephants.
rians see that during the Old Stone Age, human society Homo sapiens (“thinking human”) appeared in
gradually became increasingly complex as a result of Africa about 400,000 b.c.e., and by 150,000 b.c.e. a Eu-
biological evolution, technological development, and
climate variation.
The earliest human population, called Homo ha- material culture Physical remains left by past human
bilis (“skillful human”), evolved in central and south- societies.
ern Africa some two million years ago. These people archaeology Scientific study of the remains of past
were smaller than modern humans and used crude human societies.
stone choppers to butcher animal carcasses. They
Before History, 2,000,000–3000 B.C.E. 7
arose. The dead were buried sprinkled with red ocher An even more revolutionary development of the
(a mixture of clay and iron oxide) and accompanied New Stone Age was the domestication of certain
by clothing, shells, beads, and tools, suggesting a be- kinds of plants, which led to agriculture, or farming.
lief in an afterlife. As early as 10,000 b.c.e., hunter-gatherers were ex-
perimenting with cultivating wild grains, such as rice
The Neolithic Revolution in China and rye in Syria. Recent studies of ancient
climate variations suggest that droughts also may
Soon after the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 have encouraged people to take greater control over
b.c.e., great changes occurred in human lifestyles, in their food supply. Around 8000 b.c.e., several Near
part because of the warming climate but also because Eastern populations began to cultivate grains includ-
of continuing human social and technological evolu- ing wheat, barley, and emmer. These grains evolved
tion. The Neolithic Age, which began in the Near into greater usefulness both through natural selection
East about 8000 b.c.e., marked the final stage in stone (in which plants naturally mutate into more useful
tool technology. Finely crafted stone tools filled every varieties) and selective breeding (in which humans
kind of need. Obsidian, a volcanic glass, provided select seeds for their desirable qualities). Other crops
razor-sharp edges for sickles. Bowls and other items such as peas, beans, and figs supplemented the grain-
were made from ground as opposed to chipped stone. based diet, and domestic animals provided meat and
Long-distance trade brought ocher from Africa, flint milk products.
from England, and obsidian from the islands of the Agriculture also arose in Africa, India, China, and
Aegean Sea to markets in the Near East and else- Central and South America, sometimes independently
where. Technologically, however, stone tools had and sometimes by the process of cultural assimila-
reached their limits in durability and functionality, tion, in which people who did not practice agricul-
and people began to experiment with the use of met- ture learned it from those who did. Gradually, the
als, such as copper, for making weapons and jewelry. knowledge of agriculture spread throughout the
More significantly, the Neolithic Age brought two world and brought increased economic productivity.
revolutions in food supply methods. One was the do- In western Europe, social organizations based on
mestication of animals that could be used as a source agricultural economies mobilized great amounts of
of both food and raw materials. Sheep, goats, pigs, manpower. Beginning around 4000 b.c.e., massive
and cattle—which were nonaggressive toward hu- standing stones called megaliths were erected, as at
mans, had a natural herd instinct, matured quickly, Stonehenge in England, a feat that requiring hundreds
and had an easily satisfied diet—were best suited for or thousands of participants. Beyond the physical
domestication. These qualities help to explain why achievement of their erection, the stones demonstrate
animal domestication arose in Asia and the Near an elementary knowledge of astronomy, for they
East, where these particular animals were found, were aligned with the heavens and permitted people
rather than in Africa, where the native animals, such to predict the seasons based on the alignment of cer-
as buffalo, gazelles, and large carnivores, were less tain stars, such as Sirius, in relation to the stones.
suited for domestication. Domesticated animals kept
in flocks and herds gave people a dependable food
supply in the form of milk products as well as cloth-
ing made from the animals’ wool and hides. Only in Neolithic Age (from Greek for “new stone”) Period
times of need, or for ceremonial purposes, or when an between 8000 and 4000 b.c.e., during which people
gained greater control over their food supply.
animal died, were the livestock—which were also a
Near East In antiquity, Egypt, the Levant,
form of wealth—actually eaten. Other animals, such Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and Iran; in the modern day
as the dog and cat, also were domesticated. People sometimes also known as the Middle East.
who kept domestic animals are called pastoralists be- domestication Practice of adapting wild animals to
cause they were constantly searching for new pas- live with humans or wild plants for cultivation.
tures. Their diet was supplemented by hunting and pastoralism Mobile lifestyle based on keeping flocks
gathering, but they still were subject to climatic and herds.
changes. Prolonged periods of drought, for example, agriculture Sedentary style of life based on the cultiva-
could have disastrous consequences. Nevertheless, tion of crops.
pastoralism offered greater security than a purely cultural assimilation Acquisition by one group of
hunting-and-gathering economy, and it quickly spread people of the cultural traits of another people.
over nearly all of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Before History, 2,000,000–3000 B.C.E. 9
CAU
Black Sea CAS
BALKANS US
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Sea
ARMENIA
Aegean HITTITES
Sea
ANATOLIA
GREECE .
TS
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S
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Knossos Eup
SYRIA hr IRAN
Phaistos ate ASSYRIA
CRETE s
Med LEBANON MESOPOTAMIA
iter
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OS
Babylon Kish M
PALESTINE TS
LIBYA SUMERIA ELAM .
LOWER Uruk
EGYPT DELTA Ur
Giza A R A B I A N
Probable
Memphis D E S E R T ancient
coastline
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UPPER
e
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Akhetaton n
(El-Amarna) Mesopotamian culture Gu
lf
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DESERT
Se
Y
PT
MAP 1.1 The Fertile Crescent During the Bronze Age, river valley civilizations based on the exten-
sive exploitation of agriculture arose in a “Fertile Crescent” extending from the Nile valley in Egypt up
through the Tigris and Euphrates valleys in Mesopotamia.
pottery and the pottery wheel, and the weaving of ulations. They had different social classes, such as
wool garments. Advances in metal technology just free persons and slaves. They had specialization of la-
before 3000 b.c.e. resulted in the creation of bronze, a bor, that is, different people serving, for example, as
durable alloy (or mixture) of about 90 percent copper rulers, priests, craftworkers, merchants, soldiers, and
and 10 percent tin that provided a sharp cutting edge farmers. And they had metal technology and a sys-
for weapons. tem of writing. As of 3000 b.c.e., civilization in these
By 3000 b.c.e., the economies and administrations terms existed in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and
of Mesopotamia and Egypt had become so complex China.
that some form of record keeping was needed. As a This first phase of civilization is called the Bronze
result, writing was invented. Once a society became Age because of the importance of metal technology. In
literate, it passed from the period known as prehis- the Near East, the most characteristic Bronze Age civi-
tory into the historic period, leaving written records lizations, those of Mesopotamia and Egypt, were lo-
that can be used along with archaeology to learn cated in river valleys, were based on the extensive
more about the life of its people. In fact, the word his-
tory comes from a Greek word meaning “narrative”:
people could not provide a detailed permanent ac-
history (from Greek for “narrative”) Accounts of the
count of their past until they were able to write. human past that use written records.
The totality of these developments resulted in the
Bronze Age In the Near East, the period from 3000 to
appearance, around 3000 b.c.e., of a new form of cul- 1200 b.c.e., when bronze was used for weapon making
ture called civilization. The first civilizations had sev- and when the most characteristic civilizations were
eral defining characteristics. They had economies located in river valleys, based on extensive agriculture,
based on agriculture. They had cities that functioned and had large populations.
as administrative centers and usually had large pop-
Mesopotamian Civilization, 3000–1200 B.C.E. 11
exploitation of agriculture, and supported large popu- was a stylus, or pointed stick, that made wedge-
lations. Bronze was a valuable commodity; the copper shaped indentations in the clay. The writing system,
and tin needed for its manufacture did not exist in called cuneiform, began as a multitude of pictograms,
river valleys and had to be imported—tin from as far signs that looked like what they represent, such as a
away as Britain. Bronze therefore was used mainly for star. By 3000 b.c.e., about a hundred of the signs had
luxury items, such as jewelry or weapons, but not for come to stand for syllabic sounds—that is, a conso-
everyday domestic items, which were made from pot- nant plus a vowel (ba, be, bi, bo, and so on)—and could
tery, animal products, wood, and stone. In particular, be used to spell any word. Significant numbers of
bronze was not used for farming tools. Thus, civiliza- texts, however, do not appear until about four hun-
tions based on large-scale agriculture, such as those of dred years later. Sumerian accounts of their earlier
Mesopotamia and Egypt, were feasible only in soils history, such as their lists of kings, are therefore often
that could be worked by wooden scratch-plows pulled based on myths and legends—stories passed down
by people or draft animals such as oxen. Other Bronze orally about gods and heroes—that often seem fan-
Age civilizations, however, such as those that arose in tastic but usually are based on a core of truth.
the Levant and the eastern Mediterranean, took advan- Sumerian ideas about their place in the world
tage of their location on communication routes to stemmed largely from their geography. Mountains
pursue economies based on trade. rise to the north of Mesopotamia, and to the south
and west lies the Syrian-Arabian Desert, a semiarid
area that supported substantial pastoralist popula-
Mesopotamian Civilization, tions. Sumeria proper received less than ten inches of
rainfall a year, but the upper reaches of the rivers in
3000–1200 B.C.E. the mountains of Anatolia (modern Turkey) often re-
ceived heavy rainfalls that surged downriver. These
➜
unpredictable and not to be trusted to look out for the eleven-foot layer of silt found at Ur. Legends like
people’s best interests. The Sumerians therefore tried these, used in conjunction with archaeology, offer the
to assert some control over the gods. People placed opportunity to reconstruct the history of periods for
small statues of themselves in temples to ensure that which no written records survive.
the gods would be watching over them. They at-
tempted to learn what the gods intended by looking
for signs in dreams, animal entrails, and even wisps Sumerian Government and Society
of smoke—a practice known as divination. The most The Sumerian cities were city-states, independent na-
important gods were assigned numbers proportional tions, and were rarely united politically. In fact, dis-
to their relative status. An, the father of all the gods, unity was a defining characteristic of Mesopotamian
was the god of the universe. He dwelt somewhere politics. Nevertheless, the cities all shared the same
among the stars and was rarely concerned with what culture—the same religious practices, the same kinds
happened on earth. An was assigned the number 60, of government, and the same traditions. Each city
the basis of the Sumerian number system. Enlil (50), a had one primary god. At Ur, for example, the main
sky god who controlled lightning and thunder, was god was Nanna, the moon god. The god’s temple,
the god most directly concerned with life on earth. called a ziggurat, was a massive step-pyramid, 150
Enki (40), the water god, was thought to have brought feet on a side and over 100 feet high, built of fired
civilization to humanity. Other important gods in- brick laid over a mud-brick core. Looking like a stair-
cluded the moon god, Nanna (30); the sun god, case rising to heaven, it was the most visible building
Shamash (20); and Ishtar (15), the goddess of fertility. in the city. There also were numerous smaller temples
Ranking the gods by numbers gave the Sumerians an of other gods.
additional feeling of having control over them. The Sumerians believed that the true ruler of each
Sumerian pessimism is reflected in their percep- city was its god but that the god delegated the work
tions of the afterlife. They believed that the under- of ruling on earth to priests. The earliest rulers were
world, or “Land of No Return,” was ruled by priest-kings who, along with being religious leaders,
Ereshkigal, the sister of Ishtar, and her partner, the also were responsible for organizing the agricultural
war god Nergal. The dead were buried with offerings and irrigation work of the city. By around 2600 b.c.e.,
that were believed to be stolen by demons as the spir- conflicts had arisen between cities over access to river
its of the dead traveled to the underworld. The dead water, bringing further uncertainties to Sumerian life.
then ate clay and dust and spent eternity weeping For defense, cities constructed massive walls several
over their fate. The dream of every Sumerian was to miles long, and a class of professional soldiers arose.
become immortal and escape being sent to the under- Because of a need for effective military leaders, some
world. The most famous Sumerian legend tells how cities replaced the priest-kings with generals as rulers.
the hero Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, became upset But all rulers continued to act as representatives of
by the death of his friend Enkidu and attempted to the city’s god.
escape his own death. He traveled the world search- Sumerian society had a hierarchical structure—
ing for the tree of life, which bore a magic fruit that that is, people were ranked according to their social,
kept one eternally young. Gilgamesh eventually found economic, and legal status. This hierarchy is appar-
the fruit, only to have it stolen by a serpent. Not even ent in art, for example, where more important people,
a great hero could escape his fate. such as the king, appear larger than less important
Another legend involving Gilgamesh exemplifies people. Ranking below the king were the nobles, who
Sumerian relations with their unpredictable gods. served as administrators and generals and owned large
During his travels, Gilgamesh met Ut-Napishtim,
who told Gilgamesh that long ago the sky god Enlil
had decided to destroy humanity. Ut-Napishtim was
advised by the god Enki to build an ark and to fill it divination Religious practice in which people looked
with every species of animal. They all survived the for signs to determine future events and the will of the
flood, and Ut-Napishtim became the only man ever gods.
to become immortal. According to Sumerian lists of city-state City that is also an independent nation.
their kings, this great flood occurred around 2600 ziggurat Step-shaped pyramid serving as the main
b.c.e. and separated a period when legendary kings temple in Mesopotamian cities.
ruled for thousands of years from a period of kings hierarchical structure Social structure organized
with normal life spans. It is quite likely that the leg- according to rank, status, and privilege.
end recollects an actual flood, such as one that left an
Mesopotamian Civilization, 3000–1200 B.C.E. 13
One side of the Standard of Ur, ca. 2600 b.c.e., shows Sumeria at war, with troops marching on foot and riding
on carts and with bodies of slain enemies lying at the bottom. The other side shows the land at peace, with the
king holding court at the top and farmers and merchants doing their work below. (Courtesy of the Trustees of the
British Museum)
tracts of land, and the priests, who oversaw the tem- and services. The government collected taxes in pro-
ples and the property of the gods. Next in status were duce and in labor. Landowners paid a percentage of
civil servants and soldiers. Ranking below them, in their crops, which were stored in government ware-
a sort of middle class, were artisans and specialized houses and redistributed to pay the salaries of gov-
laborers, including potters, artists, metal and leather ernment employees, who included soldiers, shepherds,
workers, weavers, bricklayers, stonemasons, teachers, fishermen, craftworkers, and even snake charmers.
scribes, fishers, sailors, and merchants. The majority The annual salary of a typical government worker
of the population, however, was occupied in farm- was thirty bushels of barley and one ounce of silver.
ing. A few small farmers owned their own land, but Labor taxes were paid with work on public works
most worked plots belonging to nobles or priests and projects ranging from temple building to digging and
paid rents of about one-seventh of their produce. cleaning irrigation ditches. Government bureaucrats
Lowest in status were the slaves, who included war kept detailed records of every tax payment, distribu-
captives, persons born as slaves, and those who had tion of rations, and bit of labor.
been sold into slavery for debt. Slaves usually per- The lack of any local resources besides water, mud,
formed household tasks. Even slaves were full-fledged and plant materials created a need for raw materials,
members of the community, for they, too, were be- which could be acquired only through trade—often
lieved to be doing the work of the gods, and it was under government supervision. Sumerian exports
understood that after performing enough work, they
deserved to be set free.
Economic activity was largely controlled by the gov- barter Form of exchange using goods and services
ernment. There was no coined money. Economic trans- rather than coined money.
actions took place by barter, the exchange of goods
14 CHAPTER 1 The Origins of Western Civilization in the Ancient Near East, 3000–1200 B.C.E.
included woolen textiles, grain, and worked-metal Semitic and Indo-European Peoples
items. Imports were primarily raw materials, such as
copper, tin, timber from the mountains to the north, The Sumerians occupied only a tiny geographical
and gemstones and spices from as far away as India, area of the Near East and were surrounded by non-
Arabia, and Africa. Imports were used to manufac- Sumerian peoples with whom they regularly came
ture products such as jewelry and weapons. In the into contact. Over the course of centuries, many of the
course of their manufacturing activities, the Sumeri- economic, technological, and religious practices that
ans invented the dyeing and bleaching of fabrics, the arose in Mesopotamia spread outward and were as-
art of engraving, and accounting. similated by other peoples. The first people to assim-
Sumerian society also was patriarchal, a form of ilate Mesopotamian civilization were the Semitic
hierarchical social organization in which customs peoples—pastoralists who lived in the semiarid re-
and laws generally favor men. For example, in cases gions of Syria and northern Arabia to the south and
of adultery, a guilty man was forgiven, but a woman east of Mesopotamia and whose similar Semitic lan-
was sentenced to death. Married women were ex- guages gave them a sense of shared identity. The Se-
pected to provide children, and infertile women mitic peoples had a long history of contact with the
could be divorced. A husband could even sell his wife Sumerians, whom they knew had the ability to grow
and children into slavery to pay off debts. Women and store large food surpluses. Soon after 3000 b.c.e.,
whose fathers could not support them or find hus- the Akkadians, one of the Semitic peoples, moved
bands for them could be devoted to a god as sacred into the river valleys themselves, just upstream from
prostitutes, known as “sisters” of the god. But women the Sumerians. They created an agricultural civiliza-
did have some rights. A wife kept control over her tion of their own that assimilated the culture of the
dowry—the money provided by her father when she Sumerians. Subsequently, in what became a regular
married to support her and her children—and had pattern of invasion and assimilation, other peoples
equal authority with her husband over their children. likewise moved into the river valleys and adopted
Family property was usually managed by the hus- the civilized style of life.
band or a grown son, but if they were lacking the wife Around 2350 b.c.e., the Akkadian leader Sargon
was in charge. Women also could engage in business embarked on a career of conquest. By his own account,
in their own name. Children, however, had no legal the infant Sargon had been set adrift in a basket in the
rights and could be disowned by their parents and Euphrates River by his mother, perhaps because he
expelled from the city at any time. was of illegitimate birth. He was rescued by a gar-
In the countryside, Sumerians lived in houses dener, entered the service of the king of Kish, and even
made of bundles of reeds that had beaten-earth floors claimed to be the lover of the goddess Ishtar. Sargon
and were plastered on the outside with adobe, a mix- seized power and defeated Uruk, Ur, and the other
ture of clay and straw. Farm animals lived with the Sumerian cities. Claiming to have conquered territory
family. City houses, made of sun-dried mud brick, all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, he called himself
were small—just a few hundred square feet—and King of Sumer and Akkad and established the Akka-
packed together on narrow streets that sometimes dian Empire, the first Near Eastern empire.
were only four feet wide in order to make maximum Sargon had to administer an empire made up of
use of the protected space within the city walls. Their
thick walls and lack of windows helped keep them
cool, and their flat roofs were used for cooking and patriarchal society (from Greek for “rule by fathers”)
for sleeping in hot weather. Furniture was minimal. Society in which men have the primary authority.
Food and water were stored in large clay pots. A rudi- dowry Financial contribution provided to a bride by
her family.
mentary sewage system conducted waste to the river
but did little to keep down the stench. The Sumerian adobe Mixture of clay and straw dried in the sun, used
to make plaster or bricks.
diet consisted primarily of grain products, lentils,
Semitic peoples Pastoral peoples living in semiarid
onions, lettuce, fish, and beer. Clothing was made regions of Syria and northern Arabia who spoke ver-
from woven wool. The usual garment was a rectan- sions of the same language.
gular piece of cloth that women draped around them- Akkadians Semitic people who established the first
selves from the left shoulder and men wrapped Near Eastern empire, the Akkadian Empire, in 2350
around their waist. Sumerians wore sandals and pro- b.c.e. under their king, Sargon.
tected their heads from the hot sun with caps. Women empire Political unit incorporating different peoples
adorned themselves with bracelets, necklaces, an- and nations under a single government.
klets, and rings for their fingers and ears.
Mesopotamian Civilization, 3000–1200 B.C.E. 15
standard weights based on the talent, which weighed under a single legal system. The code was a compila-
about fifty-six pounds. There were sixty minas in a tion of existing laws and customs relating to civil and
talent and sixty shekels in a mina. Around 1760 b.c.e. criminal procedures. It recognized three classes of
Hammurabi issued a standard legal code that placed people: nobles, free persons, and slaves. Many laws
everyone under the same laws. dealt with business and property, setting prices for
The Babylonians also advanced the study of math- manufactured items and wages for laborers such
ematics and astronomy. Using the cumbersome 60- as sailors, barbers, physicians, veterinarians, home-
based number system, Babylonian mathematicians builders, artisans, and farm workers. Other laws
dealt with concepts such as square roots and algebraic dealt with agriculture. For example, someone whose
unknowns (which they called a false value). Lacking a dam broke and caused flooding was to be sold as a
symbol for zero, Babylonians substituted a blank space. slave to pay for the damages.
These innovations had practical applications, such as Of the 282 laws in the code, 49 dealt with marriage.
calculating compound interest or the amount of build- First marriages usually were arranged by a girl’s fam-
ing material needed for a ziggurat. Babylonian as- ily. Men were permitted to have two wives, but
tronomers divided the year into 360 days (6 times 60), women were allowed only one husband. The code ac-
the day into 6 parts, and the hour into 60 minutes. knowledged that marriages did not always work out.
By keeping detailed records of the movements of the If a wife was childless, her husband could pay her a
sun, moon, and planets, they were able to predict the mina (about a pound) of gold for a divorce or take a
phases of the moon. They also believed that the posi- second wife, who would rank beneath the first wife.
tions of astronomical bodies had a predictable effect If a wife became incapacitated by disease, a husband
on what happened on earth, giving rise to astrology. could marry a second wife but had to support the
In spite of Hammurabi’s best efforts to create unity, first wife as long as she lived. A man who divorced a
his empire disintegrated soon after his death around wife who had borne him children had to support her
1750 b.c.e. A new group of invaders then appeared, until the children were raised; she then received part
the Indo-European peoples. Like the Semitic peoples, of his property so she “could marry the man of her
the Indo-Europeans consisted of different groups of heart.” A woman who “ruined her house, neglected
pastoralist peoples speaking versions of the same lan- her husband, and was judicially convicted” could be
guage. Their homeland lay in the grassy steppes of divorced but would be forced to remain with her ex-
Central Asia north of the Black and Caspian Seas. husband as a servant even if he remarried. A woman
Every so often, groups of Indo-Europeans left to seek whose husband left her received a divorce, but a
new homes because of overpopulation or food short- woman who left her husband was thrown into the
ages. The earliest known Indo-European migration river (and presumably drowned).
occurred around 2000 b.c.e. One group, the Aryans,
settled in modern-day Iran. Another, the Hittites,
moved into Anatolia, and yet others migrated into
the Balkans. The first Indo-Europeans to invade talent Mesopotamian unit of weight, about 56 pounds,
Mesopotamia were the Hittites, who raided Babylonia comprised of 60 minas, with each mina being com-
in 1595 b.c.e. Shortly thereafter, around 1500 b.c.e., posed of 60 shekels.
one group of Aryans invaded India, destroying the astrology (from Greek for “knowledge of the stars”)
Bronze Age civilization there. Another Aryan group, Branch of learning based on the belief that the future
was ordained by the gods and can be read in the mo-
the Kassites, occupied Mesopotamia, making use of
tions of the stars and planets.
new military technology, the horse and chariot. They
Indo-European peoples Pastoral peoples of central
assimilated Mesopotamian culture—including reli- Asia who settled in areas from India to Europe and
gion, dress, and language—so thoroughly that nearly spoke versions of the same language.
the only element of their native Indo-European cul- steppe Flat treeless plain covered by short grass.
ture they preserved was their names. The Kassites Aryans Indo-European peoples who settled in Iran
continued to rule much of Mesopotamia until about around 2000 b.c.e.
1200 b.c.e. Hittites Indo-European people who settled in Anatolia
around 2000 b.c.e.
The Code of Hammurabi Balkans Southeastern Europe, including modern
Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania.
The most important document to survive from an- Kassites Indo-European people who invaded
cient Mesopotamia is the law code of Hammurabi, Mesopotamia around 1500 b.c.e.
which placed everyone in the Old Babylonian Empire
Egyptian Civilization, 3000–1200 B.C.E. 17
Egyptian Civilization,
3000–1200 B.C.E.
➜
the Code of Hammurabi. Hammurabi, standing at the left, is How and why did the role and status of the pharaoh
shown receiving the code from the sun god Shamash. Ham- change during the course of Egyptian history?
murabi said, “The gods called me, Hammurabi, who feared
God, to bring about the rule of righteousness and to destroy Generally speaking, civilization developed in Egypt
the wicked and the evil-doers, so that the strong would not in much the same way as in Mesopotamia. In more
harm the weak.” Copies of the law code were posted through- detailed regards, the two civilizations were very dif-
out the empire. (Hirmer Verlag München) ferent. Unlike the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians
were geographically isolated, and for more than a
thousand years they experienced no foreign inva-
In the case of criminal law, many crimes—such as sions. Their country was usually unified. The Egyp-
making false accusations, stealing temple property, tians trusted their gods to look after them, had an
receiving stolen property, kidnapping, stealing or optimistic outlook on life, and believed that they
harboring escaped slaves, breaking and entering, rob- would enjoy a delightful afterlife. Each of the three
bery, rape, and shoddy construction—were punished
by death. Some death sentences were quite grue-
some. Sons and mothers guilty of incest and looters
who burned houses were burned alive. Male and fe- impalement Form of execution in which a victim was
male lovers who killed their spouses were impaled. skewered on a sharpened stake.
Other punishments involved physical mutilation.
18 CHAPTER 1 The Origins of Western Civilization in the Ancient Near East, 3000–1200 B.C.E.
periods of Egyptian history—the Old, Middle, and lation also meant that influence from outside was re-
New Kingdoms—had particular identifying charac- stricted. Change came slowly.
teristics. During the Old Kingdom, the pharaohs had The Egyptians divided the Nile valley into two
absolute authority. Only the pharaohs were believed sections, Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta) and Upper
to have afterlives, and they constructed gigantic pyr- Egypt (the rest of the river valley south to Nubia).
amids as their tombs. During the Middle Kingdom, These designations are used because water flows
the pharaohs had less authority, and Egyptians be- from higher to lower ground. Before 3000 b.c.e., Up-
lieved that all had access to the afterlife. The New per and Lower Egypt were separate kingdoms, but
Kingdom saw the rise of the Egyptian army and the around 3000 b.c.e., the two kingdoms were united by
Egyptian Empire. a ruler named Narmer and political unity became the
normal condition of Egypt. To unify Egypt further,
The Gift of the Nile Narmer founded a new capital city at Memphis,
where Upper and Lower Egypt met. This unity fur-
As in Mesopotamia, civilization in Egypt arose around ther contributed to the Egyptians’ sense of optimism.
3000 b.c.e. in a fertile river valley, with extensive Narmer was the first of a multitude of rulers known
exploitation of agriculture and the use of bronze for as pharaohs. Subsequently, pharaohs belonging to
weapons and jewelry. Unlike the Tigris and Eu- the same family were organized into dynasties.
phrates Rivers, however, the flooding of the Nile was During the first two dynasties of pharaohs (3000–
predictable. Every summer, heavy rains in central 2700 b.c.e.), all the fundamental aspects of Egyptian
Africa fed water into the Nile, causing it to overflow culture, religion, and government evolved. Egyptian
its banks in mid-August. By November, the river had writing, known as hieroglyphics, had more than
returned to its banks, leaving behind a layer of fertile seven hundred symbols that represented different
soil. Irrigation ditches were dug, and the land was words, thoughts, or meanings. Only highly educated
planted. Agricultural life was organized according to scribes could write. The usual writing materials were
three seasons: Inundation of the Nile, Emergence stone, for large monuments, or papyrus (the source of
(planting), and Deficiency (low water and harvest). our word paper), for record keeping. Hollow papyrus
To forecast the seasons and the Nile floods, the Egyp- reeds were split down the middle, flattened, and
tians created a calendar based on the moon. It had glued together in a two-layer crosshatched pattern to
twelve months of 30 days each. Five feast days added form sheets about fifteen inches square. Writing was
at the end made a 365-day year that serves as the done with a pen and ink.
basis of our own calendar. Egypt was the richest agri- Egypt was divided into forty-two smaller territo-
cultural land in the Mediterranean world, and Egyp- ries called nomes, each administered from a city cen-
tian life was focused on the Nile. The Egyptians’ own ter. As in Mesopotamia, cities served as centers for
word for their land was Kemet, the “black land,” a administration and for the storage and distribution
reference to the rich, dark soil that was the gift of the of food supplies. Each Egyptian city—again, as in
Nile. Because people were never far from the river, Mesopotamia—had its own main god. Egyptian
they traveled by boat and at first had no need for cities were not large population centers, however,
wheeled carts or horses to pull them. and they were not walled. Most of the people lived
Geography also isolated Egypt from the rest of the securely in the countryside, close to their fields.
world. The Nile Valley was a thin strip of agricultural The Egyptians had a multitude of gods, many of
land six hundred miles long but only four to twenty whom were depicted as animals, such as Anubis, the
miles wide, surrounded on the east and west by the
inhospitable and sparsely populated Sahara Desert. If
the approaches to Egypt in the north and south were Nubia Region of Africa located in the Nile valley just
protected, as they were until the eighteenth century south of Egypt.
b.c.e., the country was safe from invasion. The pre- pharaoh (in Egyptian, “great house”) Ruler of ancient
dictable renewal of the soil and the lack of concern Egypt.
about invasion or floods gave the Egyptians an opti- dynasty Group of rulers belonging to the same family.
mistic outlook on life. They were convinced they had hieroglyphics (from Greek for “sacred writing”) Earli-
the best life of anyone on earth and thought them- est form of Egyptian writing.
selves superior to the black peoples of Africa to the nomes Smaller geographical and administrative re-
south and to the Semitic and other peoples of the Lev- gions of ancient Egypt, governed by nomarchs.
ant and Mesopotamia to the north. Geographical iso-
Egyptian Civilization, 3000–1200 B.C.E. 19
jackal god. Several important gods were connected to the Great Sphinx, which showed the pharaoh as a
the sun. In the time of Narmer, Ra, the god of the noon- man-headed lion.
day sun, became the most important god of Egypt. In Ranking after the royal family were nobles and
addition, rather than just being representatives of the priests. Nobles held high state offices and owned
gods, as in Mesopotamia, Egyptian pharaohs were large amounts of land. Priests administered the lands
considered to be gods in their own right. Pharaohs belonging to the temple. Next in status were special-
also took on the personality of other gods, such as Ra. ized workers such as scribes, acrobats, singers, dancers,
The Egyptians were confident that their pharaohs, musicians, artists, stonemasons, perfume makers, and
and their other gods, would take care of them. The professional mourners at funerals. Most of these posi-
goddess Ma’at, for example, provided order, stability, tions were open to both men and women. Lower in
and justice. Even the pharaoh was expected to rule status was the majority of the population, which la-
according to Ma’at. bored in farming or on public works projects such as
digging and cleaning irrigation ditches. Lowest in
Egyptian Government and Society status were slaves, who were either Egyptians who
had been sold for debt or captives acquired by occa-
The pharaoh stood at the peak of Egyptian govern- sional raids into Nubia to the south or Asia to the
ment and society. The pharaoh was assisted in gov- north. Some slaves were set free and even became
erning by an increasingly large bureaucracy. His governmental officials. Most, however, were em-
main assistant was the vizier, a chief executive officer ployed in domestic and farm work.
in charge of administrative details. Upper and Lower Egyptians treasured their family life. Many scenes
Egypt each had governors, and nomarchs managed in Egyptian art depict affection between husbands
the nomes. The government oversaw tax collection and wives or of parents for their children. Egyptians
and the administration of justice. As in Mesopotamia, usually married in their teens. An Egyptian proverb
taxes were paid in kind—in produce (a percentage of advised men, “Take a wife while you are young.”
crops) or in labor, including work on irrigation proj- Even though marriages were usually arranged by
ects and the upkeep of temples and palaces. All free families, young people still composed love poems.
persons were equal under the law. Criminal law was One young woman wrote, “He torments my heart
based on getting a confession from the accused party, with his voice, he makes sickness take hold of me.”
often by torture, which included whipping and muti- Marriage contracts specified the rights of the hus-
lation. Persons who refused to confess could be set band and wife to their own possessions, the amount
free. Many crimes carried physical punishment. The of the allowance that the husband would provide to
penalty for extortion, for example, was one hundred his wife, and how the property would be divided in
blows and five open wounds; the penalty for interfer- case of a divorce. The marriage ceremony consisted
ing with traffic on the Nile was cutting off the nose of the bride moving her possessions to her husband’s
and exile. The death sentence, in forms including im- house. Either party could initiate a divorce, and di-
palement, burning, drowning, or decapitation, was vorced wives were entitled to continued support
exacted for crimes such as treason, sacrilege, murder, from their ex-husbands. Male and female children in-
and tax evasion. In contrast to Mesopotamia, how- herited the family property equally. In general,
ever, Egypt had no professional soldiers at this time, women had parity with men when it came to having
for there was no fear of invasion. If the pharaoh careers, owning property, and pursuing cases in court.
needed a military force to raid a neighboring region, Egyptian homes were made of adobe brick, and
a band of farmers and artisans would be armed and doors and windows were covered with mats to keep
then disbanded when the campaign was over. out insects. A room on the upper storey with an open
Like Mesopotamian society, Egyptian society was wall could be used for sleeping on hot nights. Furni-
hierarchical. The pharaoh had the highest rank. Next ture consisted of stools, mats for sleeping, and large
came the pharaoh’s family, which consisted of a chief and small jars for storing food and personal items.
wife, who often was also the pharaoh’s sister (by this The diet was primarily bread, along with fruit, fish,
means, pharaohs behaved like gods and kept power
in the family); additional wives and concubines; and Ma’at Egyptian goddess who represented order, jus-
the pharaoh’s children. The pharaoh’s successor usu- tice, and stability.
ally was a son, although female pharaohs were not concubine Female sexual partner ranking below
prohibited. Pharaohs advertised their divine status a wife.
with large stone sculptures of themselves—such as
20 CHAPTER 1 The Origins of Western Civilization in the Ancient Near East, 3000–1200 B.C.E.
The three largest pyramids were constructed at Giza beginning ca. 2600 b.c.e. The “Great Pyramid” of
the pharaoh Khufu, in the center, is 781 feet at the base, 481 feet tall, and contains 2.3 million stone
blocks weighing from two to fifteen tons each. The smaller pyramids in the foreground were for other
members of the royal family. (TIPS Images)
and beer made from barley. Household sewage flowed served as their tombs. The largest pyramids were
directly into the Nile. Clothing was made from linen. built during the Fourth Dynasty, beginning around
At work, men wore loincloths and women, short skirts. 2600 b.c.e. The pharaoh’s burial chamber was hidden
For special occasions, women wore dresses held up deep inside the pyramid—safe, it was hoped, from
by straps and men wore kilts. Both men and women grave robbers. It contained all the wealth, jewelry,
wore jewelry made from copper, gold, and semi- and domestic objects that the pharaoh would need in
precious stones, including anklets, rings, bracelets, ear- the afterlife. It even contained clay figures of servants
rings, and beaded necklaces. The use of cosmetics, to take care of the pharaoh’s future needs. The tomb
such as black and green eye shadow and red cheek chamber also contained pyramid texts, magical spells
and lip gloss, was also common. written on the walls to ensure that the pharaoh’s tran-
sition to the afterlife would go smoothly. At the be-
The Age of the Pyramids ginning of the Old Kingdom, only the pharaohs were
thought to have an afterlife. Therefore, nobles hoping
Historians divide Egyptian history into three chrono- to share the pharaoh’s afterlife placed their tombs
logical periods during which Egypt was united: the next to a pyramid.
Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms. These periods Building a pyramid required a vast supply of ma-
were separated by “intermediate periods” during terial and workers that only a pharaoh, who had the
which Egyptian unity broke down. Each period had authority of a god, could mobilize. Stone quarried
its own distinctive traits. Even though Egyptian civi- from the cliffs next to the Nile was ferried during the
lization began around 3000 b.c.e., it is not until the flood season to the royal burial ground just west of
Old Kingdom (2700–2200 b.c.e.), from which written Memphis. Tens of thousands of Egyptian workers
records survive in significant numbers, that the his- were fed and housed at the pharaoh’s expense while
tory of ancient Egypt begins to be clearly known. The they dragged the massive stone blocks up earthen
Old Kingdom was characterized by all-powerful ramps to the top of the new pyramid. A large pyra-
pharaohs who built gigantic stone pyramids that mid took fifteen years or more to complete.
Egyptian Civilization, 3000–1200 B.C.E. 21
Pharaohs did all they could to ensure that work pro- continued enjoyment of all the best spiritual and ma-
ceeded as quickly as possible, and here lay the seeds of terial things they had enjoyed during life—providing
future problems. Pharaohs gave private estates, tax their bodies were preserved by mummification. All
exemptions, and special privileges to nomarchs who the internal organs except the heart were removed
fulfilled their labor and supply quotas, and the sons and mummified separately. The brain was scrambled,
of nomarchs were allowed to succeed them, thus sucked out through the nose, and discarded, and the
strengthening the noble class. These policies helped in- remaining skin, bones, and muscle were soaked in
dividual pharaohs in the short term but made fewer natron, a salt solution that removed moisture. The
resources available to their successors. Pyramids be- dried corpse then was wrapped with linen bandages
came smaller and smaller, reflecting a decline in the and buried underground in an elaborately decorated
pharaohs’ resources. At the same time, nobles gained a coffin, accompanied by grave goods such as food,
greater sense of self-importance and began to build jewelry, and domestic items. Those who could not af-
tombs for themselves with pyramid texts in their own ford this expensive process made do with a simpler
nomes, a sign that they believed they now had their burial in the desert sand, which often resulted in nat-
own afterlife without needing to share the pharaoh’s. ural mummification.
Powerful nobles began to challenge the pharaoh’s au- Egyptians believed that before receiving a good af-
thority and compete with one another for power. The terlife they would be questioned by Osiris to deter-
last pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty (2350–2200 b.c.e.) mine whether they had lived according to Ma’at.
was Nitocris, the first woman to rule Egypt. After her Those who failed the test were devoured by the Eater
death, revolts among nobles broke out, and Egypt lost of the Dead, a demon that was part crocodile, part
its customary unity and stability. hippopotamus, and part lion. To ensure that they
passed, Egyptians wrapped mummies with a collec-
The Age of Osiris tion of answers to Osiris’s questions known as the
Book of the Dead, which contained advice such as,
The loss of unity during the First Intermediate Period “Say ‘No’ when asked if you ever stole anything.”
(2200–2050 b.c.e.) caused a breakdown in irrigation, Thus, even in death, Egyptian optimism prevailed;
and famines occurred. Not until 2050 b.c.e. was the everyone was believed to pass the test and receive a
nomarch of Thebes able to reunify Egypt, beginning good afterlife.
the Middle Kingdom (2050–1786 b.c.e.). As a symbol About 1730 b.c.e., the Middle Kingdom came to an
of the change of rule, the bull god Amon, the chief end when Egypt was invaded by a Semitic people
god of Thebes, became the most important god of known as the Hyksos. Using the latest military tech-
Egypt. Ra, Egypt’s previous main god, was often nology, including the horse and chariot and the com-
linked with Amon, creating a composite second chief pound bow—a bow made from laminated layers of
god, Amon-Ra. Moreover, pharaohs of the Middle wood and animal horn for extra strength—the Hyksos
Kingdom were weaker than those of the Old King- easily overcame the undefended cities and untrained
dom. They still were seen as living gods and buried armies of the Egyptians, and Egypt again entered a
in small pyramids, but their authority was threatened period of disunity, the Second Intermediate Period
by ambitious nobles and priests who controlled more (1730–1570 b.c.e.). The Hyksos became pharaohs in
and more of Egypt’s land and produce. northern Egypt but allowed the rest of Egypt to be
For most of the population, the biggest change governed by Egyptian subordinate rulers called vas-
during the Middle Kingdom was that the afterlife sals, who were left alone as long as they acknowl-
now was available to everyone. The result was a great edged Hyksos authority.
increase in reverence for the Osiris, the god of the un-
derworld. Egyptians believed that Osiris, who had
brought civilization to Egypt, had been killed and
mummification Drying process by which bodies are
chopped up by his envious brother Set. Isis, the wife preserved after death.
of Osiris, put the pieces back together and breathed Book of the Dead Catalogue of magical spells that
life back into him, whereupon Osiris became the was buried with mummies to ensure that Egyptians
judge who decided whether the dead would receive a received a good afterlife.
good afterlife. Osiris’s son Horus, the falcon god, de- Hyksos (from Semitic for “rulers of foreign lands”)
feated Set and became the defender of the dead when Semitic people who conquered Egypt in 1730 b.c.e.
they were judged. vassals Subordinate rulers who declare loyalty to a
The Egyptians believed that if Osiris could live higher-ranking ruler.
happily after death, so could they. They anticipated
22 CHAPTER 1 The Origins of Western Civilization in the Ancient Near East, 3000–1200 B.C.E.
The Hyksos enthusiastically assimilated Egyptian reminder to everyone of the source of his power. At
culture and even preserved documents from the Old the same time, the pharaoh’s chief wife was pro-
Kingdom that otherwise would have been lost. The moted to the status of god’s wife. By these measures,
Egyptians, however, could not tolerate being ruled by the royal family was able to regain much of the au-
foreigners. They mastered the use of the chariot and thority that it had lost during the Middle Kingdom.
compound bow and created professional armies. In The pharaohs’ first task was to ensure the security
1570 b.c.e., led by the ruler of Thebes, they counterat- of Egypt, by defending the borders and by establishing
tacked. The Hyksos were expelled and pursued up a military presence beyond them. Pharaoh Thutmose I
the coast of Palestine, where they were completely (r. 1527–1515 b.c.e.) campaigned into Nubia in the
destroyed. The Egyptians then obliterated nearly south and all the way to the Euphrates River in the
every trace of the Hyksos and were determined never north, thus impressing Egypt’s neighbors with his
again to let foreigners invade Egypt. military might. His daughter Hatshepsut (r. 1498–
1483 b.c.e.) was crowned pharaoh, and to enhance
her stature, she claimed she was the daughter of the
The New Kingdom bull god Amon. She wore male royal clothing and a
The reunification of Egypt after the expulsion of the false royal beard and as commander in chief of the
Hyksos marked the beginning of the New Kingdom army led an attack into Nubia. Hatshepsut also con-
(1570–1070 b.c.e.), an era characterized by strong structed border fortifications and a huge terraced
pharaohs, a standing army, and the creation of an temple in honor of Amon, considered to be one of the
Egyptian Empire. Pharaohs became military leaders.
Their armies included both native Egyptians, who Egyptian Empire Egyptian conquests in Palestine and
often were rewarded with land, and paid foreign sol- Syria that served to protect Egypt from invasion, cre-
diers called mercenaries, many from Nubia. Support ated by Thutmose III (r. 1483–1450 b.c.e.)
from the army gave pharaohs the means to reassert mercenaries Hired soldiers who fight for pay.
their dominance over unruly nobles and priests. In Hatshepsut (r. 1498–1483 b.c.e.) Female pharaoh who
Egyptian art, the pharaoh now was customarily fortified Egypt.
shown shooting a bow from a war chariot, a forceful
Egyptian Civilization, 3000–1200 B.C.E. 23
most beautiful buildings of the ancient world. The The empire remained stable for about a hundred
building activities of other pharaohs, too, were fo- years, until Amenhotep IV (r. 1350–1334 b.c.e.) as-
cused on temples, which often advertised their military cended the throne. Even though Egypt had the most
achievements. Pharaohs no longer built pyramids but conservative culture of all the ancient Near Eastern
were buried in underground stone tombs. peoples, Amenhotep departed from Egyptian tradi-
Hatshepsut’s son, Thutmose III (r. 1483–1450 b.c.e.), tion by ruling that Aton, a minor sun god, was the
subdued the peoples of Palestine and Syria and cre- only god who could be worshiped (see Choice). He
ated an empire that served as a buffer between Egypt even changed his own name to Akhenaton to honor
and potential enemies, thus increasing Egypt’s secu- the god. The move so distressed the Egyptians that
rity. Rather than making conquered lands part of the army was compelled to remain in Egypt to main-
Egypt, Thutmose followed the Hyksos’ model of mak- tain order, which gave the Hittites an opportunity to
ing defeated rulers into vassals and allowing them to occupy parts of the Egyptian Empire. Akhenaton
remain in power as long as they remained loyal, paid then disappeared from history, perhaps a victim of
tribute, and sent hostages to Egypt to guarantee their the unrest that his reforms had caused.
good behavior. Every year or so, the pharaoh assem-
bled the Egyptian army, marched north, and reminded
the vassals—who were always ready to revolt—of his Aton Sun god whom the pharaoh Akhenaton
overwhelming power. These demonstrations rein- (r. 1350–1334 b.c.e.) attempted to make the supreme
forced the pharaoh’s position as military commander god of Egypt.
and renewed the army’s loyalty to him.
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Akhenaton, “Great Hymn to Aton”
The pharaoh Akhenaton’s “Great Hymn to Aton,” found engraved on the tomb of
the pharaoh Ay at El-Armana, expresses Akhenaton’s personal devotion to the god
Aton in formal and ceremonial language. The hymn begins with praises of Akhen-
aton and his wife, Nefertiti, and Akhenaton also is referred to by his coronation
name, Nefer-kheperu-Ra Wa-en-Ra (“Sole-One-of-Ra”). The text has similarities to
the scriptures of other world religions.
Praise of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, who lives on truth, the Lord of the
Two Lands: Nefer-kheperu-Ra Wa-en-Ra, the Son of Ra, who lives on truth, the
Lord of Diadems, Akhenaton, long in his lifetime; and praise of the Chief Wife of
the King, his beloved, the Lady of the Two Lands: Neferneferu-Aton Nefertiti,
living, healthy, and youthful forever and ever.
Akhenaton says:
➜ Why does Akhenaton ➜ Thou appearest beautifully on the horizon of heaven,
think Aton is important? Thou living Aton, the beginning of life!
Thou art gracious, great, glistening, and high over every land;
Thy rays encompass the lands to the limit of all that thou hast made.
As thou art Ra, thou reachest to the end of the lands;
➜ What is the significance ➜ Thou subduest them for thy beloved son. ➜ Who is this son?
of the transition from dark- ➜ When thou settest in the western horizon,
ness to light? The land is in darkness, in the manner of death.
Darkness is a shroud, and the earth is in stillness.
24 CHAPTER 1 The Origins of Western Civilization in the Ancient Near East, 3000–1200 B.C.E.
Source: Pritchard, James, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament—Third Edition with
supplement. © 1950, 1955, 1969, renewed 1978 by Princeton University Press. Reprinted by permission of
Princeton University Press.
Akhenaton was followed by several short-lived (r. 1279–1212 b.c.e.), the greatest of the warrior
boy pharaohs. One of them, Tut-ankh-aton, soon pharaohs, fought the Hittites for twenty years before
changed his name to Tut-ankh-amon (r. 1334–1325 the two empires made peace in 1259 b.c.e., establish-
b.c.e.), a sign that the god Amon had returned to fa- ing fixed boundaries and agreeing to defend each
vor. When Tut-ankh-amon died, he was buried so se-
cretly that his was the only pharaoh’s tomb not to be
robbed in antiquity. After its discovery in 1922 c.e., Tut-ankh-amon (r. 1334–1325 b.c.e.) Also known as
the boy king was nicknamed King Tut. King Tut; the only Egyptian pharaoh whose tomb was
The next pharaohs were army generals, suggesting not robbed in antiquity.
that the army had taken over. The pharaohs of the Ramses II (r. 1279–1212 b.c.e.) Egyptian pharaoh who
Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties (1293–1070 b.c.e.), made peace with the Hittites and constructed many
most of whom were named Ramses, struggled to temples.
restore and maintain the Egyptian Empire. Ramses II
Lost Civilizations of the Bronze Age, 2500–1200 B.C.E. 25
other against outside aggressors. To seal the bargain, Controlling territory from southern Anatolia to the
each ruler married a daughter of the other. Ramses Euphrates River, Ebla was able to oversee trade south
spent the remainder of his reign engaged in massive to Egypt, east to Mesopotamia, north to Anatolia, and
building projects. He not only constructed many tem- west into the Mediterranean. Like all ancient peoples,
ples in his own name; he also put his name on monu- the Eblaites had an agricultural economy, but their
ments of his predecessors. By the time of his death in farmland did not produce a large surplus. To expand
1212 b.c.e., Ramses II was over ninety years old, and their economy, they traded manufactured products,
great changes were soon to occur. The Bronze Age such as linen and wool textiles and fine inlaid wooden
was drawing to a close and, with it, the days of furniture, and raw materials, such as timber, copper,
Egypt’s greatest glory. and silver. In the course of their commercial activities,
the Eblaites assimilated religious practices from neigh-
boring cultures, worshiping the western Semitic god
Ba’al and the Mesopotamian Shamash and Ishtar. The
Lost Civilizations tablets also contained names like U-ru-sa-li-ma (Jeru-
of the Bronze Age, salem), Ab-ra-mu (Abraham), and Da-u-dum (David),
which would reappear centuries later in Jewish scrip-
2500–1200 B.C.E. ture. In about 2250 b.c.e., Ebla was sacked and burned
by the Akkadians. The fires baked the clay tablets in
➜
The Minoan activity known now as bull leaping may reflect either sport or religious ritual, and is one of
many examples of the importance of bulls in ancient societies. This comic-strip-like portrayal from the
Minoan palace at Knossos shows a long-horned bull charging a young man or woman who grasps the
horns, flips over the bull, and lands with arms outstretched—much like a modern gymnast—behind
the bull. (Scala/Art Resource, NY)
a legendary Cretan king. Soon after 3000 b.c.e., an ad- sails, but some were oar-driven warships whose pur-
vanced culture centered on coastal towns appeared, pose was to protect the Minoan trading fleet. The Mi-
and by 2000 b.c.e., several small urban centers known noans imported metal from the Aegean islands and
as “palace complexes” had been built near the coast, Italy, as well as amber that had reached the Mediter-
including Knossos in the north and Phaistos in the ranean from the Baltic Sea. Their exports included
south. Minoan palaces complexes had rooms of olive oil, made from olive trees grown on sunny hill-
roughly equal size organized around a central plaza. sides, and manufactured goods such as fine pottery,
As the complex expanded, additional rooms were stoneware, carved gemstones, and intricate metal jew-
added on the periphery. The palace complexes were elry, which they shipped to Greece, Anatolia, the Lev-
administrative centers overseeing the manufacture, ant, and Egypt. Egyptian wall paintings record a
storage, and distribution of goods rather than popu- people called the Keftiu who came from “the islands
lation centers. They seem to have been independent in the great green sea,” generally thought to be a ref-
of each other, and their lack of walls indicates that erence to Minoan traders. The Minoans also estab-
they were at peace with one another and not threat- lished trading colonies on islands, such as Thera, in
ened by foreign attack. Most people lived in the the Aegean Sea, and even on the coast of Anatolia.
palace suburbs or in the countryside, in houses that From about 2000 to 1400 b.c.e., the Minoans had a vir-
had doors, windows, and even indoor plumbing. tual monopoly on Mediterranean trade.
Crete did not have fertile river valleys that could The Minoans created their own writing system,
be used for large-scale grain production. For eco- known as Linear A, which is unlike that of Mesopota-
nomic expansion, the island location encouraged mia or Egypt. Characters were scratched on clay with
trade by sea, and Minoan ships traveled the Mediter- a pointed wooden stylus. Linear A has not yet been
ranean. Most were merchant vessels propelled by deciphered, but the purpose of Minoan documents is
Lost Civilizations of the Bronze Age, 2500–1200 B.C.E. 27
clear. Most are lists of words followed by a number cate, however, not only that the eruption—which did
and clearly represent inventories and accounts. destroy the Minoan colony on Thera—had relatively
In other ways, too, Minoan civilization was differ- little impact on Crete but also that it occurred two
ent from its Near Eastern counterparts. The Minoans hundred years earlier. It now is thought that the fall
had no high-profile gods worshiped in elaborate tem- of the Minoan civilization was caused by an aggres-
ples. Minoan religion was personal rather than public, sor people. As of 1400 b.c.e., the Minoan Linear A
practiced in caves and small shrines in the country- script was replaced in Crete by Linear B script, which
side. Worshipers demonstrated their devotion by used the Minoan symbols to write a different lan-
depositing cult objects, such as small golden double- guage. Linear B tablets also were found on the Greek
axes, in the shrines. Many deities represented the mainland, and in 1953, Linear B was deciphered and
forces of nature. One was a goddess known later to the discovered to be an early form of Greek. The presence
Greeks as the Lady of the Wild Things. Small statuettes of Linear B on Crete suggests, therefore, that main-
depict her wearing an open-breasted, flounced dress land Greeks destroyed the Minoan civilization and
and holding two snakes in her upraised hands. Artistic even occupied some of the Cretan cities.
portrayals, in which men and women are represented
equally, suggest that Minoan worshipers dressed like
the deity they were worshiping and worked them- The Mycenaeans of Greece
selves into a religious ecstasy in which they believed The Linear B tablets proved that Greek civilization
they could see the god or goddess. began much earlier than once believed. The Greeks
Also unlike other Near Eastern civilizations, the who occupied Crete were the descendants of Indo-
Minoans did not have self-conscious kings who erected Europeans who had settled in the Balkans beginning
monuments commemorating their great deeds. In around 2000 b.c.e. and are called Mycenaeans, after
fact, there are few representations of rulers in Minoan the Bronze Age fortress of Mycenae in central Greece.
artwork. The so-called throne room at Knossos is a The Mycenaeans had much in common with the Mi-
modest chamber with an unpretentious stone chair noans. Greece, like Crete, lacked big river valleys, but
that may have been used by a low-key administrator. its hills and sunny, dry climate were ideal for cultivat-
Minoan art focused on nature. Typical pottery dec- ing olives and grapes. The early Mycenaeans came
orations include geometric designs (such as lines and into contact with Minoan traders and assimilated much
circles), leaves and other vegetation, and animals of Minoan culture, often adapting it to their own
such as octopuses and bulls. Some of the rare Minoan needs. They mimicked Minoan pottery manufacture
artworks portraying people depict what seem to be and copied Minoan art. The Mycenaeans built their
sporting events, such as boxing. own palaces to serve as centers for the accumulation
The impression of peaceful, unassuming nature and distribution of resources. As their economy ex-
worshipers that emerges from the archaeological evi- panded, a means of keeping records was needed. The
dence is very different, however, from the picture of Mycenaeans therefore developed their own Linear B
the Minoans provided by the ancient Greeks. Accord- writing system by adapting Minoan Linear A to the
ing to Greek historians writing nearly a thousand Greek language. By 1600 b.c.e., the Mycenaeans had
years later, Minos, king of Knossos, created a sea- created the first civilization on the European mainland.
based power that dominated the Mediterranean Sea. Mycenaean cities, such as Mycenae in central
It was said that Minos’s wife Pasiphë mated with a Greece, Pylos in the west, and Athens in the east, were
sacred bull and produced the Minotaur, a bull-headed built on defendable hills, not right on the coast, and
man. Minos compelled the Greeks to provide seven were surrounded by massive walls built from huge
maidens and seven youths annually to feed the Mino- roughly hewn blocks. These fortified sites suggest that
taur. Like most ancient legends, this one had a basis the Mycenaeans were more security minded than the
in truth. It correctly recalled Minoan skill at seafaring Minoans and felt vulnerable to attack. Later Greek
and interest in bulls, and the Minotaur’s cannibalism legends suggest that the cities were independent and
might be somehow related to a recent archaeological
discovery of infants who were butchered and eaten
at Knossos. cult object Any object associated with the performing
Around 1400 b.c.e., the major Minoan cities were of religious rituals.
destroyed, and the Minoan civilization collapsed. It Mycenaeans Indo-European people who settled in
once was thought that a cataclysmic volcanic explo- Greece and established the first Greek civilization
sion on the island of Thera created huge tidal waves around 1600 b.c.e.
that overwhelmed Crete. More recent studies indi-
28 CHAPTER 1 The Origins of Western Civilization in the Ancient Near East, 3000–1200 B.C.E.
Greeks were called. It is possible, therefore, that and prostrated on the beach, killed and made into
groups of Mycenaeans were caught up in the south- heaps.” Those Sea Peoples who escaped scattered
ward movement of the Sea Peoples and that Troy was about the Mediterranean, creating further destruction.
one of the first places to be attacked. Egypt, after this great victory, sank into obscurity.
The Sea Peoples threatened the entire eastern In Greece, disorder continued. The Mycenaean
Mediterranean. Surviving correspondence among lo- trading economy fell into a severe depression as a
cal kings shows concern about impending attacks. consequence of the devastation in the eastern Medi-
The Hittite king wrote to Ammurapi, king of Ugarit, terranean. About 1150 b.c.e., Indo-Europeans known
to warn about invaders “who live on boats.” Ammu- as the Dorians took advantage of Mycenaean weak-
rapi reported the sighting of enemy ships to the king ness and made their way from northern to southern
of Cyprus, who replied, “If this is true, then make Greece. Documents from the city of Pylos tell of the
yourself very strong. Be on the lookout for the en- approaching peril. One mentions “watchers on the
emy.” Ammurapi’s answer depicts a dire situation: coasts” and lists the disposition of hundreds of row-
“Enemy ships have come and set my ships ablaze, ers for warships. Another reports, “The enemy
and have done wicked things to the country.” In the grabbed all the priests and murdered them by drown-
end, the Hittite kingdom was destroyed and Ugarit ing. The northern strangers continued their attack,
was sacked and burned. terrorizing and plundering.” In spite of Mycenaean
The Sea Peoples then advanced on the rich land in efforts, Pylos, too, was sacked and burned. By 1100
Egypt. Around 1180 b.c.e. they smashed into the Nile b.c.e., all the Mycenaean centers except the strong-
Delta, where they were met by pharaoh Ramses III hold of Athens had fallen to the invaders. The Dori-
(r. 1182–1151 b.c.e.). The Egyptian account of the bat- ans enslaved many of the local people they conquered.
tle is the longest surviving hieroglyphic inscription, Some Mycenaeans fled to Ionia, on the western coast
attesting the importance the Egyptians ascribed to of Anatolia, and founded new cities. Additional dis-
their heroic resistance. It began, “The foreign coun- ruption occurred at roughly the same time in Meso-
tries made a conspiracy in their islands. No land potamia, where shortly after 1200 b.c.e., the Kassite
could stand before their arms. They were coming kingdom was destroyed by the Elamites of Iran.
toward Egypt and thinking, ‘Our plans will suc- Throughout the Near East, the Bronze Age ended
ceed!’” Ramses was ready. He said, “I had the river in chaos.
mouths prepared like a strong wall with fully
equipped warships. On land, the charioteers con- Ramses III (r. 1182–1151 b.c.e.) Egyptian pharaoh who
sisted of picked men, prepared to crush the foreign defeated the Sea Peoples around 1180 b.c.e.
countries.” The battle ended in an overwhelming Dorians Indo-Europeans who began to settle in south-
Egyptian victory. Ramses boasted, “Those who ern Greece about 1150 b.c.e.
reached my frontier, their heart and their soul are fin- Ionia Western coastal region of Anatolia, the site of
ished forever. Those who entered the river mouths Greek colonies founded by the Mycenaeans.
were like birds ensnared in a net. They were enclosed
What factors resulted in the creation of Near Eastern gained greater control over their food supply through
civilization? the domestication of animals and plants. Expanded
➜
In what ways were the civilizations of Mesopotamia, agriculture brought increased food supplies, larger
Egypt, and the eastern Mediterranean similar to and populations, and, ultimately, the creation of cities.
different from one another?
Around 3000 b.c.e., the first phase of civilization—a
➜
civilizations were located in fertile river valleys, pro- Both the strength and the weakness of river valley
duced vast food surpluses through the extensive civilizations was that they were based very heavily
exploitation of agriculture, and supported large popu- on agriculture, with few opportunities for economic
lations. The use of writing marked the beginning of expansion through trade. At the same time, however,
history, for people now could create permanent narra- experiments in economic activity that focused more
tive accounts of their past. Over time, pastoral peoples heavily on trade were occurring elsewhere in the Lev-
such as the Semitic and Indo-European peoples inter- ant, Crete, and Greece. By 1200 b.c.e., the initial phase
acted with the river valley peoples and assimilated their of civilization, based on the extensive exploitation of
culture, and civilization spread out of the river valleys. agriculture in river valleys, was over. Destructive at-
Western civilization began with the civilizations of tacks by the Sea Peoples brought the Bronze Age to
Egypt and Mesopotamia. Although these two civi- an end.
lizations were similar in their general outlines, they
had very different specific traits. The Mesopotamians
were geographically exposed, politically disunited,
and generally pessimistic. The Egyptians were geo-
graphically protected, usually united into a single ➜
Thinking Back, Thinking Ahead ➜
kingdom, and extraordinarily optimistic. The Meso-
potamians had little faith that their gods would take In Bronze Age civilizations, religion played an
care of them; the Egyptians had complete confidence important role in helping people to understand
in their gods. Both peoples made fundamental contri- the world and their place in it. How do you think
butions to western civilization in the areas of govern- religion might continue to shape the way
ment and law, economic development, technology, people defined their place in the world?
religious belief, and literary and artistic expression.
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
The Return of the Mummy
Ever since antiquity, people have been fascinated by the civilization of ancient Egypt. Modern interest in
Egypt received a boost in the nineteenth century, when hieroglyphic writing was deciphered, and was re-
vived in 1922, when the tomb of Tut-ankh-amon, popularly known as King Tut, was unearthed. In the
1970s a dance called the “King Tut” even enjoyed a brief vogue. Egyptian settings are particularly common
in the movies, ranging from Cleopatra to Stargate to The Scorpion King. The most popular Egyptian-based
movies involve bringing a mummy back from dead. Nearly a hundred mummy films have been made. The
most famous one, “The Mummy,” was released in 1932 and starred Boris Karloff as Imhotep, an Egyptian
priest who was mummified alive. It was remade in 1999 under the same title. After archaeologists bring
Imhotep back to life by reading a spell from the “Scroll of Thoth,” he then desires to revive his lost love,
Ankhsenamun. He briefly does so, but both soon die a second death.
Why are we so interested in mummies? Why does Egyptian civilization fascinate us? Does it still have
something to tell us? People certainly do not watch mummy movies to learn history. Along with pyramids,
palm trees, and loincloths, mummy movies contain just enough factual information to provide a
background for the plot. For example, there really was an Imhotep, but he was an architect, not a priest.
There also was a book of spells that gave life after death, but it was the Book of the Dead, not the “Scroll
of Thoth.” And although the Egyptians certainly did create mummies, they did not believe that they would
rise from the dead.
Mummy movies do, however, deal with issues of great interest in the present day, such as the relationship
between bodily death and perpetual life. In any mummy movie, the mummy is revivified and then attempts
Websites 31
once again to enjoy earthly pleasures. In addition, unlike historical dramas that take place in the past,
mummy movies bring the past into the present and portray the contrasts between past and present cultures
and value systems. Even though the mummies are often villains, we nevertheless can feel sympathy for their
desire to recover their lost lives and lost loves. But their attempts to do so, which sometimes involve human
sacrifice, bring them into conflict with modern-day ethics and morality, and as a result the revived mummies
almost always are compelled to return to the grave.
Suggested Readings
Breasted, James H. The Ancient Records of Egypt. 5 vols. Ur- Palmer, L. R. Mycenaeans and Minoans: Aegean Prehistory in
bana: University of Illinois Press, 2001. A thorough look at the Light of the Linear B Tablets. 2nd ed. New York: Knopf, 1965.
kinds of documents produced by the Egyptians. A discussion of Bronze Age Minoan and Mycenaean history
Hallo, William W., and William K. Simpson. The Ancient Near based on translations of early Greek Linear B tablets.
East: A History. 2nd ed. New York: Holt Rinehart Winston, Roux, Georges. Ancient Iraq. 3rd ed. Harmondsworth, UK:
1997. A general survey of ancient Near Eastern history. Penguin, 1992. A classic summary of the evolution of ancient
Jackson, Danny P., Robert D. Biggs, and James G. Keenan. The Mesopotamian civilization.
Epic of Gilgamesh. Wauconda, Ill.: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1997. A Sandars, N. K. The Sea Peoples: Warriors of the Ancient
translation of the adventures of the Sumerian hero Gilgamesh. Mediterranean, 1250–1150 B.C. London: Thames and Hudson,
Knapp, A. Bernard. The History and Culture of Western Asia 1985. A study of the causes and effects of the invasion of the Sea
and Egypt. Chicago: Dorsey, 1988. A survey of the history of Peoples.
Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant to the fourth century b.c.e.
Websites
Sources on ancient civilizations, including prehistory and ar- On Ancient Egypt, Tour Egypt!, at www.touregypt.net/
chaeology, The History of the Ancient Near East Electronic ancientegypt
Compendium, at http://ancientneareast.tripod.com
For Sumerian literature, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumer-
ian Literature, at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/index.html
32
CHAPTER
Iron Age Civilizations,
1200–500 B.C.E.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Choice: Deborah Leads the Hebrew The Assyrians and Their Successors,
People Against the Canaanites 900–550 B.C.E.
Introduction The Rise of the Assyrian Empire
Assyrian Economy and Government
Merchants and Traders of the The Successors of the Assyrians
Eastern Mediterranean,
1200–650 B.C.E. The Persian Empire, 550–500 B.C.E.
From Bronze to Iron Cyrus and the Rise of the Persian Empire
The Phoenicians Darius and the Consolidation of
Other Eastern Mediterranean Traders the Empire
Persian Society and Religion
The Hebrews and Monotheism, Persia, the West, and the Future
1800–900 B.C.E.
Hebrew Origins Summary
The Exodus and the Age of Judges Echo: From the Lydian Shekel to the
Voice: The Song of Deborah Silver Dollar
as
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INDIAN OCEAN
814 B.C.E. 753 B.C.E. 721 B.C.E. 650 B.C.E. 587 B.C.E.
Phoenicians Rome is Assyrians Lydians Chaldeans capture Jerusalem and send Jews into exile
found founded conquer Israel invent
Carthage in Italy coinage 550 B.C.E.
Persian Empire begins
33
34 CHAPTER 2 Iron Age Civilization, 1200–500 B.C.E.
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Deborah Leads the Hebrew People
Against the Canaanites
The biblical book of Judges reports that not long after the Hebrews
settled in Canaan they faced an attack by the Canaanite king Jabin and
his general Sisera. The male Hebrew leaders were reluctant to act, so it
was a woman, Deborah, who led the Hebrew resistance. Deborah must
have been a woman of great character, for at this time political leader-
ship was almost always exercised by men. Deborah overcame conven-
tion and served as one of the Hebrew judges, leaders who arose to help
the Hebrews overcome spiritual or military troubles. Deborah may have
been able to take charge of the Hebrew resistance because she also was
called a prophetess, meaning that she was thought to be in direct com-
munication with God.
When Deborah’s story begins, she is holding court under a palm tree
Deborah where Hebrews come to have their disputes settled. The Hebrew people call out to
God for help against the Canaanites, and when the Hebrew men do nothing, it is
Women usually were kept in
Deborah who acts. Summoning the Hebrew general Barak, she reminds him that
the background in Hebrew
God had commanded him to assemble ten thousand men to fight the Canaanites.
political life. In times of
Barak timidly responds, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go
stress, however, able women
with me, I will not go.” It was unusual for women to accompany armies into bat-
such as Deborah took leader-
tle, but Deborah replies, “I will go with you, but you will not gain any honor, for
ship roles. In this illustration
God will surrender Sisera into the hands of a woman.” The Hebrews were espe-
from a manuscript in the
cially afraid because Sisera’s army included 900 iron chariots. Iron had only
Bodleian Library in Oxford,
recently begun to be used for weapons and was thought to bestow a great mili-
England, Deborah is shown,
tary advantage. Deborah again encourages Barak to take action, saying, “Get up,
sword in hand, leading the
for this is the day that God has delivered Sisera into your hands.”
Hebrew army against the
Then Barak led his ten thousand men to face the Canaanites, and Deborah
Canaanites. The accompany-
went with him. Sisera called out his chariots, but a fierce storm turned the ground
ing text reads, “Therefore
into mud and Sisera’s chariots were unable to maneuver. The Hebrew army
came Deborah and Barak son
charged and put the Canaanites to flight.
of Abynoam against the
Sisera fled and took refuge in the tent of Jael, a distant female relative of
enemies of Israel in battle
Moses. She cunningly welcomed him, tucking him into bed with a bottle of milk.
and routed them.” (Bodleian
But when he was fast asleep, she hammered a tent peg into his head and killed
Library, Oxford/The Art
him. Barak arrived in pursuit to discover that Deborah’s prophecy had been
Archive)
fulfilled—Sisera had been surrendered into the hands of a woman.
Deborah then sang a victory song, which may well be the oldest original com-
position to survive in Hebrew scripture. Her story provides a brief insight into a
world dominated by men where one woman serving as God’s spokesperson took a
leadership role in the Hebrew resistance and another woman slew an enemy gen-
eral. One has to wonder whether there were other occasions when women also
provided leadership—occasions that were not preserved in the historical sources,
almost all of which were written by and about men.
Merchants and Traders of the Eastern Mediterranean, 1200–650 B.C.E. 35
Chronology
1270 B.C.E. Hebrew Exodus from Egypt 671 B.C.E. Assyrians conquer Egypt
1230 B.C.E. Hebrews settle in Canaan 650 B.C.E. Lydians invent coinage
1200 B.C.E. Beginning of Iron Age in the Near East 612 B.C.E. Chaldeans and Medes capture Nineveh
1150 B.C.E. Deborah serves as Hebrew judge 587 B.C.E. Chaldeans capture Jerusalem; Babylonian
Captivity begins
1050 B.C.E. Saul becomes first Hebrew king
550 B.C.E. Persian Empire begins
1010 B.C.E. David becomes Hebrew king
547 B.C.E. Persians conquer Lydia
970 B.C.E. Solomon becomes Hebrew king
539 B.C.E. Persians conquer Babylon
814 B.C.E. Carthage founded by the Phoenicians
535 B.C.E. Babylonian Jews return to Judah
800 B.C.E. Semiramis becomes queen of Assyria
525 B.C.E. Persians conquer Egypt
750 B.C.E. Zoroaster formalizes teachings of
Persian religion 513 B.C.E. Darius attacks the Scythians
not keep a sharp edge. Initially, therefore, bronze re- out of the river valleys and, in general, toward the
mained the best metal for weapons, which had to hold west, first to the Levant, then to Anatolia and the
up in battle. Only over time did processes such as car- Balkans, and then to western Europe. The Iron Age
burizing (alloying iron with about 1 percent carbon), was a period of smaller, fortified cities, located either
quenching (sudden immersion of heated iron in wa- in uplands for protection or near seacoasts for ac-
ter), tempering (reheating quenched iron and allow- cess to water transportation, with economies based
ing it to cool slowly), and hammering come into use largely on commerce. Artisans no longer concen-
for creating hard, nonbrittle, and sharp iron weapons. trated on luxury goods, as in the Bronze Age, but on
The use of iron brought great economic changes. mass-produced pottery and textiles. Merchants grew
Iron plows could work tough soils, such as those wealthy transporting goods from one trading center
in the Danube and Rhine valleys in Europe, that to another. Typical Iron Age culture arose first on the
wooden scratch-plows could not, and large-scale eastern coast of the Mediterranean, represented by
agriculture thus expanded out of the Near Eastern the Phoenicians, Arameans, and Philistines. It then
river valleys. But Iron Age societies could never be as spread to the Lydians in western Anatolia.
completely dependent on agriculture as the river val-
ley civilizations of the Bronze Age, for their soils were The Phoenicians
not nearly as rich. Thus, in the Iron Age, people had
to find other ways of expanding their economies, and Many of the seacoast cities of Phoenicia (modern
they did so by focusing much more heavily on manu- Lebanon) recovered following the attacks of the Sea
facturing and trade, which became another of the dis- Peoples. The hilly and forested coastal land was un-
tinguishing characteristics of the Iron Age. suitable for extensive agriculture, so the Phoenicians,
During the Iron Age, peoples living outside river
valleys gained a greater opportunity to expand their Phoenicians Semitic people engaged in sea trade who
political and economic influence. The centers of civi- inhabited modern-day Lebanon.
lization, culture, and economic development moved
Merchants and Traders of the Eastern Mediterranean, 1200–650 B.C.E. 37
M
early Iron Age life.
ES
Cyprus
Tigris
O
NS
PO
A
RIA
ICIA
T
M
Byblos SY IA
EN
ARAMEANS
Mediterranean
HO
Sidon Damascus
Sea Tyre P
such as ivory, gemstones, and pea-
CANAAN
NE
Babylon
HEBREWS pyrus from Egypt; spices such as
LE
ES
P CHALDEANS
TIN
Dead Sea
I L IS
To the south of the Phoenicians, on the seacoast of same weight, and thus the same value, as a means of
modern-day Palestine, lived the Philistines, an Indo- exchange in business transactions. These lumps were
European people descended from the warlike Sea the first coins. They were so useful that other trading
People known to the Egyptians as the Peleset, who peoples soon adopted them, and the use of coinage
had settled there just after 1200 b.c.e. The Philistines rapidly spread throughout the Mediterranean and
established their own city-states, such as Ashkelon Near Eastern worlds.
and Gaza, each ruled by its own lord. They left no
written records and so are known only from writings
of their enemies and from a few archaeological re-
mains, such as a furnace used for making iron The Hebrews and
swords. They appear in the Bible as warriors known Monotheism,
for their iron weapons who threatened the peoples
around them. In spite of their military reputation, 1800–900 B.C.E.
however, the Philistines were primarily farmers, for
➜➜
Hebrews assimilated much of Mesopotamian culture, them.” In Hebrew scripture, the name of God was
including its legal concepts, the Sumerian word edin never completely spelled out but was represented by
(a flat plain), stories of a great flood, descriptions of the Hebrew letters for YHWH (in English, Yahweh,
ziggurats, and tales of heroes who were cast adrift as the Christian Jehovah), which means something like
infants. These elements reappeared a thousand years “the one who is.” God then ordered Moses to free the
later in Hebrew scripture in the judicial concept of Hebrews from bondage in Egypt; after several con-
“an eye for an eye,” and in stories of the garden of frontations with the pharaoh, Moses successfully
Eden, Noah’s flood, the tower of Babel, and the infant guided the refugee Hebrews across the Red Sea and
Moses being cast adrift in the Nile. into the Sinai Desert, where Moses received the Ten
The Hebrew people expanded. According to scrip- Commandments of Hebrew law from God.
ture, the twelve sons of the patriarch Jacob, the The biblical account then states that after forty
grandson of Abraham, gave rise to twelve tribes, or years in the wilderness, the Hebrews entered Canaan.
extended clans. The tribes were later known as the Led by Joshua, the Hebrews successfully occupied
children of Israel, because Jacob also was known as some territory, often in the uplands, but they were
Israel. During a period of famine, Jacob’s son Joseph constantly threatened by neighboring peoples. There
moved his family to northern Egypt—possibly be- were atrocities on both sides, and the Hebrews some-
tween 1700 and 1600 b.c.e., during the Hyksos pe- times massacred Canaanite populations to protect
riod, when Egypt’s northern frontiers were open to Hebrew religious practices from foreign influence.
outsiders—and the Hebrews became agricultural la- The dating of the Exodus and the settlement in
borers or slaves working on building projects. Their Canaan is one of the great controversies of biblical
stay in Egypt thus turned the Hebrews from wander- studies. The Bible states that the Hebrews departed
ing pastoralists into settled farmers and artisans. “from the city of Ramses,” thus placing the Exodus
Aside from scripture, however, there is little record of during the reign of one of the eleven pharaohs named
the Hebrews’ stay in Egypt. Near Eastern documents Ramses, whose rule began around 1300 b.c.e. The
of the thirteenth century b.c.e. and later make generic, biblical references to massive building projects at this
often derogatory, references to the Ha-bi-ru, a word time fit the known activities of Ramses II (r. 1279–
meaning “the dusty people.” They appear as slaves, 1212 b.c.e.). In addition, the earliest nonbiblical evi-
laborers, bandits, and mercenaries. Egyptian records, dence for the Palestinian Hebrews—a monument
for example, speak of “the Ha-bi-ru who drag stone erected in 1208 b.c.e. by the pharaoh Merneptah, who
for the great building of Ramses II.” Eventually, the bragged after a campaign in Canaan that “Israel lies
word Ha-bi-ru came to be applied to the Hebrews desolate”—indicates that a Hebrew nation existed in
alone. It has also been suggested, but with little justi- Palestine by that time. A similar date is provided by
fication, that Hebrew monotheism influenced Akhen- Palestinian archaeological finds showing destruction
aton’s belief that Aton was the one primary god. in the thirteenth century b.c.e., attributed to the cam-
paigns of Joshua. This evidence would put the Exo-
The Exodus and the Age of Judges dus around 1270 b.c.e. and the settlement in Canaan
forty years later, around 1230 b.c.e. The book of Kings,
One of the greatest events in Hebrew history was the however, states that the Hebrew king Solomon’s tem-
Exodus, in which the prophet Moses led several thou- ple, constructed around the year 966 b.c.e., was built
sand Hebrew slaves out of captivity in Egypt. Accord- in the 480th year after the Exodus, thereby dating the
ing to scripture, the infant Moses was placed in a Exodus to around 1446 b.c.e. The controversy over
basket and set adrift in the Nile River by his mother
because the pharaoh had ordered all male Hebrew
tribes Descendants of the twelve sons of the Hebrew
children to be killed. Moses was rescued downstream patriarch Jacob, who also was known as Israel.
by an Egyptian princess and then raised in the Egyp-
Israel Another name for the patriarch Jacob; it became
tian royal household. This scriptural account is consis- the name for the Hebrew people in general and also
tent with the Egyptian origin of Moses’s name, which for the northern Hebrew kingdom.
is similar to that of the pharaoh Thutmose. The biblical Exodus (from Greek for “departure”) Departure of the
book of Exodus goes on to report that after killing an Hebrews from Egypt, led by Moses.
Egyptian overseer, Moses took refuge in the Sinai Moses Hebrew prophet who led the Hebrews out of
Desert, where God addressed him from a burning Egypt and received the Ten Commandments from God.
bush and revealed His true name: “I appeared to Ten Commandments Laws that the Hebrews received
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob by the name of El from God in the Sinai Desert after the Exodus.
Shaddai, but my name YHWH was not known to
42 CHAPTER 2 Iron Age Civilization, 1200–500 B.C.E.
the date of the Exodus is still unresolved, but at pres- to assume significant leadership roles, as when Debo-
ent, the later date—that is, 1270 b.c.e.—is generally rah served as a judge around 1150 b.c.e. and led an
thought to be more consistent with the evidence. The army to victory against the Canaanites. Another He-
Hebrew invasion of Canaan thus provides one more brew judge, Samson, was a warrior of very great
example of the movement of peoples that occurred strength. According to Hebrew scripture, he killed
toward the end of the Bronze Age. many Philistines in single combat and did great dam-
After the settlement in Canaan, the Hebrew tribes age to Philistine crops, but he then was captured,
were united religiously by a shared shrine at Shiloh, blinded, and enslaved. The Philistines continued to
where a sacred container known as the Ark of the dominate the Hebrews, even capturing the Ark of the
Covenant preserved the Ten Commandments. But Covenant and forbidding the Hebrews to make use of
the Hebrews lacked any political unity, which made iron technology.
them easy prey to enemies such as the Canaanites to
the north and the Philistines on the coastal plain to
the west. The most important Hebrew leaders now
were called judges. Believing themselves to be acting Ark of the Covenant Sacred container that held the
under Yahweh’s authority, judges led short-lived stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments.
coalitions of tribes against foreign threats, especially judges Leaders of the Hebrews after the settlement in
the Philistines. The unsettled times gave persons who Canaan.
ordinarily were lacking in privilege the opportunity
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
The Song of Deborah
The account in the biblical book of Judges of the Hebrew victory over the Canaan-
ite general Sisera is followed by “Deborah’s victory song,” in which the Hebrew
judge Deborah expresses her thanks to Yahweh for bringing victory to the He-
brews. It is generally considered to be one of the oldest texts in Jewish scripture,
having been composed in the late twelfth century B.C.E., and is one of the rare
instances in which a primary source was inserted directly into the text of the Bible.
The song recapitulates much of the story told in the previous chapter of Judges.
Even though the song begins with the names of both Deborah and her general
Barak, the text clearly shows that it is Deborah who is speaking, and it provides a
rare portrayal of a woman’s point of view.
1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day: 2 “That the
leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless
Yahweh! 3 Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to Yahweh I will sing, I will make
➜ Why might Deborah have melody to Yahweh, the God of Israel. . . . 6 In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,
been called a “mother” here
in the days of Jael, caravans ceased and travelers kept to the byways. ➜ 7 The
and not a judge or prophetess
peasantry ceased in Israel, they ceased until you arose, Deborah, arose as a mother
as she is called elsewhere?
in Israel. . . . 12 Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise,
Barak, lead away your captives, O son of Abinoam. ➜ 13 . . . The people of Yah-
weh marched down for Him against the mighty. 14 From Ephraim they set out
➜ How many of the Hebrew thither into the valley, following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen; and from
tribes actually resisted the Zebulun those who bear the marshals staff; 15 the princes of Issachar came with
Canaanite army? Deborah, and Issachar faithful to Barak; into the valley they rushed forth at his
heels. Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. 16 Why
The Hebrews and Monotheism, 1800–900 B.C.E. 43
did you tarry among the sheepfolds, to hear the piping for the flocks? Among the
clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. 17 Gilead stayed beyond the
Jordan; and Dan, why did he abide with the ships? Asher sat still at the coast of
the sea, settling down by his landings. . . . 19 The kings came, they fought; then
the kings of Canaan fought, at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo [a great
Canaanite city]; they got no spoils of silver. 20 From heaven fought the stars, from
their courses they fought against Sisera. 21 The torrent Kishon [a flash flood]
swept them away. . . . 22 Then loud beat the horses hoofs with the galloping, gal-
loping of his steeds. 23 Curse Meroz [a village that let the Canaanite fugitives
escape], says the angel of Yahweh, curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they
➜ Why does Deborah in- came not to the help of Yahweh. . . . ➜ 24 Most blessed of women be Jael, the
clude this poignant portrait wife of Heber, of tent-dwelling women most blessed. 25 Sisera asked water and
of the Canaanite women? she gave him milk, she brought him curds in a lordly bowl. 26 She put her hand to
the tent peg and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet; she struck Sisera a blow,
she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. 27 He sank, he fell, he
lay still at her feet; at her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell dead.
28 Out of the window she peered, the mother of Sisera gazed through the lattice:
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’ 29
➜ How does this account Her wisest ladies make answer, ‘Nay.’ She gives answer to herself, 30 ‘Are they not
compare to the account
finding and dividing the spoil? A maiden or two for every man; spoil of dyed stuffs
given in the “Choice” at the
for Sisera, spoil of dyed stuffs embroidered, two pieces of dyed work embroidered
beginning of the chapter?
for my neck as spoil?’ 31 So perish all thine enemies, O Yahweh! But thy friends be
like the sun as he rises in his might”
The Evolution of Hebrew Identity Hebrew laws were in many ways much more com-
prehensive than the laws of other Near Eastern
The Exodus was understood as a sign that Yahweh peoples, for they dealt not only with religious, civil,
was performing His part in the covenant with the He- and criminal law but also with intimate aspects of
brews. Those who had escaped from Egypt came to be personal behavior, such as personal hygiene and food
called the children of Israel. During the forty years of preparation. Laws often were expressed as prohibi-
wandering in the wilderness, Moses finalized the He- tions that began with the words “Thou shalt not” and
brews’ covenant with God when he received the Ten were addressed not to society in general, as were the
Commandments. God renewed his promise to make laws of most other nations, but to individuals. Four of
the Hebrews His chosen people and to lead them into the Ten Commandments had to do with honoring
Canaan, the promised land of good fortune, and the Yahweh, including not worshiping any other gods
Hebrews, in turn, agreed to obey God’s laws as set and respecting the Sabbath, the day of worship. The
forth in the Ten Commandments and to recognize remaining six commandments regulated human soci-
Yahweh as their only god, to the exclusion of all oth- ety and prohibited behaviors such as adultery, theft,
ers. Over the centuries, many other regulations writ- murder, false testimony, and covetousness. These
ten in the Torah and elsewhere specified the Hebrews’ briefly stated regulations did not specify punish-
religious duties toward God and their moral conduct ments for guilty parties, but other sections of Hebrew
toward other people. Under the guidance of the law did. In many cases, violations of the law, such as
prophets, Hebrew laws and traditions emphasized not respecting the sanctity of the Sabbath, were pun-
ethical behavior, personal morality, and social justice ishable by death. But most Hebrew adherence to the
involving both governments and individuals. The law was self-imposed. It was the individual responsi-
prophets taught that all people were equal before bility of every Hebrew to live an upright life.
God, and the rich and powerful were reminded to In some ways, Hebrew law, religion, and society
protect the poor and weak. Rulers were expected to were similar to those of other Near Eastern peoples.
rule justly and to obey God’s law. If they did not do so,
then the prophets were justified in rebuking them. As
individuals, the Hebrews learned to value righteous- Sabbath Jewish holy day, modern Saturday.
ness, justice, kindness, and compassion.
44 CHAPTER 2 Iron Age Civilization, 1200–500 B.C.E.
For personal injuries, Hebrew law specified the same the process, David captured the heavily fortified Ca-
“eye for an eye” law of retaliation found in the Baby- naanite city of Jerusalem and made it the Hebrew
lonian Code of Hammurabi. As in many other Near capital. He also expanded the borders of the kingdom
Eastern societies, women were disadvantaged and all the way to the Mediterranean coast. The creation
could not own or sell property or initiate lawsuits or of this expanded Hebrew kingdom was seen as the
divorces. Initially, women participated in some reli- fulfillment of Yahweh’s promise to Abraham to pro-
gious rituals, but, over time, they lost this right. Just vide a land for His chosen people.
as Mesopotamian gods were believed to be the true David was succeeded as king by his son Solomon
rulers of Mesopotamian cities and kingdoms, Yah- (r. 970–930 b.c.e.), who centralized Hebrew worship
weh was believed to be the true ruler of the Hebrews, by constructing in Jerusalem a temple to contain the
and individual Hebrew leaders acted on His author- Ark of the Covenant. The Temple was designed by ar-
ity. In other Near Eastern societies only a small royal chitects from Tyre and built, over seven years, at great
or priestly segment of the population was thought to cost, with 70,000 haulers, 80,000 quarryers, and 3,300
be in communication with the god, whereas any He- foremen taking part in its construction. It became the
brew could potentially serve as Yahweh’s spokes- focus of Hebrew religious rituals, and once a year, a
person. In addition, other Near Eastern societies high priest entered the Holy of Holies, the sanctuary
acknowledged the existence of some form of afterlife, of the Temple, to pray and sacrifice on behalf of the
but, on this point, Hebrew scripture was divided. The people.
book of Isaiah, for example, stated, “The dead shall Like other Near Eastern rulers, Hebrew kings had
live, their bodies shall rise,” but the book of Psalms great authority. Solomon ruled wisely and was fa-
said, “The dead cannot praise the Lord.” mous for his fair settlements of lawsuits and quarrels.
Their belief that a single god had made them God’s But Hebrew kings also sometimes abused their
chosen people, along with their following of Yah- power. David, for example, connived to take the
weh’s laws and their pursuit of a life based on moral woman Bathsheba from Uriah the Hittite, a foreign
and ethical behavior, united the Hebrews, gave them mercenary serving in Israel’s army, by sending Uriah
a unique identity, and kept them separate from other into the front line of battle, where he was soon killed.
peoples. But meeting all of Yahweh’s expectations David, however, did not go unpunished. The prophet
was not always easy. The Bible reports numerous oc- Nathan rebuked him, saying, “Because you have ut-
casions on which Hebrews were caught engaging in terly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you
the worship of other gods, making Yahweh angry and shall die.” Other prophets, also acting under Yah-
causing Him to punish them. Nevertheless, the He- weh’s authority, approached other Hebrew kings to
brews persevered and never abandoned their devo- advise and censure them and to ensure that they
tion to their God no matter what tribulations they ruled according to the law.
faced. The Hebrew God continues to be worshiped in By the time of Solomon, the Hebrews had changed
the present day, whereas the worship of nearly all the from a loosely organized group of pastoral peoples
other Near Eastern gods ended thousands of years bound together by a shared religion into an urban-
ago. The Hebrew code for living a moral and ethical ized and politically centralized kingdom that was
life likewise provided a model that was later assimi- a full participant in the political and economic life
lated by Christianity and Islam. of the early Iron Age. The Hebrew kingdom now
extended from the Euphrates River to the Sinai Pen-
The Hebrew Kingdom insula. The Hebrews controlled the trade routes
between the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and they
Eventually, scripture relates, the Hebrews realized taxed caravans traveling from the east. Trade brought
that their disunity was a weakness, and they asked a profitable return on goods such as gold, silver,
the prophet Samuel, the last Hebrew judge, to give ivory, and exotic animals, and tribute and gifts came
them a king. Samuel attempted to dissuade them, but
the people insisted, saying, “No! We will have a king
over us, so we may be like all the nations, and so our anoint To consecrate by applying holy oil.
king may govern us and go out before us and fight Saul (r. 1050–1010 b.c.e.) First king of the Hebrews
our battles.” Samuel therefore anointed two kings David (r. 1010–970 b.c.e.) Hebrew king who made Jeru-
in succession, consecrating them with holy oil, first salem the Hebrew capital city.
Saul (r. 1050–1010 b.c.e.) and then David (r. 1010– Solomon (r. 970–930 b.c.e.) Hebrew king who built the
970 b.c.e.). Under their leadership, the Hebrews de- Hebrew Temple in Jerusalem.
feated and expelled the Philistines from Canaan. In
The Hebrews and Monotheism, 1800–900 B.C.E. 45
This reconstruction of the temple built in Jerusalem by King Solomon ca. 966 b.c.e. shows its three-part plan,
with two side sections and a larger central section. The style is similar to the three-chambered temples of the
Phoenicians and may be attributed to Solomon’s use of Phoenician architects and artisans. The Temple pro-
vided a centralized site for the performance of Hebrew religious rituals and gave the Hebrew kings great
religious authority. (Ritmeyer Archaeological Design)
from foreign rulers. Solomon’s international relations neighbors. They also came under foreign religious
extended to Phoenicia in the northwest and to Arabia influence. The Bible tells of prophets rebuking He-
in the south. Using Phoenician expertise, Solomon brews who worshiped foreign gods. Prophets were
constructed a fleet of trading ships and engaged uncompromising. Their fearlessness in criticizing
in joint trading expeditions with the Phoenicians. even the policies of kings provided models for later
Camel caravans from Sheba, an Arabian kingdom on Christian holy men and women who challenged
the Red Sea, provided gold, as well as the frankin- kings and emperors.
cense and myrrh needed for Hebrew religious rituals. The northern kingdom of Israel continued to
During a famous visit, the queen of Sheba brought evolve along typical Iron Age lines, with much trade
camels, spices, gold, and gems. These mercantile and and exchange of ideas with foreign peoples. The Bible
diplomatic initiatives brought great wealth into the shows the northern Hebrews adopting elements of
Hebrew kingdom. The Bible declares, “King Solomon Phoenician culture, such as the worship of the god
exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches” and Ba’al, who was portrayed as the primary competitor
“Solomon made gold and silver as plentiful as stones of Yahweh. King Ahab reportedly lived in an ivory
in Jerusalem.” Solomon’s army had more than ten palace and married a Phoenician princess named
thousand cavalry and a thousand chariots, and his in- Jezebel. After Ahab built a temple to Ba’al for Jezebel,
ternational reputation was so great that he was able the two were said to have been punished by Yahweh
to marry a daughter of the Egyptian pharaoh. for their sins: Ahab bled to death in battle, and Jezebel
After Solomon’s death, popular unrest over high was thrown from a building and eaten by dogs. The
taxes caused the kingdom to split in two. In the south, southern kingdom of Judah, however, remained more
the tribes of Judah and Benjamin became the king- conservative and less affected by foreign influences.
dom of Judah, with its capital at Jerusalem, and its The kings of Judah supported the monotheistic move-
inhabitants became known as “Judaeans,” or Jews. ment and consolidated the position of the Temple in
The remaining ten tribes were incorporated into the Jerusalem as the religious center of Jewish worship
northern kingdom of Israel, with its capital at
Samaria, and became known as Samaritans. Having
lost its unity, the Hebrew kingdom also lost its eco- Judah One of the twelve Hebrew tribes; also the name
nomic and political importance, and the Hebrews for the southern Hebrew kingdom.
once again suffered attacks by their more powerful
46 CHAPTER 2 Iron Age Civilization, 1200–500 B.C.E.
At the same time, Hebrew oral traditions of their past ways on call. Native Assyrian farmers made up the
history and their relations with Yahweh began to be backbone of the army. The Assyrians assimilated the
committed to writing, using the alphabet borrowed most up-to-date military tactics from the steppe no-
from the Phoenicians. mads to the north. Cavalry mounted on horseback
replaced old-fashioned chariots. Cavalrymen had no
saddles or stirrups but sat on a blanket and held a set
The Assyrians and Their of reins. A lance was useless—a warrior would slide
Successors, 900–550 B.C.E. off the back of his horse if he were to impale someone
with this weapon—but swords and short spears could
➜
What effect did the growth of the Assyrian Empire have be used to hack or jab downward at a foe. Mounted
on the Assyrian economy?
archers were particularly effective as mobile shock
➜
dener, he later became a soldier and was made king kiah became a model of a good king. Eventually, he
by the army because of his great military ability. persuaded the Assyrians to leave by agreeing to pay
Tiglath-Pilezer made the territorial acquisitions that tribute to Sennacherib. In 671 b.c.e., the Assyrian king
created the final phase of the Assyrian Empire. He Esarhaddon (r. 681–668 b.c.e.) invaded Egypt, where
conquered the Arameans and Phoenicians, thereby a southern dynasty from Nubia had assumed power.
giving the Assyrians access to the timber of Lebanon Esarhaddon occupied Lower Egypt and declared
and the ports of the Mediterranean Sea. He also himself king not only of Upper and Lower Egypt but
seized Babylonia, where a Semitic people known as of Ethiopia as well. For the first time in history, both
the Chaldeans had recently settled, and claimed to major river valleys of the Near East were controlled
have annexed the Medes, an Indo-European people by the same power.
of western Iran.
Subsequent kings continued to expand the empire. Assyrian Economy and Government
In 721 b.c.e., Samaria, capital of the northern Hebrew
kingdom of Israel, fell to Sargon II (r. 721–705 b.c.e.). In the Assyrian Empire, warfare was a way of life.
Soon afterward, the Philistines were annexed, giving The Assyrians went to war for three reasons: defense,
the Assyrians control of the entire eastern Mediter- territorial expansion, and economic growth. Peoples
ranean coast. Under Sennacherib (r. 704–681 b.c.e.), who had attacked the Assyrians in the past, such as
the Assyrians invaded the southern Hebrew king- the Arameans or Babylonians, were defeated. Con-
dom of Judah, as attested not only by Hebrew and quered territories also created a defensive buffer zone,
Assyrian documents but also by archaeology. In as they had for the Egyptians. The Assyrians consoli-
preparation for his defense, the Jewish king Hezekiah dated their military gains by placing army garrisons
built a tunnel, which still exists, 1,750 feet long that in the hills and on trade routes and by granting land
led to wells outside the walls and gave Jerusalem a to Assyrian settlers. Important conquered territories
dependable water supply. The Assyrians besieged
Jerusalem in 701 b.c.e., and Sennacherib boasted:
“Hezekiah the Jew did not submit. I besieged his Chaldeans Semitic people who settled in Babylonia in
cities, and conquered them with earthen ramps, the eighth century b.c.e.
battering rams, and tunnels. I drove away 200,150 annex To incorporate a conquered territory into an
people, young and old, male and female, and consid- empire or kingdom.
ered them booty. Himself I shut up in Jerusalem, like Medes Indo-European people occupying western Iran.
a bird in a cage.” Nevertheless, the city held out. Ac- Sennacherib (r. 704–681 b.c.e.) Assyrian king who
cording to Hebrew scripture, Hezekiah, guided by attacked Jerusalem in 701 b.c.e.
the prophet Isaiah, sought the help of Yahweh, and Esarhaddon (r. 681–668 b.c.e.) Assyrian king who
186,000 Assyrian besiegers died in a single night by conquered Egypt in 671 b.c.e.
divine intervention. By listening to a prophet, Heze-
48 CHAPTER 2 Iron Age Civilization, 1200–500 B.C.E.
were annexed, made into provinces, and directly gov- across the empire, where, as newcomers, they would
erned by Assyrian administrators. More distant or be unlikely to cause trouble. For example, after the
marginal defeated peoples were made into vassals conquest of Israel in 721, thousands of Hebrews were
and permitted to govern themselves as long as they deported to Iran, and conquered peoples from other
followed Assyrian orders. areas were settled in Israel. These Hebrew exiles were
The empire was a moneymaking enterprise. For- later known as the ten lost tribes of Israel. King Sar-
eign trade benefited the state, and luxury goods were gon II proclaimed, “In the first year of my reign I be-
funneled into the royal court. Warfare created income sieged and conquered Samaria. I deported 27,290
in several ways. Tribute was assessed on defeated inhabitants. I settled prisoners there, people from all
peoples, and additional contributions also were ex- lands. I set up my officials over them as governors. I
torted from them. Raiding parties plundered beyond laid tribute upon them.” These relocations also pro-
the empire’s frontiers. Wherever they went, the As- moted economic expansion, as the Assyrians moved
syrians siphoned off as much wealth as possible. In persons with skilled trades, such as artisans and mer-
general, they had no concern for the economic well- chants, into economically underdeveloped regions,
being of subject peoples and did not incorporate thus creating new sources of income for the empire.
them into Assyrian society or give them a share in Most of the deported peoples became integrated into
the benefits of empire. Trading peoples such as the the populations among whom they were settled and
Phoenicians and Arameans, who helped meet the in- lost their previous cultural identity. Yet even these ex-
satiable Assyrian demand for luxury goods, did have treme measures could not extinguish unrest, and As-
a privileged legal status, but their resources were syrian kings were constantly suppressing revolts.
drained for the benefit of the Assyrians. These short- To administer their growing empire, the Assyrians
sighted policies resulted in constant unrest, resis- created the first unified system of imperial govern-
tance, and revolt in the conquered territories. ment. Past empires, such as those of the Akkadians,
The Assyrians used terror tactics to maintain con-
trol of their subject populations. Opposition was
punished by enslavement, expulsion, and harsh provinces Foreign territories annexed and adminis-
treatment. For example, Assyrian records report that tered by another nation.
when some Phoenicians resisted paying their taxes, deportation Removal of people from their
Assyrian soldiers “made the people jump around” home country.
with the points of their spears. When a Syrian leader ten lost tribes of Israel Ten Hebrew tribes of the
revolted, he was captured and skinned alive. In order kingdom of Israel that were deported by Sennacherib
to demoralize newly conquered peoples, the Assyri- in 721 b.c.e.
ans often deported large numbers of them, especially imperial Relating to an empire.
the well-to-do, to other conquered territories far
The Assyrians and Their Successors, 900–550 B.C.E. 49
oppressive that only Assyrians could be trusted to was left of the Assyrian people. The most effective
serve in the army. As the empire expanded, the army Chaldean king was Nebuchadrezzar (Nebuchadnez-
was spread more and more thinly. Moreover, because zar in the Bible) (r. 605–562 b.c.e.), who strengthened
they always were on campaign, Assyrian farmers the walls of Babylon, making the city virtually im-
who also served as soldiers were unable to work the pregnable, and built an elaborately decorated gate
land back home, and the Assyrian agricultural econ- dedicated to the goddess Ishtar. For his queen he built
omy fell into decline. Tiglath-Pilezer attempted to the famous hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the
confront the recruitment problem by raising troops in Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. No designs for
the provinces, allowing some subject peoples to serve the gardens survive, but they probably incorporated
in the army instead of paying taxes. Troops were also some kind of terraced arrangement, perhaps associ-
recruited from vassals, such as the Medes. These ated with the ziggurat of Marduk, who continued as
measures provided a larger but inferior army, which the national Babylonian god.
became less homogeneous, less dependable, and less The New Babylonian Empire was a center of scien-
Assyrian. tific learning. Chaldean priests were famous for their
Even though the empire appeared to be enjoying knowledge of astronomy—the study of the positions
its greatest success during the reign of Assurbanipal, and motions of stars, moon, and planets—and astrol-
there were signs of trouble. The Medes and Chal- ogy, the belief that these heavenly bodies contained
deans continued to resist Assyrian rule, and a new messages from the gods. The Chaldeans devised the
threat appeared from the north in the form of the zodiac, an astronomical map that divided the heav-
Scythians, Indo-European steppe nomads from Cen- ens up into twelve constellations, and they learned to
tral Asia. The best that the Assyrians could do was to calculate the movements of the sun, moon, and plan-
enlist the Scythians as mercenaries. In the 650s b.c.e., ets. By compiling and studying lists of eclipses, they
the Assyrians were expelled from Egypt and soon also were able to calculate future eclipses. Chaldean
thereafter faced revolts in Babylon and Phoenicia. astronomical learning had much influence on later
The final swift decline began in the 620s b.c.e., when Greek and Roman science.
the Chaldeans and Medes revolted and formed an al- Nebuchadrezzar proposed to conquer the south-
liance against the Assyrians. The Assyrians initially ern Hebrew kingdom of Judah, something the As-
were able to hold them off by using Scythian merce- syrians had never done. The prophet Jeremiah had
naries, but the conclusive blow came in 612 b.c.e., already predicted that, because of the Jews’ failure to
when the Scythians changed sides and a joint army of follow the law, Jerusalem would be destroyed and the
Medes and Chaldeans defeated the Assyrian army Jews would be scattered and persecuted. Jeremiah
and captured, sacked, and destroyed Nineveh. The also foretold: “‘The days are coming,’ declares the
Assyrian Empire had been held together by the As- Lord, ‘when I will raise up a king who will reign
syrian army. With the destruction of the army, the em- wisely and do what is just and right in the land.’”
pire was no more. In the future, the Assyrians would Such prophecies by Jeremiah and other prophets
provide an example of how not to run an empire. gave rise to a belief in a messiah, or “anointed one,” a
The Assyrian Empire was succeeded by four descendant of King David who would be sent by Yah-
smaller, regional powers: Egypt, the Medes, Lydia, weh to restore the Jews’ political independence and
and the New Babylonians. Egypt experienced a mo- bring peace to the world. In 587 b.c.e., Nebuchadrez-
mentary revival of influence. The Egyptians finally zar attacked Judah. According to Jewish tradition,
entered the commercial spirit of the Iron Age by estab-
lishing a trading colony in the Nile Delta, where they
received silver in exchange for wheat, papyrus, and Scythians Indo-European nomads from Central Asia.
linen textiles. They also began to construct a canal New Babylonian Empire Empire established by the
Chaldeans that succeeded the Assyrian Empire in
linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and they
Mesopotamia.
sent an expedition all the way around Africa. The
Nebuchadrezzar (r. 605–562 b.c.e.) Chaldean king of
Medes created a long, thin kingdom that extended the New Babylonian Empire who captured Jerusalem
north of Mesopotamia from Iran to central Anatolia. in 587 b.c.e.
In the west, the kingdom of the Medes bordered on zodiac Astronomical map used in astrology that di-
the rich and powerful trading kingdom of Lydia. vides the heavens up into twelve constellations.
The strongest of the Assyrian successor states was messiah (from Hebrew for “the anointed one”) The
the New Babylonian Empire, established in Meso- person the Jews believed would be sent by Yahweh to
potamia by the Chaldeans. It extended from the Per- restore their independence and bring peace.
sian Gulf to the Mediterranean and incorporated what
The Persian Empire, 550–500 B.C.E. 51
➜➜
How did King Darius try to unify the Persian Empire?
How were Persian policies toward subject peoples
different from those of the Assyrians?
A little more than fifty years after the end of the As-
syrian Empire, an even greater Iron Age empire
arose—that of the Persians. The Persian homeland
was in southern Iran, marking the first time that a
major Near Eastern empire had not originated in a
large river valley. The Persian Empire was similar to
the Assyrian Empire in that the Persians also were in-
terested in economic expansion and the accumulation
of wealth. It was very different, however, in that the
Persians were much more successful in convincing
their subject peoples that they had a share in the ben-
efits of the empire.
the king of Persia, and covered the entire world. was completed in 515 b.c.e., beginning the Second
Astyages’s priests, called Magi, interpreted this as Temple period of Jewish history. Some Jews chose to
meaning that Mandane’s son would overthrow him. remain in Babylon, and Jewish communities also
He therefore ordered the nobleman Harpagus to kill arose in other places, such as Egypt. Thus began the
the baby. But the shepherd that Harpagus ordered to Jewish Diaspora, the dispersion of Jews throughout
carry out this deed substituted his wife’s stillborn in- the world. Because the Jews of the Diaspora were
fant, and they raised baby Cyrus themselves. Eventu- considered just as much a part of the Jewish world as
ally, Cyrus’s royal character was revealed, and when the Jews of Palestine, the Jewish people came to de-
Astyages discovered what had happened, he slaugh- fine themselves not by place of residence but by belief
tered Harpagus’s own son, invited Harpagus to din- and cultural identity. Some Jews prospered under
ner, and served him the head of his son on a platter. Persian rule. For example, Jewish scripture relates
Harpagus took revenge by encouraging Cyrus to re- that Esther, a Babylonian Jew, was raised in the house-
volt. In 550 b.c.e., Cyrus (r. 550–531 b.c.e.), defeated hold of a Persian king and eventually married him.
the Medes and became king of the Medes and Per- After the king had been tricked into authorizing a
sians, marking the beginning of the Persian Empire. plan to destroy the Jews, she persuaded him to change
Like the Assyrians, the Persians had a great inter- his mind. In 445 b.c.e., Nehemiah, another Babylon-
est in economic development and expanded commer- ian Jew, was made governor of Judah by the Persians
cial activity. An outlet to the Mediterranean was and was permitted to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
essential. Thus, in 547 b.c.e., Cyrus attacked the sea- At same time, the Torah assumed its final official
coast kingdom of Lydia. In the climactic battle, the form under the prophet and scribe Ezra. As a con-
Lydian horses caught the scent of the camels in the sequence of this written scripture, many Jewish
Persian baggage train and fled, resulting in a total concepts and practices were transmitted to the two
Persian victory. The Persians thereby gained control subsequent great “religions of the book,” Christianity
not only of Lydia but also of the Greek cities of Ionia, and Islam.
on the western seacoast of Anatolia. Cyrus expanded the Persian Empire to the fron-
Cyrus then turned to Mesopotamia, where Nebucha- tiers of India. In 530 b.c.e., he attacked the Scythians,
drezzar’s successors were facing local unrest because who had been raiding Persian territory and disrupt-
of conflicts with the influential Chaldean priests. In ing Persian trade routes to the east. After Cyrus cap-
particular, the Chaldean king had attempted to favor tured the son of the Scythian queen Tomyris, she sent
the moon god Sin over the Babylonian national god a message to him saying, “If you return my son to me,
Marduk, thereby arousing great popular opposition you may leave my land unharmed, but if you refuse,
led by the powerful priests of Marduk. When Cyrus I swear by the sun, the lord of the Scythians, that I
invaded Babylonia in 539 b.c.e., the people welcomed will give you your fill of blood.” Cyrus refused this
him as their savior, and Cyrus captured Babylon with- request and was killed in the ensuing battle. Tomyris
out striking a blow. Instead of imposing himself as a then was said to have filled an animal skin with blood
conqueror, Cyrus showed respect for local traditions and dipped Cyrus’s head into it, saying, “Thus I
by claiming the support of Marduk and taking the an- make good my promise,” and the Scythians contin-
cient Mesopotamian title of King of Sumer and Akkad. ued to threaten the Persian northern frontier. Cyrus
As a result of this spirit of conciliation, the cities of was succeeded by his son Cambyses (r. 530–522
Syria and Palestine also acknowledged Cyrus’s au- b.c.e.), who continued to expand the empire by in-
thority. Under Cyrus, the Persians gained a reputation vading Egypt in 525 b.c.e. The Persians were victori-
for lenient and accommodating treatment of their sub- ous, and Cambyses was installed as pharaoh, once
ject peoples. Recognizing that they could not hope to again demonstrating Persian respect for native cus-
rule such a large empire without local cooperation, the
Persians often made native leaders officials in the Per-
Magi Priests of the Medes, they gave their name to the
sian administration. modern word magic.
In 535 b.c.e., Cyrus demonstrated additional con- Cyrus (r. 550–531 b.c.e.) Persian king who established
sideration for his subjects by allowing the deported the Persian Empire.
Jews of Babylon to return home to Judah. Cyrus Diaspora (from Greek for “dispersion”) Spread of
therefore was praised in the Hebrew Bible, which re- the Jews throughout the Near Eastern and Mediter-
ported: “Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: The Lord ranean worlds.
has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. Whoever Cambyses (r. 530–522 b.c.e.) Persian king, the succes-
is among you of his people, let him go up to Jeru- sor of Cyrus, who conquered Egypt in 525 b.c.e.
salem and rebuild the house of the Lord.” The Temple
The Persian Empire, 550–500 B.C.E. 53
archers, both mounted and on foot, for the infantry- gold daric and silver siglos were accepted through-
men were lightly armored, often protected only by out the Near Eastern world. Persian kings amassed
wicker shields. The Persians usually defeated their incredible wealth, with huge gold and silver reserves
enemies not by fighting skill but by sheer numbers. A stored in palace treasuries, and were often more con-
built-in weakness of the Persian recruitment system cerned with hoarding their money than with using it
was the length of time necessary—up to two years— for necessary expenditures.
to mobilize the army, thus leaving the Persians vul-
nerable to sudden attacks.
Persian Society and Religion
Like the Assyrians, the Persians organized their
subject peoples into annexed territories and vassals. Persian society was organized around the family.
Vassals remained under native rulers as long as they Members of the seven noble families led a privileged
stayed loyal. The annexed territories—most of the em- existence. According to a Greek historian, young Per-
pire—were divided up into twenty very large units sian nobles were taught only “horse-riding, archery,
called satrapies. Egypt, Lydia, and Babylonia were and speaking the truth.” An elderly male headed
each separate satrapies. A satrap appointed by the each Persian clan, and fathers had absolute authority
king governed each satrapy. Sometimes the satraps over their children. It was important to have legiti-
were local people, but usually they came from an elite mate heirs, and men could therefore have several
group of Persian noble families known as The Seven. wives. The most prosperous Persians were landown-
Satraps were very powerful, almost like petty kings, ers, for Persian soldiers were granted land by the
and it took a strong-willed king to control them. When king in exchange for their military service. The Per-
a king died, the next king was chosen from the royal sians were not known as artisans; for this kind of
family by The Seven. Sometimes they chose a weak work, they generally made use of the skills of their
king so that they would have more freedom of action. subject peoples. Among skilled workers, scribes were
The Persian Empire was therefore much more loosely particularly favored for their importance in keeping
organized than the Assyrian Empire. Local officials, royal records relating to matters such as tax payments
thousands of miles from the court, had much auton- and military recruitment. Most of the remaining Per-
omy. Darius did what he could to keep officials under sian people were herders and small farmers. Much
his authority and sent out spies, known as “the eyes menial labor was performed by a large population of
and ears of the king,” who reported back to him re- slaves, many of whom who were seized in the regular
garding what was going on in the satrapies. There was wars in which the Persian king engaged. Slaves
no direct oversight, however, of a satrap’s day-to-day served on the vast imperial properties, in the mines,
activities, and a prudent king always had to be pre- on building projects, and in the imperial palaces.
pared to deal with satraps who abused their authority. Persian religion was dualistic; that is, it viewed the
Darius and later kings introduced policies in- universe in terms of a perpetual conflict between good
tended to unify their huge empire, to facilitate trade, and evil. It had two kinds of deities: daevas, skygods
and to increase economic productivity. Standardized who were bad, and ahuras, abstract moral qualities
law codes reduced confusion about which laws ap- that were good. The chief deity was Ahura Mazda, a
plied to whom. A simplified cuneiform system re- god of light who represented truth and justice and
duced the number of signs from several hundred to who was worshiped at fire altars, for fire represented
forty-two alphabetic symbols, thus making record purity. Ahriman, a daeva, represented darkness and
keeping much easier. Aramaic was used as a univer- evil. Around 750 b.c.e., the Persian prophet Zarathus-
sal language of commerce and diplomacy. Good com- tra, called Zoroaster in Greek and known now chiefly
munications were crucial, and Darius introduced the by that name, formalized the teachings of Persian reli-
first large-scale road system in antiquity. The Royal gion. In the Gathas, poems believed to have been writ-
Road, which extended 1,600 miles from Susa in Persia
to Sardis in Lydia, was used by merchants and impe-
satrapy Large administrative unit of the Persian Em-
rial couriers; the latter could carry a message its full
pire, governed by a satrap.
length in a week by changing horses at regular stops.
autonomy (from Greek for “self rule”) A degree of in-
A nautical trade route from India to Egypt was dependence or self-government of a territory or people
opened, and the canal connecting the Mediterranean within a larger political unit.
and Red Seas was completed, permitting merchant Zoroaster Persian prophet (in Persian, Zarathustra)
ships to sail from Spain to India. Economic exchange who established the Persian religion known as
and productivity were facilitated by Darius’s intro- Zoroastrianism.
duction of a standardized coinage system, and the
The Persian Empire, 550–500 B.C.E. 55
ten by Zoroaster himself, Zoroaster declared, “There is destroyed. You who shall be king hereafter, protect
one God, the Wise Lord, he called Ahura Mazda.” yourself vigorously from lies; punish the liars well.”
Zoroaster taught that the universe was a battle be- Persian kings saw their rule as reflecting the eternal
tween the forces of good and evil. Spiritual things rep- conflict between good and evil and viewed the ex-
resented good and material things, evil. At the end of pansion of the empire as part of their religious re-
time the good would triumph. sponsibility to further the ultimate victory of Ahura
The essential teaching of Zoroaster was to “be like Mazda. Their expressed desire to rule justly is one of
God.” People did so by making it their personal re- the reasons the Persian Empire was administered
sponsibility to follow the path of good rather than the more effectively than earlier empires. Zoroastrianism
path of evil and thus to assist in the triumph of good. still survives in small pockets of the Middle East and
Good was equated with order, law, justice, and truth, in India, where it is known as Parsiism.
and evil with disorder and lies. It was believed that,
at the end of time, everyone would be judged in the
fire by Ahura Mazda and that, after death, the soul Persia, the West, and the Future
came to the Bridge of the Separator, where all one’s Like his predecessors, Darius expanded the Persian
actions, words, and thoughts would be evaluated in Empire. He conquered the Indus River valley in In-
terms of good and evil. The good would be allowed dia, marking the first time that three of the major
to cross the bridge into the heavenly world, but the river valleys of the ancient world had been brought
evil would fall down below. These concepts of the under one rule. Confronted by problems on the
end of the world and salvation through a savior god northern frontier, where the Scythians continued to
are consistent with—and influenced similar beliefs raid Persian territory, Darius also mounted a massive
in—other world religions, such as Christianity. invasion of Central Asia in 513 b.c.e. Like other in-
Zoroaster’s teachings, which later bore the name vaders of the area, however, Darius soon learned that
Zoroastrianism, were preserved by Magi in scrip- Central Asia was bigger than he had thought. The
tures known as the Zend Avesta. Zoroastrianism be- Scythians refused to be drawn into battle and lured
came the Persian state religion, with the Persian king the Persian army farther and farther into the steppes.
at its head. For example, a huge rock carving pro- Running low on supplies, Darius finally had no
claimed: “King Darius says: By the grace of Ahura choice but to return home. In an exercise of good gen-
Mazda I became king; Ahura Mazda granted me the eralship, he got his army out intact, but just barely.
empire. I always acted by the grace of Ahura Mazda. Darius’s invasion was, however, in some ways a suc-
Ahura Mazda brought me help because I was not cess. Even though his army had not defeated the
wicked, nor was I a liar, nor was I a tyrant. I have
ruled according to righteousness. Neither to the weak
nor to the powerful did I do wrong. Whoever helped Zend Avesta Scriptures of the Zoroastrians.
my house, him I favored; he who was hostile, him I
56 CHAPTER 2 Iron Age Civilization, 1200–500 B.C.E.
Scythians, they were sufficiently demoralized that tact with the first European civilization, that of the
they no longer posed a serious menace. In addition, mainland Greeks. The confrontation between these
the Persians gained Thrace (modern-day Bulgaria), a two civilizations became one of the most important fo-
new satrapy south of the Danube River. cal points of the future history of western civilization.
The Persian occupation of Thrace marked the first
time that a Near Eastern empire had occupied territory Thrace Persian satrapy in modern Bulgaria.
in Europe, and it brought the Persians into direct con-
How did the new styles of Iron Age life affect the hand, the empire also had two weaknesses: an ad-
development of cities and empires?
ministrative structure that put great power in the
➜
How did the Hebrews establish their identity in the hands of the satraps and required an effective king to
Near Eastern world?
keep them under control, and a cumbersome army
➜
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
From the Lydian Shekel to the Silver Dollar
Ever since the Bronze Age and before, gold and silver, two rare and valuable metals, have been used to
store wealth and as a medium of exchange. In the Bronze and early Iron Age, they were just commodities,
like copper or fish, that had to be laboriously weighed out with every transaction. Not until about 650 B.C.E.
did merchants from Lydia begin to create lumps of gold and silver that all had the same standard weight.
These became the first coins. They took their name, the shekel, from a unit of weight, about 2 1/2 ounces.
Coins must have a reliable weight and metal content to be trusted by the people using them. The mer-
chants who created the first coins were not always dependable. They could go out of business or be diffi-
cult to hold accountable. The right to issue coins was therefore taken over by the Lydian government,
which guaranteed that the coins had the proper metal content by placing a symbol of a lion or bull on
them. It was in the government’s interest to control the coinage because good coinage facilitated trade,
which increased the tax income. The government also severely punished counterfeiting, which undermined
popular trust in the coins, with the chopping off of hands and even death.
Coinage spread quickly. Gold and silver coins issued by the Persians became the standard means of
exchange throughout their vast empire. Other commercial peoples, such the Greeks, Phoenicians, and even
the Celts of western Europe, also issued coins. Ever since then, world economies have been based on the
use of money that has a standard value. In the United States, the monetary system initially was based on
gold and silver coins, such as the twenty-dollar gold piece and the silver dollar. As the U.S. economy ex-
panded, however, metal coins became cumbersome and paper money came into use. At first, U.S. paper
money was backed up by gold and silver, but in 1933, the United States went off the gold standard, and, as
of 1964, paper money no longer could be exchanged for silver. As a result, the dollar became “worth just
the paper it was printed on,” resulting in growing inflation. The value of the dollar now is determined by
economic forces such as “purchasing power” and the “money supply,” and gold and silver have returned
to the status they had in the Bronze Age—just one more commodity.
Suggested Readings
Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Prac- of the ancient Hebrews from their origins until the fourth cen-
tices. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2001. A detailed discussion tury b.c.e.
of the Persian national religion. Olmstead, Albert T. History of the Persian Empire. 2nd ed.
Briant, Pierre. From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Per- Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1959. The standard in-
sian Empire. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrouns, 2002. The history depth discussion of the Persian Empire.
of the Persian Empire from its foundation by Cyrus until its Roux, Georges. Ancient Iraq. 3rd ed. London: Penguin, 1992. A
conquest by Alexander the Great. classic summary of the evolution of Assyrian civilization.
Harden, Donald. The Phoenicians. 2nd ed. London: Penguin, Thompson, Thomas L. Early History of the Israelite People:
1980. A study of the great seafaring traders of the early Iron Age. From the Written and Archaeological Sources. Leiden, The
Matthews, Victor H. A Brief History of Ancient Israel. Netherlands: Brill, 1992. A discussion of Hebrew history focus-
Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002. A history ing on geography, anthropology, and sociology.
Websites
Collection of sources related to early Jewish history, Internet History, religion, and culture of the Persian Empire, Persia, at
Jewish History Sourcebook, at http://www.fordham.edu/ www.livius.org/persia.html
halsall/jewish/jewishsbook.html
History, religion, and culture of the Assyrian Empire, Assyria,
at www.crystalinks.com/assyrian.html
58
CHAPTER
The Rise of Greek
Civilization, 1100–387 B.C.E.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
nt
CHALCIDICE 405 B.C.E.
o
sp
lle
He
Potidaea
432–430 B.C.E. LEMNOS A N A T O L I A
EPIRUS
THESSALY
PI N
CORCYRA
Aegean Mytilene 428–427 B.C.E. PERSIAN
DU
TS Sea LESBOS
M
406 B.C.E.
.
ACARNANIA Sardis
Ionian AETOLIA
EUBOEA
CHIOS
BOEOTIA Delium 424 B.C.E.
IO
Delphi
Sea Naupactus
Gu
Thebes
Plataea 429–427 B.C.E.
429 B.C.E. lf of C Ephesus
ACHAEA orinth ATTICA
N
SAMOS
IA
ARCADIA Megara Athens
Mantinea Corinth Miletus
418 B.C.E. AEGINA
Argos
Olympia
S IC ILY PELOPONNESUS DELOS
Halicarnassus
MESSENIA
Syracuse Sparta Melos
LACONIA 416 B.C.E.
Pylos
425 B.C.E. MELOS
RHODES
M e CRETE
d i
t e r
r a n
e a n
S e a
0 100 200 Km.
59
60 CHAPTER 3 The Rise of Greek Civilization, 1100–387 B.C.E.
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Socrates Chooses Death
In 399 B.C.E., the Athenian philosopher Socrates was put on trial on false
charges and sentenced to death. He was given the chance to go into
exile, but to show his commitment to his beliefs, he chose to abide by
the sentence and died by drinking poison. At this time, Athens was in
turmoil. Five years earlier, the Athenians had lost a hard-fought war with
Sparta and they were looking for people to blame for the political insta-
bility that followed.
In his early life, Socrates seemed much like an average Athenian. He
was the son of a sculptor and a midwife and fought heroically in the
lengthy war against Sparta. After the war, however, rather than taking
part in public life by attending meetings of the assembly or holding
public office, he chose to become a philosopher—in Greek, a “lover of
wisdom.” Socrates was interested in concepts of right and wrong, jus-
tice, virtue, and love. He believed that vice came from ignorance and
Socrates that people had a natural tendency to be good if they could only be
taught what good was. Feeling that he could serve Athens best by teaching the
After the Athenian philoso- Athenians to look into their souls, he spent his time in the marketplace, question-
pher Socrates was sentenced ing people about their beliefs and guiding them by his questions to a greater
to death on trumped-up understanding of goodness. What is the nature of the gods, he asked; what is the
charges of “corrupting the role of government? Is striving for wealth, office, and status more important than
youth,” he had several op- seeking wisdom, morality, goodness, and the health of one’s soul?
portunities to escape execu- By challenging some of the Greeks’ most fundamental beliefs, Socrates made
tion, but instead he chose to enemies. Raising such questions was dangerous at a time when Athens was having
demonstrate his convictions political difficulties, and in a democracy where any citizen could bring a legal
by carrying out the sentence charge against anyone else. Socrates was well aware that he was taking risks. But
on himself. Socrates’ suicide when asked whether his choice to challenge conventional values concerned him,
has been portrayed in many he replied, “You are wrong, sir, if you think that a man who is any good at all
modern artworks, as in this should take into account the risk of life or death; he should look to this only in his
1780 painting by the French actions, whether what he does is right or wrong, whether he is acting like a good
painter Jean-Antoine Wat- or a bad man.”
teau depicting Socrates tak- Eventually Socrates was accused of neglecting the gods and corrupting the
ing the cup of hemlock while youth by teaching that the gods did not exist. He was put on trial before a jury of
surrounded by grieving stu- five hundred Athenian citizens. Instead of respectfully defending himself against
dents and friends. (Réunion the charges, he used the occasion to present his teachings, thereby insulting the
des Musées Nationaux/Art jury, which convicted him and sentenced him to death. Socrates declined to make
Resource, NY) an appeal, which might well have been granted, and asserted not only that
Athens could kill his physical body but never his soul, but also that by killing him,
his judges were harming their own souls.
The Athenians had a tradition that those sentenced to death could escape the
penalty by going into exile, and many of those who voted to convict Socrates may
have done so simply to get him out of town. However, when his friends urged
Socrates to flee, he refused, claiming that he must respect the law: if he were to
flee, it would seem that he was arguing that the laws should be disobeyed, which
The Development of Greek Identity, 1100–776 B.C.E. 61
is the last thing he wanted to do. Rather than being executed by the state,
Socrates was given the opportunity to commit suicide. On the designated day,
surrounded by his friends, Socrates told them that his soul soon would be in the
realm of the blessed and that only his body would be left behind for burial. He
then drank a cup of hemlock, a common poison used for suicide in those days, and
a fatal numbness crept up from his legs to his vital organs.
To maintain his self-respect, as a Greek and as a philosopher, Socrates chose
death. As a Greek, he was expected to display his virtue publicly, and once he had
taken his stand, he was committed to following through. As a philosopher, he had
to remain true to his beliefs, even at the cost of his life.
Chronology
1100 B.C.E. Dorians settle in southern Greece; 490 B.C.E. Athenians defeat Persians at Battle of
Greek Dark Ages begin; Marathon
First wave of Greek colonization begins
480 B.C.E. Persians defeat Spartans at Battle of
776 B.C.E. First recorded Olympic Games Thermopylae;
Archaic Age begins Greeks defeat Persians at Battle of Salamis
ca. 750 B.C.E. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are committed 479 B.C.E. Greeks defeat Persians at Battle of Plataea
to writing
440s B.C.E. Herodotus writes The Histories
750–550 B.C.E. Second wave of Greek colonization
occurs 431–404 B.C.E. Peloponnesian War
ca. 700 B.C.E. Lycurgus establishes Spartan Good Rule 430–427 B.C.E. Plague devastates Athens
650–500 B.C.E. Age of the Tyrants 410 B.C.E. Aristophanes writes the Lysistrata
621 B.C.E. Draco composes Athenian law code 404 B.C.E. Sparta occupies Athens
592 B.C.E. Solon creates the Athenian oligarchy 401 B.C.E. Xenophon’s March of the 10,000
546 B.C.E. Peisistratus becomes tyrant of Athens 399 B.C.E. Socrates dies
508 B.C.E. Cleisthenes creates the Athenian democracy 387 B.C.E. King’s Peace ends warfare between the
Spartans and Athenians
500 B.C.E. Classical Age begins
Greece entered the Iron Age with a period of cultural Two epic poems composed around 800 b.c.e. by
reversion known as the Greek Dark Ages because so the blind poet Homer and then passed on orally deal
much of the period is hidden from history. The com- with the most famous Greek legend, the story of the
plex administrative and economic systems of the massive Greek attack on the city of Troy in northwest-
Mycenaeans vanished, taking with them urbaniza- ern Anatolia. The Iliad tells of the events leading up to
tion, large-scale political organization, massive stone the capture of Troy, including the arrival of a thou-
architecture, a trading economy, writing, and the man- sand Greek ships (each carrying about fifty men) and
ufacture of fine pottery, sculpture, and metalwork. As the quarrel between king Agamemnon of Mycenae
a result, little is known of post-Mycenaean Greece. and the Greek hero Achilles, son of a goddess and a
There was no written literature in the Dark Ages, mortal man. And the Odyssey describes the ten-year
but folk memories were preserved in myths and leg- struggle of the Greek hero Odysseus to return home
ends passed orally from generation to generation. from Troy and the stratagems used by his wife
Collections of myths described how the gods had cre- Penelope to fend off a crowd of suitors. Homer’s
ated and continued to control the world, and cycles of poems became two masterpieces of Greek poetry and
legends described the deeds of Greek heroes. These mark the beginning of European literature. Although
tales were put into verse and memorized by wander- Homer’s stories are based on fact, they also contain a
ing bards who were welcomed wherever they went, vast amount of exaggeration that makes it difficult to
for they provided a rare kind of entertainment. The
Greeks considered these stories to be their ancient
history, and because the myths and legends were so Greek Dark Ages Period from 1100 to 776 b.c.e. in
well known, they provided material for later Greek which the Greeks lost the culture developed during the
art and literature that any Greek would at once Mycenaean Bronze Age civilization.
understand.
Ne
st
os
THRACE Byzantium
s
St
ry
mo
n
bru
He
MACEDONIA Sea of Marmara
Pella
Axius
Thasos
on
m
Ao k CHALCIDICE
us ia
Al Hellespont
Mt. Olympus
Lemnos Troy
eus
Pe n
THESSALY ANATOLIA
EPIRUS
PIN
Sa n g a
rius
DU
S
M
Lesbos
TS
.
s
A
ACARNANIA Thermopylae LYDIA
lo u
he
AETOLIA 480 B.C.E.
Hermus
Ac
ege
I O
Euboea
Ithaca Delphi Chaeronea Sardis
an
BOEOTIA
N I
Chios
Se
Gul
f of Thebes
a
Cor
ACHAEA Plataea in th Marathon
479 B.C.E. Eleusis 490 B.C.E. r
ande
Sicyon Athens Ma e
ELIS Corinth Megara Ephesus
Olympia Nemea Salamis ATTICA
480 B.C.E. Samos
ARCADIA Mycenae Aegina
Mantinea Argos
PELOPONNESUS Miletus
Tegea
CYCLADES Delos
MESSENIA Sparta
TAY
Pylos Halicarnassus
GE T
LACONIA
M
ed
Melos
OS MT
it
S.
er
rr
an
Ancient Greece and ea
areas settled by Greeks n
Se Cythera Rhodes
Major battles of a
the Persian Wars
Mountains
Sanctuaries
Knossos
0 50 100 Km.
Crete
0 50 100 Mi. Gortyn
MAP 3.1 Ancient Greece, ca. 1050 B.C.E. During the Dark Ages, the Greeks inhabited both the Greek
mainland and Ionia, the western coast of Anatolia. City life developed in Ionia and in the southern part of
The Development of Greek Identity, 1100–776 B.C.E.
separate fact from fiction. For example, the poems who served as war leaders declined, and nearly all of
contain some recollections of the Bronze Age, as the kings were replaced by a new kind of constitu-
when king Agamemnon is described as “glorious in tional, or legal, government called an aristocracy. In an
his armor of gleaming bronze.” But they also reflect aristocracy, the aristocrats continued to be members of
the later life of the Iron Age, as when Agamemnon the chief legislative body, the council, and shared the
proposes to give Achilles “twenty iron cauldrons.” most important offices, as generals, city priests, and
Aside from these general impressions, the written re- annual presiding officials known as archons.
mains are of little help in compiling a narrative of the Other free members of Dark Ages communities in-
Dark Ages. Nor does archaeology help much in this cluded a few craftworkers and traders as well as a
regard, for only very meager material remains sur- larger number of commoners who owned small plots
vive. of land, rented land from an aristocrat, or worked as
Several general developments can, however, be shepherds or farmworkers. Commoners could not
identified for this era. One was the settlement of the hold office or serve on the council, but they did at-
Dorian Greeks, who destroyed the Mycenaean culture. tend a citizen assembly. The assembly, however, had
Although it is difficult to find archaeological evidence little authority except to approve decisions already
for the Dorian occupation, the distribution patterns of reached by the council. Finally, at the bottom of the
Greek dialects show that by the end of the Dark Ages, social ladder were slaves, owned mostly by aristo-
the most fertile agricultural lands of southern Greece crats. Slaves were not always well treated and were
were inhabited by people speaking Dorian Greek. The often ready to revolt.
Mycenaean versions of Greek virtually disappeared Another development during the Dark Ages was
from the Greek mainland, being preserved only by the rise of the polis, or city-state. City-states were cre-
Greeks who held out on the Acropolis, a fortified ated when several villages coalesced for the purpose
rocky bluff, at Athens and who settled in Ionia on the of physical security and economic and political con-
coast of Anatolia, where, around 1100 b.c.e., some solidation. A polis usually was centered on a fortified
Mycenaeans fled to avoid the Dorians. This migration acropolis that provided a place of refuge and over-
was the first wave of Greek colonization. looked an agora, or marketplace. The city of Athens
During the Dark Ages people lived in isolated ru- had formed by about 1000 b.c.e. Not long afterward,
ral villages, where agriculture was virtually the sole five villages joined to form Sparta, and eight villages
basis of economic life. They were supported by a sub- combined to create Corinth. By about 800 b.c.e., more
sistence economy in which all resources, ranging than a hundred other cities had formed in a similar
from grain (wheat, barley, oats) and animals (sheep, manner, and all of Greece south of Macedonia was di-
goats, pigs, cattle) to home-smelted iron, were locally vided into city-states. The polis became the focus of
produced. Social organization was based on the fam- Greek political life.
ily. It was the family’s responsibility, for example, to
retaliate against another family for wrongs done to a
family member, and such retaliations could lead to acropolis (Greek for “high point of the city”) Fortified
long-term cycles of blood feuds. The smallest family high point that provided a refuge for people living in a
unit was the household, and several households Greek city.
made up an extended family. Extended families were subsistence economy Economy in which necessary
organized into larger units, the clan and the tribe. products are produced locally and there is no surplus
food supply.
People’s status in society was determined largely by
which family, clan, and tribe they belonged to. monarchy (Greek for “rule by one person”) Constitu-
tional form of government based on rule by a king.
Villages were independent political units adminis-
constitution Written or unwritten legal basis for the
tered by petty kings whose original function was to
government of a city.
serve as war leaders. Most Greek governments, there-
aristocracy (Greek, for “rule by the best people”) Con-
fore, began as monarchies, ruled by kings. Gradually, stitutional form of government based on rule by aristo-
economic and political power gravitated into the crats who own the best land and are related by blood.
hands of those who acquired the most and best land. archons (Greek for “leaders”) Chief officials in Greek
These people came to identify themselves as aristo- aristocracies and oligarchies.
crats, a word meaning “the best people.” Eventually, polis (Greek for “city) Greek city-state and source of
the only way to become an aristocrat was to be born the English word politics, which means “life in a city.”
one. The eldest aristocrats were members of a council agora (Greek for “marketplace”) Central market and
that advised the king. During the more peaceful times gathering place of a Greek city.
after the initial Dorian settlement, the need for kings
The Development of Greek Identity, 1100–776 B.C.E. 65
Greek cities introduced new concepts in govern- ing, warfare, or athletic competition, as well as by
ment. Unlike Near Eastern kingdoms and cities, openly caring for one’s parents, showing hospitality
which were ruled by kings or gods, Greek cities, to a to strangers, and honoring the gods. Successful pur-
greater or lesser degree, were ruled collectively by suit of excellence brought fame and public recogni-
their citizens. Someone was a citizen if one of his or tion. Failure to demonstrate aretē led to dishonor, loss
her parents was one. Slaves and resident foreigners, of reputation, and shame.
therefore, were not citizens. A city could make a for- For male aristocrats, military glory was what
eigner a citizen, but this did not happen very often. counted most. When the Greek hero Achilles was
Citizens were equal under the law, and all adult male given the choice between a short, glorious life and a
citizens had some degree of participation in the gov- long, colorless one, his choice was obvious. These at-
ernment, even if only to vote in the assembly. This de- titudes could create conflicts between the desire for
gree of popular rule was unheard of in the Near East, glory in warfare and devotion to family at home.
and it gave citizens a special sense of identity with Homer sympathetically portrayed this tension in his
and ownership of their cities. Civic loyalty could be account of the Trojan hero Hector’s farewell to his
just as important as family loyalty. Even though some wife Andromache and son Astyanax:
cities were very small, just a few thousand people
Andromache spoke to him, “My dear husband, your
and covering less than a hundred square miles, each
warlike spirit will be your death. You have no com-
Greek thought that his or her polis was the best one
passion for your infant child, for me, your sad wife,
in Greece.
who before long will be your widow. For soon the
Greeks will attack you and cut you down.” Great
Competition and Conflict Hector answered her: ”Wife, all this concerns me,
too. However, I’d be disgraced, dreadfully shamed if I
During the Dark Ages competition and conflict be-
should slink away from war like a coward.” With
came characteristic aspects of the Greek way of life.
that, Hector reached toward his son, who shrank
Individuals competed with individuals for status,
back, terrified by the horse-hair plume on his father’s
power, wealth, and influence. Social classes clashed
helmet. Laughing, glorious Hector pulled the glitter-
with each other as the privileged tried to protect their
ing helmet off. Then he kissed his dear son, holding
interests against the unprivileged, and cities com-
him in his arms.
peted for resources. In fact, the Greeks saw all of hu-
man activity as a competition. Even the gods were No matter how dear his family was to him, Hector
worshiped through athletic competitions, which also had to demonstrate his bravery publicly, even if that
were held at funerals to honor the dead. Nor was it meant putting himself into a situation in which he
enough simply to win. The Greeks believed that the would almost surely be killed.
joy of victory was magnified if a defeated rival was The Greek competitive spirit was both a blessing
humiliated. In Greek unconditional warfare, it was and a curse. It encouraged the Greeks to great
customary for the victors to extend no mercy to the achievements in literature, art, and architecture, but it
losers, and it was acceptable, even if it did not often also produced constant conflict and warfare that
happen, for the men to be killed and the women and weakened the Greeks so much that they eventually
children to be sold into slavery. The Greeks had no succumbed to invaders.
good losers and no moral victories. At the Olympic
games, for example, there was no prize for second
place. Competitors prayed for “either the wreath of Gender Roles
victory or death.” Another way that Greek men demonstrated their su-
Greek competitiveness grew out of a desire to periority was by controlling Greek women. In nearly
demonstrate aretē, or personal excellence. In the every Greek city, women were an underclass in both
epics of Homer, aristocrats were expected to embrace public and private life, a subordinate position that be-
a warrior code that valued honor above all else. Aretē gan at birth. Male children were preferred, and it was
had to be displayed in some outward form. External not uncommon for families to abandon unwanted in-
appearances were what mattered, not intentions. fants, females in particular. Abandoned infants could
Most of all, bravery in war was glorified, whereas
cowardice, such as throwing away one’s shield and
running away from a battle, carried the greatest dis- aretē (Greek for “excellence”) Greek sense of personal
grace. Aretē was also demonstrated by excelling in a excellence.
competitive endeavor, such as politics, speechmak-
66 CHAPTER 3 The Rise of Greek Civilization, 1100–387 B.C.E.
In Greek mythology, after Zeus received a prophecy that Metis, the goddess of wisdom, would bear a son
stronger than he, he swallowed her when she became pregnant. When Zeus began to have terrible headaches,
the god Hephaestus chopped open his head to see what was wrong. This Athenian black-figure ointment con-
tainer of ca. 570 b.c.e. shows Athena springing fully armed from the head of Zeus, shown with his thunderbolt.
Zeus is flanked by two birth goddesses with their arms raised, accompanied by Hephaestus with his ax and
Poseidon with his trident. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY)
and sex play—things that men did not expect from were believed to meet on Mount Olympus, in north-
their wives. ern Greece. The chief Olympian god was Zeus,
the god of lightning and thunder, and the others
were his siblings and children. The siblings were his
Greek Religion and Culture wife Hera, the goddess of marriage and childbirth;
Although they were politically and socially disunited,
the Greeks were culturally united. Collectively, they
thought of themselves as Hellenes—that is, those
Hellenes (from Greek Hellas, for “Greece”) Collective
who came from Hellas, or Greece. Anyone who spoke name of the ancient Greeks for themselves.
Greek was a Hellene. The Greeks believed they were barbarians (Greek for “a person who speaks bar-bar-
culturally superior to all other peoples and called bar”) Greek term for anyone who did not speak Greek
those who did not speak Greek barbarians, because to and therefore was not Greek.
the Greeks, their speech sounded like bar-bar-bar. Olympian gods Important Greek gods and goddesses
Greeks shared the same gods and religious prac- who were said to meet on Mount Olympus in
tices. In Greek mythology, the most important twelve northern Greece
deities were called the Olympian gods because they
68 CHAPTER 3 The Rise of Greek Civilization, 1100–387 B.C.E.
Poseidon, who ruled the sea and caused earthquakes; as amends for a terrible crime, such as killing a rela-
Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sex; and Demeter, tive or disrespecting the gods. At shrines in the coun-
the goddess of the harvest. Zeus’s Olympian children tryside, people could receive oracles, messages from
included Ares, the god of war; Athena, the goddess of the gods about the outcomes of future events. Oracles
wisdom; Artemis, the goddess of hunting; her could be received in many forms, such as through the
brother Apollo, god of the sun, prophecy, medicine, interpretation of dreams or the sounds in a brook.
and music; Hephaestus, the craftsman; Hermes, the The shrines of gods who provided oracles were some
messenger of the gods; and Dionysus, the god of of the few places in Greece where there were perma-
wine. Other important gods were Zeus’s sister Hes- nent staffs of priests and priestesses.
tia, in charge of hearth and home, and Zeus’s brother By the eighth century b.c.e., Greek cities were in
Hades, who ruled the underworld. Each Greek city more frequent contact. The fame of the oracle of
identified one god who was believed to take special Apollo at Delphi, in northern Greece, for example,
care of that city: Athena, for example, was the patron spread, and even foreigners came to seek advice on
goddess of Athens, and Artemis, of Sparta. matters ranging from settling quarrels to undertaking
Greek gods were anthropomorphic, and the wars. A priestess inhaled volcanic fumes and then re-
Greeks believed that their gods had the same kinds of cited a cryptic answer that could often be interpreted
quarrels, friendships, and personal relationships as in several ways. Consulting the oracle provided a
humans. In Greek mythology, mortals often inter- means whereby local disputes, such as crimes involv-
acted with gods in a way that most Near Eastern ing bloodguilt that followed from the killing of a rel-
people never did. Zeus, for example, fathered many ative, could be resolved once the oracle’s advice had
sons by mortal women and, like Greek men, was fond been given.
of boys. There also were half-gods, such as Hercules In 776 b.c.e., the first firmly attested date in Greek
and Perseus, whose parents were a human and a god. history, the Greeks began to record the meetings of a
Humans who accomplished great deeds, such as the pan-Hellenic festival in honor of the god Zeus held
winners of athletic contests or victorious generals, at Olympia in southern Greece. Zeus was honored
were thought to share in the divinity of the gods. In with athletic contests known as the Olympic games,
most regards, however, the gods had a less pervasive which subsequently were held every four years. The
presence in Greece than in the Near East. The Greeks names of the victors were preserved with great care,
did not have a large class of publicly supported and the four-year periods, known as Olympiads, be-
priests and did not believe that gods actually ruled came a standard means of dating. The great statue of
their cities. For the Greeks, the gods put order into the Zeus at Olympia, designed by Phidias, the most dis-
world but then left people to carry on their own busi- tinguished sculptor of Greek antiquity, became one of
ness. The gods were fundamentally just and would the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In theory,
punish evildoers, especially those who did not pay warfare was supposed to cease during the games so
respect to the gods, and therefore the Greeks per- that athletes and spectators could attend with relative
formed rituals designed to maintain the goodwill of personal security. Customs such as these gave the
the gods. Greeks an even stronger sense of being Greek.
In each city, public religious rituals were carried
out at temples by local officials who also served as
state priests. The priests offered sacrifices, usually a
slaughtered animal, intended to ensure that the god
would look favorably on the city. Bones wrapped in
fat were burned as offerings to the god, and the meat
was cooked and served to the people. Temples usu-
ally were not frequented for personal religious pur-
oracle Message about future events believed to come
poses, although they could provide asylum for those from the gods; also used for the priest or priestess who
whose personal safety was at risk. In general, the delivered the message.
worship of a city’s patron deity aroused little emo- pan-Hellenic Relating to or including all the Greeks.
tional enthusiasm but was considered necessary to Olympiad Four-year period that separated each hold-
keep the god well disposed toward the city. ing of the Olympic games.
In order to receive personal attention from the Phidias Greek sculptor of the fifth century b.c.e. who
gods, individual Greeks left offerings in temples for designed the statue of Zeus at Olympia and the statue
favors received, such as being cured of a disease; for of Athena at Athens.
help in the future, as on an upcoming sea voyage; or
The Archaic Age, 776–500 B.C.E. 69
How did foreign contacts influence the revival of western Sicily, which became known as Great Greece.
Greek culture?
Colonies had the same culture, social structure, and
➜
UKRAINE
C
a
p
s
ia
GAUL n
P S Se
A L CRIMEA a
CAUCASUS MTS.
PY
Danu b e
Black Sea
RE
NE Marseilles
Eb
ES
ro
Corsica BA
IT
SPAIN M KA
L
Rome LY Epidamnus Byzantium
A
TS N
Saguntum Cumae .
Sea of
Tarentum
CHALCIDICE Marmara
Sardinia Naples Nineveh
Balearic Is.
GREAT Cocyra ANATOLIA
GREECE GREECE
Cadiz Euboea
Messina Ionian Megara LYDIA Euphra
Strait of Gibraltar te s
Sicily Sea Corinth Athens Miletus Al-Mina SYRIA T i g r is
Syracuse Sparta Cyprus Aradus
Carthage Rhodes
Babylon
CIA
Crete Citium Byblos
Malta
PHOENI
Sidon
Tyre
Mediterranean Sea
NORTH AFRICA
Cyrene
Naucratis
LIBYA A R A B I A N
Greek colonization Memphis
D E S E R T
0 250 500 Km.
EGYPT
R
Ni
ed
e
l
S A H A R A
Se
0 250 500 Mi.
a
MAP 3.2 Greek Colonization, ca. 750–550 B.C.E. During the second wave of Greek colonization,
Greek colonies were established along the shores of the Black, Adriatic and western Mediterranean seas
and carried Greek culture far beyond the Greek mainland.
Athenian pottery with red figures on a black back- the poet Hesiod composed poems such as the
ground had become the preferred style. Theogony, a catalogue of the gods, and the Works and
During the Archaic Age the Greeks also began to Days, practical advice about farming. Soon afterward,
build stone temples as focal points of civic pride as Greeks began to express personal feelings in lyric po-
well as to honor their primary gods. Temples usually etry, which displayed a growing sense of individualism
were constructed in simple rectangular form, with a and provides the first examples of the modern concept
tile roof supported by external rows of stone columns. of heterosexual and homosexual love. The poet
The column style evolved from the simple grooved Anacreon, for example, wrote, “Boy with a maiden’s
fluted Doric style; to the Ionic style, with spiral rolls looks, I love you but you heed me not.” And Sappho of
on the capital (the piece on top of the column); to the Lesbos said of a young man she fancied: “The youth
Corinthian style, with elaborate floral capitals. Tem- who sits next to you seems to me to be the equal of
ples often housed a statue of the god and an altar and
were also places where offerings made to the god by
individuals or cities were put on display. column style Doric, Ionian, and Corinthian artistic
styles used in designing columns for temples and other
public buildings.
The Evolution of Greek Literature Hesiod Greek poet, ca. 700 b.c.e., who wrote the
and Thought Theogony and Works and Days.
lyric poems Poems expressing personal feelings, called
The Archaic Age also brought the creation of Greek lit- “lyric” because they were meant to be accompanied by
erary culture. Rather than using writing primarily to the lyre.
keep business records, the Greeks also used it to create Sappho Female Greek lyric poet from the island of
literature. As early as 750 b.c.e., the Iliad and the Lesbos who wrote ca. 600 b.c.e.
Odyssey were committed to writing. Fifty years later,
The Archaic Age, 776–500 B.C.E. 71
the gods. My tongue grows numb; a subtle fire runs fertile plains of the southern half of the Pelopon-
through my body. I sweat, I tremble, I turn pale, I nesus. Conflict also developed over the control of
faint.” The poems of Pindar, the greatest lyric poet, trade routes. After Corinth seized control of the short-
glorified Olympic victors and traditional Greek aretē. est passage across the narrow isthmus connecting
Poems of other authors praised warfare as a means of northern and southern Greece, it became the wealthi-
demonstrating excellence. A Spartan poet wrote, “A est Greek trading city.
man does not prove himself good in war unless he The growth of trade and warfare had important
can endure the bloodshed of battle and take his stand consequences for Greek society and government. The
against the enemy with eagerness. It is a noble thing expansion of trade led to the rise of a new moneyed
for a brave man to die falling in the front ranks strug- class whose wealth came from trade rather than land.
gling for his own land.” Poems also extolled the city, No matter how wealthy or influential these newly
as when Solon of Athens wrote, “Our polis is des- rich people became, however, they could never be-
tined never to perish.” But there also was a contrary come aristocrats, for aristocratic status by now was
trend toward realism. The poet Archilochus violated based on birth. Wealthy merchants therefore could
conventional aristocratic standards when he admit- not hold office or serve on the council, duties that
ted to his own cowardice by writing, “Some Thracian were limited to aristocrats. They grew discontented
now enjoys the shield I left in the bushes. I didn’t about having no voice in decisions that affected their
want to lose it, but I got away alive.” ability to do business. The increase in warfare brought
Greek scientific thought, also known as philoso- them opportunities to gain greater rights. In the past,
phy, also arose. Influenced by Babylonian astronomy fighting had been limited to aristocrats because only
and mathematics, Ionian Greeks speculated on cos- they could afford the necessary arms and armor. This
mology—the nature of the universe. Rather than at- situation changed when merchants grew rich. Trad-
tributing everything to the activities of gods, as in ing cities that feared they would lose the next battle
mythology, they looked for rational explanations that began to permit all those who could afford arms and
usually did not directly involve any gods. Thales, for armor to perform military service. As a result, many
example, proposed in the early sixth century b.c.e. rich merchants and well-to-do but nonaristocratic
that the world had originated from water, but in the farmers became full-fledged citizen soldiers. There
fifth century b.c.e. Democritus taught that all matter was no way that a city with a small aristocratic army
was made up of “atoms,” tiny particles that could not could hope to compete with a city fielding an army of
be divided, providing the origin of our atomic theory.
Pythagoras, an Ionian who migrated to southern
Italy in the sixth century b.c.e., believed the universe
could be understood in terms of mathematical har- Pindar Greek lyric poet who wrote in the first half of
the fifth century b.c.e.
mony and devised a formula for calculating the
Solon Politician and poet of Athens in the early sixth
lengths of the sides of a right triangle, known as the century b.c.e. who created the oligarchy at Athens in
Pythagorean theorem. Heraclitus rejected the concept 592 b.c.e.
of underlying harmony and saw the world as perpet- philosophy (Greek for “love of wisdom”) Greek sys-
ually in conflict. His famous phrase, “Everything tem of scientific thought that looked for rational expla-
flows,” illustrates his view that nothing is constant. nations of the workings of the universe and human
Heraclitus did, however, believe in an overall rational society.
governing force, the Logos, behind the universe. The Thales Greek philosopher of the early sixth century
search to understand the Logos would challenge b.c.e. who taught that the universe had originated
philosophers well into the Christian period. The ap- from water.
proach of early Greek philosophers was to propose a Democritus Greek philosopher of the fifth century
theory and then make rational arguments in its favor; b.c.e. who taught that matter was composed of tiny
atoms that could not be divided.
they did not perform experiments that would have
Pythagoras Greek philosopher of the sixth century
actually proved or disproved their theories. b.c.e. who devised a formula for calculating the length
of the sides of a right triangle, known as the
The Rise of Militarism Pythagorean theorem.
Logos (Greek for “speech,” “word,” or “reason”) The
A third means by which a city could deal with over- rational force that Greek philosophers such as Heracli-
population was to seize additional land in Greece. tus believed governed the universe.
During the Archaic Age warfare between the city- Peloponnesus Southern section of Greece.
states increased. Sparta, for example, conquered the
72 CHAPTER 3 The Rise of Greek Civilization, 1100–387 B.C.E.
all who could afford to serve. As a result, by 650 b.c.e., That was when the slaughter started, as pursuing ho-
all the Greek cities had adopted the larger armies. plites and cavalrymen cut down fleeing enemies from
The wealthiest citizens, who could afford a horse, behind. The Greeks gained well-deserved reputa-
served in the cavalry, but most of the army consisted tions as excellent soldiers, giving rise to another way
of heavily armed infantrymen called hoplites. A ho- for dealing with overpopulation. Many adventurous
plite carried weapons and protective gear made from Greeks went overseas to serve as mercenaries. As
bronze or iron, including a helmet, cuirass (chest early as 650 b.c.e., Greek mercenaries, called “men of
protector), shield, sword, spear, and greaves (shin bronze,” were serving in Egypt.
guards). The primary weapon was not the sword but
the spear. These larger armies fought in a packed
mass called a phalanx that was four or more rows New Forms of Government
deep. Hoplites in the front few ranks pointed their The rise of hoplite armies led to the decline of aristo-
eight-foot spears forward. Those in the rear ranks cratic governments. Once well-to-do merchants had
held their spears upward to keep them out of the gained a place in the army and had, on the basis of
way. A hoplite’s left side was protected by his own ability, gained military leadership positions, they de-
shield, but his right side, where he held his spear, was manded greater political rights. When aristocrats re-
protected by the shield of the man next to him. In bat- sisted, merchants joined with other disadvantaged
tle it therefore was crucially important for hoplites to social and economic groups, including poor farmers
stay in formation. Battles began with enemy pha- and resident foreigners. In most Greek cities, discon-
lanxes shoving against each other. Nothing much
happened as long as each phalanx maintained its dis-
cipline. Invariably, however, one phalanx would be- hoplite (based on Greek hoplon, “large shield”) Heavily
gin to break down and, as the other made its way into armed Greek infantryman.
the breach, disintegrate. When a hoplite’s phalanx phalanx Closely packed and well-organized body of
crumbled, his only thought was to survive the battle. Greek infantryman.
He would discard his heavy shield and run away.
Sparta and Athens 73
tent reached the point that the aristocrats had to make utation as the most wicked of tyrants. He murdered
concessions. his wife and sent three hundred boys from a rival city
One complaint of the nonaristocrats was that they to Lydia to be made into eunuchs. But he also initi-
did not know the laws, which were known only to ated many popular programs. He built a stone ramp
aristocratic “law rememberers,” whom the nonaristo- across the Isthmus of Corinth and charged tolls for
crats did not always trust to remember the law cor- dragging ships between the Aegean Sea and the Gulf
rectly. Thus, in an effort to head off discontent, of Corinth, thus eliminating the dangerous coastal
aristocrats in many cities appointed aristocratic law- voyage around southern Greece. Corinth became so
givers to write down the laws. Many of the written rich that Periander was able to eliminate taxes. He
laws, however, were designed to protect aristocratic also increased the city’s status by creating a powerful
interests, especially their control of land, and to keep navy and establishing the Isthmian Games, which
them in power. The law codes, therefore, did little to were held every four years (in between the Olympics).
lessen the discontent of nonaristocrats. In spite of his evil reputation, Periander later was
In some cities, aristocrats made common cause known as one of the “seven wise men of Greece” for
with the most wealthy nonaristocrats and changed his motto, “Forethought in all things.”
their constitutions to create a new form of govern- Tyranny, because it was illegal, was fundamentally
ment called oligarchy, in which the ability to partici- unstable. No matter how effective or popular a tyrant
pate in government was determined by wealth. All was, he always faced the threat of assassination.
the old aristocrats plus the richest nonaristocrats be- Eventually, all the Greek cities replaced tyrannies
came oligarchs, who could serve as archons or on a with much more stable oligarchies.
council that had the right to introduce laws. Citizens
who did not qualify as oligarchs still belonged to the
assembly, which could only vote yes or no on mea-
sures introduced by the council. Oligarchies were Sparta and Athens
more stable than aristocracies because oligarchies
➜
agricultural economy, remaining poor at the time trate on their military training. Because of the need to
when coastal cities were becoming wealthy through produce offspring to supply the army, men were en-
commerce. The Spartans were so unsophisticated couraged to marry by the age of thirty. Marriage cer-
economically that they never issued coins; their emonies were militaristic. The bride dressed up as an
money consisted of cumbersome iron rods. Sparta’s enemy soldier, and the groom had to fight his way
military was its army, for Sparta did not need (and into her house and carry her off as a prisoner. Men
could not afford) an expensive navy. The only way then lived in the barracks until they were sixty years
the Spartans could expand their economic resources old, when they finally could return home.
was by seizing the land of their neighbors, and by Spartan women also were part of this militaristic
about 700 b.c.e., they had conquered the southern system. Girls remained at home, but they learned to
half of the Peloponnesus. Like many agricultural be just as tough as the men. According to the Greek
communities, the Spartans had a very conservative historian Plutarch, Lycurgus “ordered the young
outlook on the world, always wary of foreigners and women to exercise themselves with wrestling, run-
new ideas. They were the only Greek polis not to get ning, and throwing the javelin, so that they would
rid of its kings, although they did move in the direc- conceive their offspring in strong and healthy bodies.
tion of aristocracy by devising a dual monarchy in To toughen them, he ordered that they should go
which two kings were chosen from the two leading naked in the processions. Nor was there anything
aristocratic families. The kings were advised, and shameful in this nakedness. It taught them simplicity
supervised, by a Council of Elders comprised of and a care for good health.” Instead of wearing the
twenty-eight men over sixty years old. An assembly enveloping clothing typical of other Greek women,
of all male Spartan citizens over thirty approved Spartan women wore a single tunic slit down the
measures submitted by the Council of Elders. The side, which led other Greeks to call them “thigh
power of the kings was limited by five annually flaunters”. And whereas other Greek women often
elected ephors, who presided over meetings of the were married by the age of fourteen, Spartan women
council and assembly. usually did not marry until eighteen, when they were
According to Spartan tradition, about 700 b.c.e., considered more suitable for childbearing.
the Spartan lawgiver Lycurgus established the Spar- Spartan women also had a reputation for fearless-
tan system of life known as the Good Rule, which ness. Once, when a Spartan woman was being sold as
was intended to unify the Spartan people, to make all a slave, her buyer asked her what she knew how to
male citizens equal, and to focus everyone’s loyalty do. “To be free,” she replied. When he ordered her to
on the polis. Lycurgus established a militaristic soci- do menial tasks not fitting for a free woman, she com-
ety designed to do only one thing: raise good sol- mitted suicide. Spartan women even undertook mili-
diers. Whereas the soldiers of other Greek cities were tary duties, something unheard of in other Greek
amateurs, a citizen militia, the Spartans were profes- cities. Another time, when the Spartan army was
sional career soldiers. The Spartans had so much con- away at war, a Greek general attacked the city and
fidence in their army that they refused to build a wall was defeated by the Spartan women. Spartan moth-
around the city, trusting to their army for defense. ers perpetuated the Spartan dislike of defeat. When a
A child’s participation in the Good Rule began at mother handed her son his shield before he went off
birth, when infants were inspected by a group of el- to war, she told him, “Come back with this or on top
ders. If they seemed unhealthy, they were exposed on of it.” Being brought back dead was deemed better
a mountainside and left to die. Children’s military than abandoning one’s shield to escape alive.
training began early. Boys went off to live in the mili- Spartan women were less restricted than other
tary barracks when they were seven years old. They Greek women. Although they could not hold office,
learned what it meant to be Spartan: to fight under all they appeared in public and had a voice in politics.
sorts of conditions, to live off the land by stealing Once when an Athenian woman asked a Spartan
food, and not to complain about bad weather or bad woman why “the women of Sparta were the only
food. When they reached the age of twenty, young
men would be elected into a military dining club of
about fifteen men and become one of the Equals, the
full citizens of Sparta. A single negative vote pre- Lycurgus Spartan lawgiver of ca. 700 b.c.e. who estab-
vented a man from becoming a citizen: he would still lished the Spartan way of life known as the Good Rule.
live in Sparta, but it would be as if he did not exist. All Plutarch Greek writer of biographies and history of the
the Equals were given a land grant that made them second century c.e.
economically independent and thus able to concen-
Sparta and Athens 75
Sparta, “those who were free were the most free any-
where, and those who were slaves were the most en-
slaved.” The primary goal of the Spartans was to
preserve their system and to keep the helots in their
place. The helots were always ready to revolt. To
make this point, Spartan men in their late teens were
sent to spy on the helots and authorized to kill any
who appeared disloyal. This duty impressed on
young Spartans how greatly outnumbered they were
and helped to justify the sacrifices they had to make
in the service of the city. To protect themselves further
against the helots, the Spartans also organized a
mutual-defense alliance of Greek cities in the Pelo-
ponnesus, called the Peloponnesian League. Any
Removed due to copyright member who was attacked could call on the help of
permissions restrictions. any other member. The Spartans thus had a core of lo-
cal allies to help them whenever the helots revolted.
The constant fear of a helot uprising meant that the
Spartans were very reluctant to send their army very
far away from home.
the assembly, but all the assembly could do was to given to a Council of 400, drawn from the top three
vote yes or no on measures introduced by the council. groups. As before, all citizens were members of the as-
During the 600s b.c.e., increasing involvement in sembly, and their only right continued to be to vote
trade, based largely on the production of olive oil, yes or no on measures already passed by the council.
brought great wealth to Athens, and a new moneyed To compensate the poor for their lack of privileges,
class arose whose wealth was based on commerce. By only the top three classes were taxed.
650 b.c.e., nonaristocrats who could afford their In most Greek cities, the establishment of an oli-
own weapons were eligible to serve in the army, garchy brought political stability, but not in Athens.
but this service did not gain them any additional Its large territory created regional differences. Three
political rights. groups competed for influence: wealthy, aristocratic,
By the late seventh century b.c.e., several Athenian and conservative inhabitants of the coastal plain;
groups had cause to be discontented. Rich merchants poor farmers living in the hills; and liberal artisans,
could never become aristocrats and therefore could merchants, and sailors living on the coast. Each
not be part of the government. Newcomers, in partic- group had its own agenda. Those living on the plain
ular merchants and craftworkers who had immi- wanted an aristocratic constitution, those in the hills
grated from other Greek cities, could not become wanted jobs, and those on the coast wanted increased
citizens. Small farmers could be sold into slavery if foreign trade. In 546 b.c.e., the war hero Peisistratus
they fell into debt to aristocrats who were eager to seized power as tyrant. His policy for staying in
gain possession of their land. The urban poor often power was to keep the support of the coastal and hill
had no jobs. Dissatisfaction with aristocratic rule be- dwellers at any cost. He provided seed grain and jobs
came so great that in 621 b.c.e. the aristocrats ap- for the poor and loans to merchants. To ensure that
pointed a lawgiver named Draco to write down the there were no unemployed troublemakers, he spon-
laws. From a positive perspective, the law code at- sored massive building projects. His measures were
tempted to end blood feuds by taking away from largely successful. Under his rule, Athens overtook
families the right to punish murder and creating in- Corinth in the vase market. Moreover, he instilled
stead a state-run court to try homicide. But Draco’s pride in the city by creating an annual festival in
code also was legendary for its harshness. It pre- honor of the god Dionysus at which plays were per-
served the right of aristocrats to enslave debtors, and formed, with the Athenians voting afterward on
the punishment for even minor crimes was death. which plays were the best.
Draco’s code thus created even greater dissatisfaction
among nonaristocrats.
In response to the heightened unrest, in 594 b.c.e., The Athenian Democracy
the aristocrats appointed the aristocrat Solon to deal Peisistratus was succeeded as tyrant by his two sons.
with social and economic complaints. Solon intro- One was assassinated, and the other was expelled in
duced a program known as the Lifting of Burdens, 508 b.c.e. The aristocrat Cleisthenes then gained the
which abolished all of Draco’s laws except for the support of the people and was given the authority to
murder court, forbade debt slavery and freed those reform the constitution in order to end factional fight-
who had been enslaved for debt, allowed foreign ar- ing and create stability. To break down regional loyal-
tisans who settled in Athens with their families to be- ties, Cleisthenes first divided the Athenian citizen
come citizens, and even established uniform weights body into three groups: the city (craftworkers and
and measures to stimulate the economy. merchants), the coast (sailors and fisherman), and the
Solon’s reforms not only helped end the economic plain (farmers). He then created ten new tribes, each
unrest but also made Athens into a major commercial of which had members from all three groups, so none
center. Their success led to Solon’s reappointment in would have obvious familial or regional affiliations.
592 b.c.e., as Reformer of the Constitution, to deal
with political discontent. Solon then did what many
other Greek cities were doing at the same time—
changed the form of government from an aristocracy Draco Athenian lawgiver whose legal code issued in
to an oligarchy. Solon divided the Athenian male citi- 621 b.c.e. was known for its harshness.
zen body into four groups based on wealth and made Peisistratus (d. 527 b.c.e.) Athenian tyrant of the sixth
the ability to participate in the government dependent century b.c.e. who created the festival of Dionysus.
on one’s contribution to the city’s economic produc- Cleisthenes Athenian leader who established Athen-
tivity. Archons were chosen from the most wealthy ian democracy in 508 b.c.e.
two groups. The right to initiate new legislation was
The Classical Age, 500–387 B.C.E. 77
Cleisthenes’ new form of government was called restrict frivolous legislation, those whose bills did not
democracy, or “rule by the people.” All male citizens pass were fined. And to keep bickering from getting
over thirty years old had an equal chance to partici- out of hand, the Athenians introduced the practice of
pate in the government. The old Council of 400 was ostracism. Each year there was a vote for the “most
replaced by a Council of 500, to which each tribe con- unpopular man in Athens.” If anyone received more
tributed 50 members. Members of the council were that one-tenth of the vote of the entire citizen body, or
chosen randomly by lot to serve for one year, and about six thousand votes, he was compelled to leave
each day a member of one of the tribes was chosen by Athens for ten years—a good way for ambitious
lot to serve as the chief official of the Athenian state. politicians to get rid of their enemies.
The archons likewise were chosen by lot. The assem- Choosing officials by lot may have been democratic,
bly, which all male citizens over age twenty could at- but it was not a good method for filling jobs that re-
tend, became the primary legislative body of Athens, quired special talents. The Athenians therefore chose
and any member could propose legislation. This kind one important official by vote: each of the ten tribes
of democracy, in which all citizens are equally re- elected a general known as a strategos. This arrange-
sponsible for participating in governing, is known as ment made sense, for a city would at least want expe-
radical democracy and is different from American rienced generals. But because strategos was the most
representative democracy, in which people elect rep- powerful elective office, ambitious politicians with no
resentatives to participate in government on their be- military abilities campaigned to be chosen, and Athens
half. Athenian democracy also was different from often was burdened with bad generals.
modern democracies in another way. It was much It soon became clear that only the well-to-do had
less democratic in that only a small percentage of the the liberty to participate in government on a regular
Athenian population actually had full citizenship basis. To increase participation by Athenians who
rights. About 40 percent of the population were had to work for a living, citizens were paid for their
slaves, and another 20 percent were noncitizen for- services, a practice that made the Athenian democ-
eigners. Citizens thus made up 40 percent of the pop- racy very expensive to operate. Poor Athenians such
ulation, and half of these, the females, had no voting as the thetes looked on the government as a source
rights. Of the remaining 20 percent, the male citizens, of income, and Athens was continually looking for
about half would have been under the age of twenty ways to raise money to pay for its democracy. The ex-
and so did not have voting rights. Thus, only about pensive nature of Athenian democracy helps to ex-
10 percent of the Athenian population, about sixty plain why it was so rarely adopted by other Greek
thousand persons at most, could actually participate city-states. Only an economic powerhouse like Athens
in government. This level of participation was still could afford it.
much greater than in any nondemocratic Greek city,
and far greater than in any Near Eastern state. In
Greek oligarchies, for example, only about 1 percent
of the population had full participation rights. The Classical Age,
The Athenian democracy was cumbersome to op- 500–387 B.C.E.
erate. Meetings of the assembly could have six thou-
➜
sand or more members present, all with equal rights What were the reasons for the Persian successes and
failures in their conflicts with the Greeks?
to speak and to introduce legislation. Discussion of a
➜
topic would begin with a herald asking, “Who wishes What were the causes of Athens’s rapid rise and fall?
to speak?” Men over fifty were allowed to speak first, The fifth century b.c.e. is known as the Classical Age,
and no one under thirty could speak at all. In addi- the period when Greece was at its height both politi-
tion, any man convicted of not supporting his parents, cally and culturally. By 500 b.c.e., the Greeks had
throwing away his shield in battle, or being a prosti-
tute also was barred from speaking. Those advocat-
ing unpopular opinions ran the risk of simply being democracy (Greek for “rule by the people”) Constitu-
shouted down. Voting was by a show of hands and tional form of government based on rule by the people.
thus was called “arm stretching.” The majority of the thetes Athenian citizens who did not own any land.
assembly was made up of thetes, landless poor who ostracism Ten-year exile imposed on one man each
often would vote for any measure that would im- year by vote of the Athenians.
prove their economic circumstances. Good speakers strategos (Greek for “general”) Only elective office in
with glib tongues, called demagogues, could sway the the Athenian democracy.
assembly by introducing moneymaking measures. To
78 CHAPTER 3 The Rise of Greek Civilization, 1100–387 B.C.E.
established a unified culture and had become a great lightly armed and inexperienced Persian infantry-
economic force in the Mediterranean world. Politi- men proved no match for the Greek hoplites. The
cally, however, they were divided. Hitherto, the Athenians posted most of their troops on the Persian
Greeks had not faced any foreign threats. But soon af- flanks and allowed the Persians to push back the cen-
ter 500 b.c.e., they were drawn into a conflict with the ter of their line. The Athenian wings then closed
greatest power the world had yet known, the Persian behind the Persians, who fled for their ships and es-
Empire. The Greeks later looked back on their victory caped as best as they could. The final toll was 6,400
over the Persians as their defining moment. Subse- Persian dead to 192 Athenians. A runner was sent to
quently, however, they again fell to fighting among Athens with the news, the first running of the
themselves, conflicts that culminated in the ruinous marathon. He fell dying in the marketplace, gasping,
Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens. Yet “Nenikekamen” (“We have won!”). The Spartans ar-
this period of warfare also saw major achievements rived the next day and could only congratulate the
in sculpture, architecture, literature, and thought that Athenians and lament that they had not been there to
had a permanent influence on western civilization. share in the glory.
The Battle of Marathon had shown that the Per-
The Persian Wars sians could be beaten. But it was by no means the end
of Persian attempts to defeat the Greeks. The Greeks
Because the Greeks considered all foreigners to be realized that the Persians would be back. When a
barbarians, no Greek could tolerate being ruled by a huge silver mine was discovered near Athens, the
non-Greek. As the Persian Empire expanded west- strategos Themistocles convinced the Athenians to in-
ward, it incorporated more and more Greeks, who vest the money in a new fleet of 200 triremes, war-
chafed under Persian rule, resulting in a series of con- ships driven by three banks of oars. The thetes backed
flicts between the Greeks and the Persians. The first this measure because each ship required 180 rowers,
began in 498 b.c.e., when the Ionian Greek cities, led who were recruited from thetes too poor to serve in
by the city of Miletus, revolted against the Persian the army and were handsomely paid. In the future,
king Darius. The Ionians, realizing they could not any proposals that would use the navy would be sup-
hold out for long, appealed for help to the European ported by the thetes.
Greeks. The Athenians sent twenty ships and helped Darius died in 486 b.c.e. His son Xerxes soon pre-
to burn the Persian provincial capital but then lost in- pared a massive attack on Greece by land and sea. In
terest and went home. It took Darius a few years to 481 b.c.e., the Greek cities met at Corinth to plan their
raise an army to retaliate, but once he had done so, he defense but immediately fell to quarreling over who
burned Miletus and deported its inhabitants to the would be in charge. Meanwhile, hoping to split up
frontiers of India. the Greeks, the Persians sent ambassadors to all the
To prevent future Greek interference in the Persian Greek cities except Sparta and Athens, demanding
Empire, Darius decided to attack the mainland Greeks. earth and water and promising them good treatment.
Before his invasion, Darius sent ambassadors to the About one-third of the Greek cities went over to the
Greek cities demanding earth and water, the Persian Persians. Another third decided to wait and see who
sign of surrender. Several Greek cities saw an alliance was going to win. Only Sparta and Athens, and their
with the Persians as a way to gain an advantage over trustworthy allies, resolved to resist the Persians. The
Greek rivals and allied themselves with the Persians. situation looked bleak for the Greeks. Even the Del-
Athens refused to surrender, and when the Persian phic oracle foresaw failure, telling the Spartans that
ambassadors arrived at Sparta, the Spartans threw “they must lose their city or one of their kings” and
them into a well and told them to get the earth and wa- recommending to the Athenians that they “flee to the
ter themselves. The ambassadors died in the fall. world’s end.” When the Athenians asked for another
The first Persian attack on Greece came in 490 b.c.e. oracle, they were told to “trust to their wooden
Two hundred ships carrying 25,000 soldiers sailed walls,” which many interpreted as meaning the
across the Aegean Sea and landed on the plain at wooden wall around the city.
Marathon, about twenty-six miles from Athens. The
Athenians sent a messenger to Sparta asking for help,
but the Spartans replied that they were performing a Marathon Battle in 490 b.c.e. in which the Athenians
religious ceremony and could not leave for several defeated the Persians.
days. The Athenian army of 10,000 heavily armed ho- Themistocles Athenian leader who organized the re-
plites thus advanced almost alone to meet the 25,000 sistance against the Persians in the 480s b.c.e.
Persians. In the ensuing Battle of Marathon, the
The Classical Age, 500–387 B.C.E. 79
The Olympias, a reconstructed Greek trireme, is shown being propelled by oars. The effective use of a trireme’s
three banks of oars, manned by 180 rowers, required extensive training and coordination. A trireme had a top
speed of over 11 miles per hour and was maneuvered so that its iron ram could punch a hole in the side of an
enemy ship. (Paul Lipke/Trireme Trust USA)
In 480 b.c.e. a Persian force numbering about Leonidas was killed, and the oracle’s prophecy thus
250,000 soldiers and 1,200 warships advanced out of was fulfilled. The Greeks later put up an epitaph to
Anatolia toward Greece by land and sea. The primary the 300 Spartans, reading: “Stranger, go tell the Spar-
Persian advantage lay in numbers; Xerxes hoped sim- tans that we lie here, obeying their orders.”
ply to overwhelm the Greeks. The Greeks realized The Persians then marched south, capturing and
that to neutralize the Persian numerical superiority burning Athens without a fight, for the Athenians
they would have to fight in confined quarters. There- had withdrawn to the island of Salamis, just off the
fore, as a first line of defense they chose a narrow coast. A great naval battle ensued when the Persian
mountain pass in northern Greece at Thermopylae. A navy attempted to occupy Salamis, which was de-
force of 7,000 Greeks led by 300 Spartans under King fended by a Greek fleet comprised mainly of the
Leonidas was sent to delay the Persian advance. As Athenian navy. The well-drilled Greeks won a spec-
the Spartans prepared to meet the Persian attack, a lo- tacular victory. It now became clear what the oracle
cal farmer attempted to frighten a Spartan soldier had meant by “wooden walls”—not the walls around
by saying that the sky would go black when the Per- Athens but the wooden hulls of the ships. Having lost
sian archers shot their arrows. The Spartan bravely the better part of his navy, and fearing for his safety,
replied, “Well, then we’ll get to fight in the shade.” Xerxes returned to Persia by land, leaving his army in
The initial Persian attacks on the pass failed. Finally, Greece. The following year, in 479 b.c.e., the Persian
Xerxes sent in his elite force, the Immortals, but they,
too, were defeated by the well-trained Spartans. As
Xerxes began to despair, a Greek traitor showed the
Thermopylae (Greek for “hot gates”) Battle at a nar-
Persians a narrow mountain path around behind the row pass in northern Greece where 300 Spartans were
Spartans. Betrayed, the Spartans, who by that time annihilated by the Persians in 480 b.c.e.
had sent away their allies, were surrounded. But even Salamis Naval battle in 480 b.c.e. at an island off
then the Persians could not defeat them. Eventually, the coast of Athens where the Greeks defeated
Xerxes ordered his archers to send volleys of arrows the Persians.
down on the Spartans until they all were dead. King
80 CHAPTER 3 The Rise of Greek Civilization, 1100–387 B.C.E.
army was defeated at Plataea. The Spartans per- tinue paying, and the transition from Delian League
formed heroically, standing stoically under Persian to Athenian empire was complete.
arrow fire until it was their turn to charge. On the The strategos Pericles was the most effective
same day, it was said, the Athenians destroyed what Athenian leader of this period, in good part because
was left of the Persian fleet in Ionia, and the Ionian he focused his attentions on domestic matters rather
cities again revolted from the Persians. than on costly foreign wars. His mother was the niece
of Cleisthenes, and his father had been ostracized but
The Rise and Fall of Athens had returned to Athens to become a distinguished
general. As a young man he had studied with philoso-
The Persians’ defeat marked their last attempt to con- phers, from whom he learned to remain calm in
quer the Greek mainland. Later in their history, the the face of adversity. In the 460s b.c.e., Pericles began
Greeks looked back at the defeat of the Persians as a political career based on an antiaristocratic, pro-
their finest hour. Sparta and Athens now were the people platform. He was an effective speaker able to
most powerful cities in Greece. Many Greeks wanted manipulate the otherwise unruly electorate. He gave
to continue the war against Persia. Athens was the the people everything they wanted, including full
natural leader, for it had a large navy, and the Spar- employment and free entertainment. In 451 b.c.e., he
tans were reluctant to have their army away from sought to protect the privileges of poor citizens with
home. In 478 b.c.e., Athens organized an anti-Persian a law limiting Athenian citizenship to those whose
league of Greek cities called the Delian League be- mother and father were both Athenian citizens. Do-
cause it was headquartered on the Aegean island of ing so maximized the amount of benefits available
Delos. Its goal was to set free the Ionian Greeks. to each thete. Pericles was greatly influenced by his
League members contributed either ships or money. mistress Aspasia, a courtesan from Miletus who, un-
Under the leadership of Athens, the Greeks repeat- like most Athenian women, appeared regularly in
edly defeated the Persians. As Athens grew in pres- public and spoke her mind. She was greatly envied
tige, the Athenians tried to turn what had begun as a
voluntary alliance into an empire, treating members
of the league as if they were Athenian subjects. League Plataea Battle in 479 b.c.e. in which the Greeks
defeated the Persians.
membership became mandatory. Cities that attempted
Delian League Anti-Persian alliance of Greek cities
to resign were attacked and forced to accept Athenian- organized by Athens in 478 b.c.e.
style democracies and to continue their payments,
tribute A form of taxation paid as a fixed annual
which now could be called tribute, as they were di- amount by a subject territory or people to a central
verted directly into the Athenian treasury. In 448 b.c.e., government.
the Persians made peace with Athens, giving up their Pericles (d. 429 b.c.e.) Athenian leader during the
claim to the Ionian cities. Once the war was over, Golden Age of Athens in the fifth century b.c.e. who
many cities of the Delian League stopped making sponsored many building projects.
their contributions. But Athens forced them to con-
The Classical Age, 500–387 B.C.E. 81
The Athenian Acropolis was the most famous complex of temples in the ancient world. Most of the monuments
were either begun or built during the time of Pericles, including the Parthenon, the great temple of Athena that
was 101 feet wide and 228 feet long; the temple of Nike, the goddess of Victory; and the Erechtheum, with its
distinctive caryatids, female statues that serve as columns. A grand entrance called the Propylaeum led up to
the sacred area on top. These very expensive building projects were paid for with tribute brought in by the
Athenian Empire. (Sotiris Toumbis Editions)
believing that Athens had been suitably weakened, The Golden Age of Greek Culture
made no response.
Sparta now was the strongest city in Greece, but At the same time that the Greeks were fighting self-
the Persian reoccupation of Ionia put it in an awk- destructive wars, they also were engaged in a great
ward position. The Ionians appealed to Sparta, and to outpouring of artistic and literary production known
maintain their reputation, the Spartans felt obliged to as the Classical Age. Many of these cultural endeav-
abandon their agreement with Persia and send an ors took place in Athens, which enjoyed its own
army to Ionia. The Persians then threw their support Golden Age. The Athenians undertook monumental
to Athens. Using Persian money, the Athenians re- building projects, paid for by tribute from their em-
built their walls and their fleet, and the war with pire. These projects were popular with the Athenian
Sparta was renewed. Both sides were exhausted, but people because they gave work to the urban poor. In
neither would allow the other to dictate terms of 449 b.c.e., Pericles passed a law allocating 9,000 tal-
peace. The two sides finally asked the king of Persia ents (about 500,000 pounds) of silver for temple con-
to arbitrate. The King’s Peace of 387 b.c.e. declared
that the fighting would stop, that all the Greek cities
were free, and that the Persian king would receive the
King’s Peace Peace treaty arbitrated by the Persian
cities of Ionia. Thus, after over forty years of warfare, king that ended the war between Sparta and Athens in
the Greeks had succeeded only in weakening them- 387 b.c.e.
selves. The only people to gain from the conflict were Classical Age The height of Greek artistic and literary
the Persians. The previous hundred years of conflict endeavor, lasting from 500 until 323 b.c.e., which in-
had demonstrated the fundamental inability of the cluded the Golden Age of Athens.
Greeks to get along with each other.
The Classical Age, 500–387 B.C.E. 83
struction work and began a large-scale rebuilding of ters were inexorably drawn to discover their awful
the temple of Athena on the Acropolis known as the fate. Aeschylus dramatized the betrayal and murder
Parthenon, now recognized as the most beautiful of the Greek high king Agamemnon by his wife and
temple of the ancient world. Except for its terra-cotta her lover. Sophocles told how Oedipus unknowingly
roof, the Parthenon was made entirely of marble. It married his mother and, when the truth was discov-
contained a gold-plated statue of Athena designed by ered, blinded himself. And Euripides described how
the sculptor Phidias, whose pupils created the many Medea took revenge on her husband, Jason, by killing
marble sculptures that decorated the temple. In the their own children. Comedies, on the other hand, were
430s b.c.e., a monumental gateway to the Acropolis risqué and full of sexual innuendo. Because they al-
known as the Propylaea was built, and during the legedly were not meant to be taken seriously, they
420s b.c.e., two more temples were added on the could deal with issues from current events. A comedy
Acropolis–one, the Erechtheum, in honor of Poseidon of Aristophanes called the Lysistrata, for example, re-
and Erechtheus (a legendary early king of Athens), sponded to a pervasive desire to end the war with
and the other dedicated to Nike, the goddess of vic- Sparta without sounding unpatriotic. No public figure
tory. Taken together, these monuments made the was safe from ridicule. In another play of Aristo-
Acropolis the most renowned temple complex of the phanes, the philosopher Socrates was depicted as liv-
ancient world. ing in “cloud cuckoo-land.” Because Greek tragedies
The Golden Age of Athens also was the Golden Age dealt with timeless themes of human emotion, faith,
of Greek drama. Every year, at the festival of Dionysus, and morality, they continue to be meaningful today,
the city financed dramatic productions. There were while the many references to fifth-century events
two kinds of drama, tragedy and comedy. Both dealt means that Greek comedies now seem less relevant.
with important matters, but tragedies did so seriously
and had sad endings, whereas comedies did so light-
heartedly and had happy endings. The underlying Parthenon Athenian temple on the Acropolis built in
theme of tragedies was that whoever failed to obey the honor of Athena.
will of the gods suffered greatly. The plots of tragedies Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides Athenian
were drawn from well-known myths and legends, writers of tragedy during the fifth century b.c.e.
meaning that the audience already knew the ending. Aristophanes Athenian writer of comedies in the late
But the characters in the play did not, and dramatic fifth century b.c.e., author of the Lysistrata.
tension resulted from the manner in which the charac-
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Aristophanes Suggests How to End the War
When dissent was expressed in Athens, it had to be done in a roundabout manner if
its author hoped to avoid criminal charges. Comic plays permitted politically danger-
ous ideas to be raised in an ostensibly nonserious way. In Aristophanes’ play Lysis-
trata, presented ca. 410 B.C.E., the women of Greece come up with a plan for how to
end the Peloponnesian War, which had been devastating Greece for nearly twenty
years. The Athenians would have found this concept humorous because in all Greek
cities except Sparta, women were expected to remain at home and not participate
in politics. The selection begins when Lysistrata, who had summoned women from
various Greek cities to a meeting, meets her friend Cleonice in the street in Athens.
She is worried because the women she is expecting have not arrived.
84 CHAPTER 3 The Rise of Greek Civilization, 1100–387 B.C.E.
➜ Cleonice: Oh! They will come, my dear; but it’s not easy, you know, for women
➜ What does this tell us to leave the house. One is busy pottering about her husband; another is getting
about the role of Athenian the servant up; a third is putting her child to sleep or feeding the brat.
women? Lysistrata: But I tell you, the business that calls them here is far more urgent.
Cleonice: And why do you summon us, dear Lysistrata?
Lysistrata: It means just this, Greece saved by the women! Our country’s for-
➜ What does Greece need to tunes depend on us. ➜ If the Boeotian and Peloponnesian women join us, Greece
be saved from during this is saved.
period? Cleonice: But look! Here are some arrivals.
Myrrhine: Are we late, Lysistrata? Tell us, pray. What, not a word?
Cleonice: No, let’s wait until the women of Boeotia arrive and those from the
Peloponnesus.
Lysistrata: Yes, that is best. . . . Ah! Here comes Lampito. [Lampito, a husky Spar-
➜ What does this exchange tan woman, enters with two women from Boeotia and one from Corinth.] ➜
tell us about views of Spartan Good day, Lampito, dear friend from Sparta. How handsome you look! What a
women? rosy complexion! And how strong you seem. Why, you surely could strangle a bull!
Lampito: Yes, indeed, I really think I could. It’s because I do gymnastics and
practice the bottom-kicking dance. But who has called together this council of
women, pray?
Lysistrata: I have.
Lampito: Well then, tell us what you want of us.
Lysistrata: First answer me one question. Don’t you feel sad because the fathers
of your children are far away with the army?
Cleonice: Mine has been the last five months in Thrace.
Myrrhine: It’s seven since mine left.
➜ What was the role of the ➜ Lampito: If mine ever does return, he’s no sooner home than he takes down
shield in Greek society? his shield again and flies back to the wars.
Lysistrata: And not so much as the shadow of a lover! Now tell me, if I have
discovered a means of ending the war, will you all second me?
Cleonice: Yes, verily, by all the goddesses.
Lampito: Why, to secure peace I would climb to the top of Mount Taygetus [a
mountain outside Sparta].
➜ How does Lysistrata sug- ➜ Lysistrata: Then I will out with it at last, my mighty secret! Oh! Sister
gest the women can coerce women, if we would compel our husbands to make peace, we must refrain . . .
the men into ending the Cleonice: Refrain from what?
fighting? Lysistrata: We must refrain from the male altogether. . . . Nay, why do you turn
your backs on me? So, you bite your lips, and shake your heads, eh? Why these
pale, sad looks? Why these tears? Come, will you do it—yes or no?
Cleonice: I will not do it, let the war go on. Anything, anything but that! To rob
us of the sweetest thing in all the world, Lysistrata, darling!
Lysistrata: You, my dear, you from hardy Sparta, if you join me, all may yet be
well. Help me, I beg you.
➜ How does Aristophanes ➜ Lampito: ’Tis a hard thing, by the two goddesses [Demeter and Persephone],
intend the relations among it is! For a woman to sleep alone without ever a strong male in her bed. But there,
these women to serve as a peace must come first.
model for the men? Lysistrata: Oh, my darling best friend, you are the only one deserving the name
of woman!
Cleonice: Very well, if you must have it so, we agree.
The Classical Age, 500–387 B.C.E. 85
The Classical Age also was the great age of histori- The Greeks also continued their study of philoso-
cal writing. The Greeks were the first people to be- phy. Philosophers turned from explaining the nature
lieve that one can learn from studying the past and of the universe to examining the nature of human in-
thus not only avoid making the same mistakes over teractions. Educators known as sophists, who some-
again but also anticipate how to behave in similar cir- times passed as philosophers, taught how to make
cumstances in the future. The three most influential effective arguments using debate and rhetoric, a use-
early Greek historians all worked in Athens. During ful skill to have in Athenian politics. Sophists often
the 440s b.c.e., Herodotus, who has been called the taught how to argue both sides of a question, for to
father of history, composed a massive study intended them there was no absolute truth: everything was rel-
to explain how the Greeks and Persians had become ative to the side of the argument one decided to sup-
involved in the greatest war the world had yet port. Some Greeks thus viewed the sophists as
known. Even though Herodotus portrayed the war as immoral. The relativism of the sophists was opposed
a conflict between civilization and barbarism, he was by the Athenian philosopher Socrates (see Choice),
sympathetic to Near Eastern culture. He was the first who taught during the latter part of the Pelopon-
historian to use the historical method, the system by nesian War. He believed that truth could be discov-
which historians gather evidence, form hypotheses, ered by question and answer, an approach still known
test the validity of their evidence, and come to con- as the Socratic method. Because he questioned some
clusions based on the most reliable evidence. Much of fundamental Athenian values, Socrates was sentenced
Herodotus’ evidence was drawn from myth and leg- to death in 399 b.c.e.
end, and, like the writers of tragedy, he adopted a Socrates left no writings of his own, and his teach-
moral approach to human behavior in which the ings have come down to us in the books of his pupil
gods rewarded the good and punished the wicked. Plato. Plato established his own school of philosophy
For Herodotus, there were fundamental rights and in Athens, known as the Academy. His written works
wrongs, with no middle ground. investigate abstract questions such as, What is jus-
Thucydides, an Athenian general who had lost a tice? Plato assumed the existence of a divinely
battle and been sent into exile, wrote a history of the established perfection that humans should strive to
Peloponnesian War up to the year 411 b.c.e. In his copy. The world we live in, he taught, is a very imper-
view, the gods were not involved in the making of fect copy of the perfect forms and ideas that exist
history. People were, and they were responsible for in the perfect static universe, and he was particu-
their own actions. For Thucydides, the most funda- larly disillusioned with the democracy that had con-
mental human motivation was a struggle for power. demned Socrates to death. Plato’s most influential
He observed, “The strong do what they can and the book, The Republic, presented a model for a perfect
weak suffer what they must.” Thucydides relied on human society that was lacking the strife and con-
written documents and first-person evidence for his tention so characteristic of the Greeks. Everyone liv-
conclusions and argued that there were two sides to ing in Plato’s republic was under the control of the
every quarrel, without any absolute right or wrong. state and had his or her fixed place. Some people
He believed it was possible to detect underlying pat- were soldiers, and others were workers. The rulers, of
terns in events. He wrote for “those who wish to have course, were the philosophers, who could be either
a clear view of events that likely will occur again” women or men.
and hoped that a critical study of the factors leading
up to the Peloponnesian War could help to prevent
ruinous wars in the future. Herodotus Author, during the 440s b.c.e., of a history
of the Persian Wars, known as the father of history.
Xenophon, another Athenian general, continued
the history of Greece from 411 to 362 b.c.e. Unlike Xenophon Historian of the period after 411 b.c.e.,
author of the “March of the 10,000.”
Herodotus and Thucydides, however, Xenophon
sophists Greek teachers who taught the art of making
wrote his history mostly as narrative—first this hap- effective arguments using debate and rhetoric.
pened, then this, then this—without any attempt to
Socrates (d. 399 b.c.e.) Athenian philosopher of the late
make events fit a particular model. His March of the fifth century b.c.e. who used a question-and-answer
10,000—an account of how a band of trapped Greek method of teaching, now known as the Socratic method.
mercenaries fought their way out of the Persian Em- Plato Athenian philosopher of the early fourth century
pire in 401 b.c.e.—is one of the great adventure sto- b.c.e. who wrote The Republic and established a school
ries of all time. Most subsequent historians followed called the Academy.
Xenophon’s narrative style.
86 CHAPTER 3 The Rise of Greek Civilization, 1100–387 B.C.E.
What was the significance of the polis in defining the against the Persians between 490 and 480 b.c.e.
Greeks’ personal identity?
The Greek victory over Persia, however, was fol-
➜
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
The Olympic Games
In both antiquity and the modern day, the value of athletic competition for both participants and spectators
has been widely acknowledged. For the Greeks, the most important athletic games were the Olympics. The
ancient Olympics had only a small number of events, such as footraces, the discus and javelin throws, the
long jump, boxing, wrestling, horse racing, chariot races, and the pentathlon. All athletes participated in
the nude. The winners received no medals, but simply an olive wreath, and there were no prizes for second
or third place. Winning brought great acclaim from one’s city. Victors were granted tax exemptions, front-
row seats at all local athletic events, and the right to dine free in the town hall for the rest of their lives.
Losing, on the other hand, was an unbearable disgrace. The poet Pindar described Olympic losers “sneak-
ing home to their mothers by the back roads.”
Websites 87
The holding of the ancient Olympics was outlawed in 393 C.E. by the Christian emperor Theodosius I be-
cause it was un-Christian. The Olympics were not held again until 1896, when they were revived by Pierre
de Coubertin, a French historian, and held in Athens. The games of the modern Olympics are less violent
than some of the ancient versions. In the ancient games, Greek boxers were allowed to wear weighted
leather gloves, and in the pancration, a combination of boxing and wrestling, the contestants fought until
one admitted defeat. Some competitors preferred death to giving up. The modern Olympics also have many
more events than the ancient ones, and they admit any person designated as a representative of a country,
whereas the ancient Olympics admitted only Greeks.
The most noticeable difference is that half of the competitors in the modern version are women. The an-
cient Olympics did not allow women at all, although in 396 B.C.E., horses trained by the Spartan woman
Cynisca won the Olympic chariot race. Unmarried Greek women did participate at Olympia in their own
games called the Heraia, in honor of Hera, queen of the gods and the wife of Zeus. The only event was a
footrace in which the younger women were allowed to start first. They ran on the same track as the men
and received the same olive wreath prize. Unlike the men, the women were permitted to wear clothing, a
short tunic that hung loose from one shoulder.
Suggested Readings
Andrewes, Antony. The Greek Tyrants. London: Hutchinson’s Hammond, Nicholas G. L. A History of Greece to 322 B.C. 3rd
University Library, 1956. A classic discussion of the rise and ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. A standard survey
role of Greek tyrants. of the history of ancient Greece through the reign of Alexander
Boardman, John. The Greeks Overseas: Their Early Colonies the Great.
and Trade. 4th ed. London: Thames & Hudson, 1989. A good Just, Roger. Women in Athenian Law and Life. London: Rout-
overview of the role played by commerce in Greek civilization. ledge, 1989. A discussion of the legal and social status of
Dover, Kenneth J. Greek Homosexuality. 2nd ed. Cambridge, women in ancient Athens.
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1989. A discussion of a con- Pomeroy, Sarah, Stanley Burstein, Walter Donlan, and Jennifer
troversial aspect of Greek society. Roberts. Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural His-
Guthrie, William K. C. The Greek Philosophers from Thales to tory. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. A briefer survey of
Aristotle. London/New York: Routledge, 1989. An overview ancient Greek history.
of Greek philosophy from the sixth through the fourth cen-
turies b.c.e., including a discussion of the role played by
Socrates.
Websites
Professional site with several sections on ancient Greece, in- Greek site covering all the periods of ancient Greek history,
cluding Homer and ancient Athens, Ancient Greece, at Hellenic History on the Internet, at www.fhw.gr/chronos/en
www.stoa.org
Comprehensive collection of websites dealing with the ancient
Greeks, Ancient Greece, at www.teacheroz.com/greeks.html
88
CHAPTER
From Polis to
Cosmopolis: The
Hellenistic World,
387–30 B.C.E.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Choice: The Maccabees Decide to Revolt Aristotle and the Rise of Practical
Philosophy
Introduction Hellenistic Science
Alexander the Great, 387–323 B.C.E. Hellenistic Technology
The Rise of Macedonia Identity in a Cosmopolitan Society
The Unification of Greece An Age of Anxiety
Alexander’s Wars The Hellenistic Mystery Cults
Alexander’s Empire The Intellectual Approach to Identity
Voice: Plutarch and Arrian Describe Hellenistic Judaism
Alexander’s Mass Marriages
Summary
The Hellenistic World, 323–30 B.C.E.
Echo: The Seven Wonders of the Ancient
The Hellenistic Kingdoms World
Hellenistic Cities
Voyages of Exploration Suggested Readings
380 360 340 320 300 280 260 240 220 200
The Hellenistic Kingdoms in 280 B.C.E.
After Alexander’s death in 323 B.C.E., his empire broke up into
three large kingdoms, ruled by the Antigonid family in Mace-
donia, the Ptolemies in Egypt, and the Seleucids in Asia.
Smaller powers included the kingdom of Pergamum and the
island city of Rhodes. Which of these states might have been
the most difficult to keep together?
89
90 CHAPTER 4 From Polis to Cosmopolis: The Hellenistic World, 387–30 B.C.E.
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
The Maccabees Decide to Revolt
In the 160s B.C.E., the faith of the elderly Jewish priest Mattathias
was put to the test. He could remain true to his religious convic-
tions, or he could follow the orders of a Greek king and sacrifice to
non-Jewish gods. Mattathias was in this position because ever since
the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C.E., the Jews of Judaea had been un-
der foreign domination. Their rulers—first the Chaldeans, then the
Persians, then Alexander the Great—usually had allowed them reli-
gious freedom, and the Jews were confident that they would be
able to continue to practice their religion without outside interfer-
ence. But in 167 B.C.E., the Greek ruler of Judaea, King Antiochus IV,
attempted to impose Greek culture on the Jews. As described in the
book of the Maccabees in the Hebrew Bible, when the king’s men
attempted to force Mattathias to sacrifice a pig, an animal consid-
Judas Maccabee ered unclean by the Jews, Mattathias and his sons were horrified:
they “tore their clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourned greatly.” A royal official
Sometimes making a choice
addressed old Mattathias: “You are a leader, honored and great in this town. Now
was not just a personal issue
be the first to come and do what the king commands, as all the Gentiles and the
but involved the survival of
people of Judah and those that are left in Jerusalem have done. Then you and
an entire people. Such was
your sons will be numbered among the Friends of the king.” Mattathias, however,
the case in the second cen-
knew where his duty lay and fearlessly replied, “I and my sons and my brothers
tury B.C.E. when the Hellenis-
will continue to live by the covenant of our ancestors. We will not obey the king’s
tic Jews had to choose
words by turning aside from our religion.” He then killed both the official, who
between obeying the orders
was about to make a sacrifice on a Jewish altar, and the king’s officer. Crying, “Let
of a king or preserving their
every one who is zealous for the law and supports the covenant come out with
ancestral beliefs. The Jewish
me!” Mattathias fled into the hills with his five sons and was soon joined by many
priest Mattathias and his
other Jews.
sons, known as the Mac-
Mattathias’s decision to resist the king’s orders must have looked like certain
cabees, rose in revolt against
suicide to most observers. The Jews were outnumbered and were facing an army
the powerful Seleucid Em-
that included professional mercenary soldiers. But the Jews were fighting for their
pire. In the decisive battle,
religious freedom and were willing to die, whereas mercenary soldiers generally
depicted here in an engrav-
were used in battles in which both sides strove to limit their losses.
ing by the nineteenth-century
At first, the Greek army had an unfair advantage, for many Jews refused to
French artist Gustav Doré,
fight on the Sabbath, the holy Jewish day of rest. On one occasion, thousands of
Judas Maccabee leads the
Jewish men, women, and children were slaughtered when they refused to fight.
Jewish army against the
Mattathias and his army, therefore, had another crucial choice to make: Would
Seleucid war elephants.
they abide by their law and be slaughtered, or put the law aside to be able to
(Bettmann/Corbis)
defend themselves? They said to each other, “If we do as our kindred did and
refuse to fight with the Gentiles on the Sabbath, they will quickly destroy us.”
Thus they decided, “Let us fight against anyone who comes to attack us on the
Sabbath day; let us not all die as our kindred died in their hiding places.”
Mattathias soon died, and his son Judas took his place as the leader of the Jew-
ish revolt. He, too, chose to continue the fight against all odds. When Antiochus’s
huge army approached, the Jewish rebels began to lose heart, saying “How can
we, few as we are, fight against so great and so strong a multitude?” But Judas
Alexander the Great, 387–323 B.C.E. 91
gave them courage by replying, “It is not on the size of the army that victory in
battle depends, but strength comes from Heaven. They come against us in great
insolence and lawlessness to destroy us and our wives and our children, and to
despoil us; but we fight for our lives and our laws. God himself will crush them
before us; as for you, do not be afraid of them.” Judas then led the attack, and
the enemy was routed. By refusing to adopt Greek culture and by choosing to
fight for their beliefs, even if it meant doing so on the Sabbath, the Jews were not
only able to preserve their way of life but even to overcome what, at the outset,
appeared to be insurmountable odds.
Chronology
387 B.C.E. King’s Peace ends warfare between the 280 B.C.E. Final partition of Alexander’s empire
Spartans and Athenians
250 B.C.E. Parthians invade Seleucid kingdom;
359 B.C.E. Philip II becomes king of Macedonia Aristarchus proposes heliocentric universe;
Ctesibius uses air and water pressure in
338 B.C.E. Philip II defeats the Greeks at Chaeronea inventions
336 B.C.E. Alexander III becomes king of Macedonia 225 B.C.E. Archimedes develops theories of physics
335 B.C.E. Aristotle founds the Lyceum 220 B.C.E. Eratosthenes creates a map of the world
334 B.C.E. Alexander invades Persian Empire 175 B.C.E. Antiochus IV becomes Seleucid king
332 B.C.E. Third wave of Greek colonization begins 165 B.C.E. Judas Maccabee defeats Seleucids
331 B.C.E. Alexander defeats Persians at Battle of 140 B.C.E. Hipparchus creates first western star
Gaugamela catalogue and defends geocentric universe
327 B.C.E. Alexander invades India 80 B.C.E. Anticythera device is first known mechanical
computing machine
323 B.C.E. Alexander dies
50 B.C.E. Greek rulers in India are defeated by Central
c.300 B.C.E. Ptolemy I founds Alexandria Museum; Asian invaders
Euclid publishes geometry theorems;
Epicurus teaches Epicureanism; 30 B.C.E. Cleopatra commits suicide after defeat by
Zeno teaches Stoicism; Romans
Pytheas of Marseilles explores Atlantic
coast of Europe
north. The Macedonians pursued a life of hunting, eventually developed a powerful army. Because of
drinking, and blood feuds. Even though they were their constant need for military leaders, the Macedo-
Greeks, because of their difficult-to-understand nians, unlike the Greeks to the south, always kept
northern Greek dialect and their rude manners, many their kings, who were chosen by a warrior assembly
southern Greeks were reluctant to accept them as comprised of the Macedonian army. Rich silver mines
being Greek. In 496 b.c.e., for example, when the gave the kings a dependable source of income. The
Macedonian king Alexander I attempted to partici- Macedonian aristocrats, known as the king’s com-
pate in the Olympic games, his Greekness was chal- panions, held their land from the king. They made up
lenged. Only after proving that he was a direct the Macedonian cavalry, which initially was the only
descendant of the Greek hero Hercules was he per- effective part of the Macedonian military.
mitted to compete, and he tied for first in the footrace. When the Persians invaded Greece in 480 b.c.e., the
Some Macedonian aristocrats, and especially Mace- Macedonians were unable to resist and became Per-
donian royalty, were much attracted to southern sian vassals, but they secretly supported the Greeks.
Greek culture and served as patrons for Greek poets They supplied the Athenians with ship timber and
and teachers. Socrates was invited to Macedonia, but ambushed the retreating Persians after the Battle of
declined. The poet Euripides accepted an invitation Plataea. The Macedonians took advantage of the Per-
and wrote a play about a Macedonian king before be- sian defeat to expand their kingdom. Conquered ter-
ing attacked and torn to pieces by savage Macedon- ritory known as spear land was distributed by the
ian hunting dogs. king to Macedonian peasants in exchange for their
The Macedonians were open to almost constant at- service in an untrained infantry that became known
tack, and, like the Assyrians, in order to survive they as the king’s foot companions.
Alexander the Great, 387–323 B.C.E. 93
Macedonia became a major power during the 350s Plutarch not only describes what happened but also
b.c.e. under the leadership of king Philip II (r. 359– provides insight into Alexander’s personality: “The
338 b.c.e.). Philip molded the infantry into an effec- city was stormed and sacked. Only one house, that of
tive fighting force by rigorously drilling it and arm- the poet Pindar, was left standing. Alexander hoped
ing it with sixteen-foot-long spears. The spears of the that a severe example might terrify the rest of Greece
men in the front ranks were pointed forward, into obedience. Thirty thousand Thebans were sold
whereas those of the men in the rear were pointed up- as slaves and upward of six thousand were put to
ward to keep them out of the way and to deflect in- the sword.” When he felt it was necessary, Alexander
coming arrow fire. The tightly packed Macedonian could be brutal, and his show of force brought the
phalanx looked like a porcupine. It could go only in Greek cities back into line. But Alexander also could
one direction—forward—and it cut through anything be merciful, as Plutarch demonstrates in the story of
in its path. With its heavy cavalry protecting its Timoclea, a respectable Theban matron who was
flanks, the Macedonian army became the most formi- raped and robbed by a Thracian mercenary. When
dable fighting force in the ancient world. she was asked if she had any other valuables, she said
they were hidden in a well, and “when the greedy
The Unification of Greece Thracian stooped to look in the well, she pushed him
in, and then flung great stones on him, until she had
During the fourth century b.c.e., the Greeks contin- killed him.” Alexander was so taken by her bravery
ued quarreling. Greek intellectuals suggested that the that he let her and her children go free.
discord could be ended if the Greeks united politi-
cally in the same way that they were united cultur-
ally. Doing so would allow them to demonstrate their Alexander’s Wars
superiority over the Persians, for the one thing that Alexander proved any remaining doubters wrong.
all Greeks could agree on was dislike for the Persians. Believing himself the son of Zeus, he planned to con-
The philosopher Aristotle, for example, suggested quer not just Anatolia but the whole world, all the
that non-Greeks, like the Persians, were only fit to be way to the great eastern ocean that geographers be-
slaves. Greeks also believed that an attack on the Per- lieved lay on the far side of India. In 334 b.c.e.,
sian Empire could help solve a recurrence of over- Alexander led his army into Anatolia. He had only
population by providing land for settlement. But 35,000 men, whereas against him the Persians could
Greek thinkers were unsure about how this unity raise 250,000. But Alexander took the Persians by sur-
could be created. The Athenian orator Isocrates prise, before they had time to assemble their entire
thought that Philip of Macedon, whom he described army. Anatolia was defended only by an army of
as “a Greek, but a leader of barbarians,” was the kind Greek mercenaries, who put up a very stiff resistance.
of person who could unite the Greeks. At the Battle of the Granicus River, as in every battle,
Ultimately, Philip was drawn into factional con- Alexander was in the thick of the fighting. According
flicts in Greece. In 338 b.c.e., at Chaeronea in central to Plutarch, one of the opposing mercenaries “gave
Greece, he defeated a Greek coalition led by Athens. Alexander such a blow with his battle-axe on the
The decisive Macedonian cavalry charge was led by
his impetuous eighteen-year-old son, Alexander. For
the first time, Greece had been conquered. Declining
the impossible task of actually ruling Greece directly, Philip II (r. 359–338 b.c.e.) King of Macedonia who
Philip formed the League of Corinth, a coalition of defeated the Greeks in 338 b.c.e.; father of Alexander
Greek cities, with himself at its head, whose ostensi- the Great.
ble purpose was to attack the Persian Empire. Philip Aristotle (384–322 b.c.e.) Greek philosopher who
established scientific classification methods and the
hoped to seize Anatolia from the Persians and place
school known as the Lyceum.
Greece’s excess population there. But two years later,
Chaeronea Battle in which Philip II of Macedon de-
before he could pursue his plans, Philip was assassi- feated the Greeks in 338 b.c.e.
nated by a disgruntled Macedonian. League of Corinth Organization of Greek cities led
Young Alexander (r. 338–323 b.c.e.) was pro- by the king of Macedonia for the purpose of
claimed king, and many wondered whether he, only attacking Persia.
twenty years old, would be able to manage the king- Granicus River Battle in northern Anatolia in which
dom, let alone put his father’s plans into effect. Sev- Alexander the Great defeated the Persians’ Greek
eral Greek cities revolted. Alexander responded by mercenaries in 334 b.c.e.
attacking the ancient city of Thebes. The historian
94 CHAPTER 4 From Polis to Cosmopolis: The Hellenistic World, 387–30 B.C.E.
Mosaic of the first century c.e. from the buried Roman city of Pompeii shows Alexander, at the far left, charging
Darius III, standing in his chariot, at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 b.c.e. This was the crucial moment of the
battle, for when Darius fled, his army then followed and Alexander won a great victory. (Scala/Art Resource, NY)
helmet that he cut off its crest and the edge of the Alexander advanced into Mesopotamia in 331
weapon touched the hair of his head.” Only after a b.c.e. By then, Darius had been able to assemble the
desperate fight were the mercenaries defeated. full Persian army. The armies met on a flat plain at
By 333 b.c.e., the Persian king Darius III (r. 338– Gaugamela. The Macedonians were greatly outnum-
331) had been able to mobilize only the western half bered, and the battle began badly for them. Their cav-
of his empire. Alexander met the Persian army at Is- alry was driven off by the Persian cavalry, leaving the
sus in northern Syria. The sight of the advancing flanks and rear of the phalanx open to attack. But at
Macedonian phalanx sent Darius fleeing, and his this point, thinking the battle was won, the Persian
army fled with him. Taken captive were Darius’ cavalry rode off to loot the Macedonian camp. Alexan-
mother, wife, and daughters, who were fearful of what der then led a cavalry charge directly at Darius, who
would befall them at Alexander’s hands. Alexander once again fled from the battlefield. His army fol-
gained much credit for receiving them kindly. Before lowed, and the Persians had lost their last chance for
pursuing Darius, Alexander thought it prudent to oc- organized resistance. Alexander now laid claim to the
cupy Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean coast so throne of the Persian Empire. Like foreign conquerors
as not to leave any enemies in his rear. Most cities sur- of the past, he assumed all the titles of Near Eastern
rendered peacefully and were well treated, but the monarchs, becoming the Great King of Persia and the
island city of Tyre held out, emboldened by Alexan- King of Sumer and Akkad. When he occupied the Per-
der’s lack of a navy. Alexander used eight valuable
months building an earth and stone jetty out to the
city, which he then stormed and sacked. In Egypt, Darius III (r. 338–331) Last ruler of the Persian Empire.
Alexander was welcomed as the pharaoh and as the Issus Battle in northwestern Syria in which Alexander
son of Ra and the son of Zeus. At this point, Darius the Great defeated Darius III in 333 b.c.e.
offered to turn over to Alexander all of the Persian Gaugamela Battle in Mesopotamia in which Alexander
Empire west of the Euphrates, but Alexander de- the Great defeated the full Persian army in 331 b.c.e.
clined, for he had much more ambitious goals.
Alexander the Great, 387–323 B.C.E. 95
Jax
Aral ar
tes
Se a
D a nub CAU
CA
Ca
e SU
Black Sea SM
sp
BALK AN MTS . T S. Ox
us
ian
MACEDON
Mt. Pangaeum THRACE
Pella
Sea
Granicus River Maracanda Alexandria
Olynthus Ancyra (Samarkand) the Furthest
Troy
Chaeronea
Thebes Sardis ANATOLIA
GREECE Athens ASSYRIA SOGDIANA
Halicarnassus Zadracarta
Side Issus Gaugamela H
Sparta Bactra S
SYRIA Arbela MEDIA U
Eup BACTRIA K
T i g ri s
e
(B
Memphis Persepolis s
PERSIA
u
Siwah Oasis
Ind
Pe
EGYPT GE D R OSI A
rs
an Pura
i
Ni
le
ARABIA Gu
lf Pattala
Re
S A H A R A INDIA
d
Arabian
Se
a
Sea
MAP 4.1 The Empire of Alexander, 323 B.C.E. Alexander’s empire, created in just ten years,
extended from Greece in the west into India in the east, and was the largest empire ever created
in the western world.
sian capital of Persepolis, he discovered 180,000 tal- Macedonians defeated Porus, an Indian king whose
ents (over 10,000 tons) of silver hoarded in the Persian army included war elephants. Alexander always
treasury, which he used to pay his own mounting ex- emerged victorious, but the Macedonian army had
penses. Indeed, Alexander issued so many silver coins been away from home for eight years, many soldiers
that the price of silver plummeted throughout the had died, and the survivors were tired of fighting.
Mediterranean world. When Persepolis burned soon With every hill they crossed, they expected to see the
afterward, some claimed it was in retribution for the eastern ocean, but all they found were more hostile
Persians’ burning of Athens in 480 b.c.e.; but others Indians. Exhausted, the army finally refused to take
said it was an accident. one step farther east. Alexander sulked in his tent for
It took Alexander four more years to conquer the three days and then agreed to return home, but not
rest of the Persian Empire. Bactria, modern Afghan- the way they had come, for that would look too much
istan, proved especially difficult, but Alexander even- like a retreat. The Macedonians, therefore, advanced
tually won the allegiance of the natives by his down the Indus River valley, fighting every step of
bravery and magnanimity as well as by his marriage the way. In one encounter, Alexander was so badly
to a local princess named Roxanne. In 327 b.c.e., not
content with having conquered the Persian Empire,
Alexander invaded India. The Indians resisted des- Bactria Modern Afghanistan, a center of Greek civiliza-
perately, village by village. Alexander himself was tion in the east.
wounded many times. In one hard-fought battle, the
96 CHAPTER 4 From Polis to Cosmopolis: The Hellenistic World, 387–30 B.C.E.
Alexander’s Empire
In only ten years, Alexander had been able to create
the largest empire the world had yet known. He next
attempted to consolidate his territorial gains. To pro-
vide some Greek presence in the conquered territo-
ries, and land for thousands of army veterans who
were disabled, ill, or whose services were no longer
needed, Alexander founded more than seventy
colonies throughout the empire, all of them named
Alexandria except for one that he named after his
horse, Bucephalus. Alexander’s colonies extended
from Alexandria in Egypt to the one called Last
Alexandria in Afghanistan and began what can be
called the third wave of Greek colonization, which
lasted from about 332 to 250 b.c.e. Unlike the first two
waves, which resulted in many seacoast colonies,
these colonies were inland. After the fighting was
over, Greek settlers continued to emigrate to Asia.
The colonies brought Greeks and Greek culture to the
far corners of the Asian world. A first-century c.e. fresco from Pompeii depicts the marriage
In spite of the colonies, there were far too few of Alexander to Statira, the daughter of the Persian king Dar-
Macedonians to be able to administer the empire di- ius III, in 324 b.c.e. The two are dressed as Ares (the god of
rectly. Alexander realized that he would need the co- war) and Aphrodite (the goddess of beauty and sex), reflect-
ing the idea that powerful monarchs shared some of the di-
operation of the conquered peoples and therefore vinity and the qualities of the gods. (Archaeological Museum
adopted the Persian model of showing respect for na- Naples/ Dagli Orti/The Art Archive)
tive customs. He copied the Persian method of admin-
istration by dividing his empire up into satrapies, and
he integrated native peoples into his government.
Furthermore, Alexander developed a vision for unify- In 323 b.c.e., Alexander established his capital at
ing the Greek and Persian peoples. He already had re- Babylon, on the borderland between the eastern and
cruited 30,000 Bactrians into his army and trained western halves of his empire. Ambassadors came from
them in Macedonian fighting styles. He also adopted far and wide to congratulate him on his victories and
Persian dress and customs and attempted to intro- to establish good relations. There were representatives
duce the Persians to the Macedonians by having 5,000 not only from the powerful trading city of Carthage
Macedonians marry 5,000 Persian women. He himself in North Africa but also from Rome, a city in central
took a second wife, Statira, the daughter of Darius. Italy that was just beginning to expand. Meanwhile,
Many conservative Macedonians objected to Alexander’s plans to conquer the world continued. He
Alexander’s adoption of so many Persian customs, intended first to attack the Arabs of Arabia and then to
and when Alexander suggested he would like his expand west into the Mediterranean, all the way to the
subjects to prostrate themselves before him, in the Strait of Gibraltar. But Alexander’s Babylonian as-
Persian manner, the Macedonians simply refused. trologers had received bad omens and were concerned
But they could not resist the effects of their exposure
to eastern culture. Most chose to remain in the east,
and those who did return home brought eastern cul- Alexandria Name given to Greek colonies established
ture and customs with them. In one way or another, by Alexander the Great, the most famous of which was
therefore, many Greeks were assimilating the ancient in Egypt.
culture of the Near Eastern world.
Alexander the Great, 387–323 B.C.E. 97
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Plutarch and Arrian Describe Alexander’s
Mass Marriages
One of Alexander’s goals was to integrate the Macedonian and Persian populations.
Given past incompatibilities between Greeks and Persians, this would not have been
an easy task. He decided that intermarriage would be a good way for the two
peoples to get to know each other. He himself married two eastern women, and in
324 B.C.E. he supported the marriages of 5,000 Greek men to 5,000 Persian women.
The following accounts are from two Greek historians who wrote in the second
century C.E., during the Roman Empire. Plutarch, in his Life of Alexander, describes
the events associated with Alexander’s marriage to Roxanne in 327 B.C.E. Arrian of
Nicomedia, in Campaigns of Alexander, reports Alexander’s marriage to the daugh-
ter of the Persian king Darius III in early 324 B.C.E., after he had returned from India.
Plutarch
➜ Now, also, he more and more accommodated himself in his way of living to
that of the natives, wisely considering that it would be wiser to depend on the
➜ Was this a sensible good-will which might arise from intermixture and association as a means of main-
strategy? taining tranquility, than on force and compulsion. As for his marriage with Rox-
anne, whose youthfulness and beauty had charmed him at a drinking
entertainment, where he first happened to see her taking part in a dance, it was,
indeed a love affair, yet it seemed at the same time to be conducive to the object
he had in hand. ➜ For it gratified the conquered people to see him choose a wife
from among themselves, and it made them feel the most lively affection for him,
➜ How did Alexander to find that in the only passion that he was overcome he yet restrained himself
display his respect for native until he could obtain her in a lawful and honorable way.
customs? Arrian of Nicomedia
➜ Then Alexander also celebrated weddings in Persia, both his own and those
of his Companions. He himself married Statira, the eldest of Darius’ daughters. He
➜ Why are these particular had already married previously Roxanne, the daughter of Oxyartes of Bactria. He
women being married to gave Drypetis to Hephaestion, she too a daughter of Darius—his intention was
Alexander’s most important that the children of Hephaestion should be cousins to his own children. . . . To
generals? Ptolemy the bodyguard and to Eumenes the royal secretary he gave the daughters
of Artabazus, Artacama to one and Artonis to the other. To Nearchus he gave the
daughter of Barsine and Mentor, and to Seleucus he gave Apame, the daughter of
Spitamenes of Bactria.
➜ Similarly he gave to the other Companions the noblest daughters of the
➜ Why did Alexander follow Persians and Medes, some 80 in all. The marriages were celebrated according to
Persian rather than Greek Persian custom. Chairs were placed for the bridegrooms, and the brides came in
custom? and sat down, each by the side of her groom. They took them by the hand and
kissed them. ➜ The king began the ceremony, for all the weddings took place
together. More than any action of Alexander this seemed to show a popular and
➜ Do you think that per- comradely spirit. After receiving their brides, the bridegrooms led them away, and
forming these marriages to all Alexander gave a dowry. And as for all the Macedonians who had already
would have been an effective married Asian women, Alexander ordered a list of their names to be drawn up;
way of uniting the Macedon- they numbered over 10,000, and Alexander offered them gifts for the wedding.
ian and Persian peoples?
Source: Reprinted by permission of the publishers and the Trustees of the Loeb Classical Library from Arrian:
Volume II, Loeb Classical Library® Volume 269, translated by P. A Brunt on the basis of E. Iliff Robson’s edition,
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1929, 1976 by the President and Fellows of Harvard
College. The Loeb Classical Library® is a registered trademark of the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
98 CHAPTER 4 From Polis to Cosmopolis: The Hellenistic World, 387–30 B.C.E.
for his safety. They even seated a commoner on for was to remain the strongest power in Greece, and
Alexander’s throne to absorb the bad luck they saw they did this by establishing strategic fortresses that
coming for him. In spite of this precaution, after a typ- kept the Greeks under control. Another Antigonid
ical Macedonian drinking party, Alexander became concern was the growing power of Rome, just across
very ill and died a few days later. Suggested causes of the Adriatic Sea.
his death have ranged from the cumulative effects of Alexander’s general Ptolemy seized control of
past war wounds to malaria to poison. Almost imme- Egypt, the wealthiest and most geographically secure
diately, Alexander passed into legend, remembered as satrapy of Alexander’s empire. His family, the
Alexander the Great. Many believed that he became a Ptolemies, was confronted by the need to rule over
god. Exotic tales of his adventures known as the two populations, one Greek and one Egyptian. To
Alexander Romance were widely circulated and still their Greek subjects, the Ptolemaic kings were Mace-
popular more than a thousand years later. donian kings and successors to Alexander. But to the
Egyptians, they were a new dynasty of pharaohs.
Like pharaohs of the past, Ptolemaic kings married
their sisters and were worshiped as if they were gods.
The Hellenistic World, Ptolemy II, for example, took an Egyptian name
meaning “Loved by Amon, Chosen by Ra.” He mar-
323–30 B.C.E. ried his sister Arsinoë and was known after his death
as Ptolemy the Sister-Lover. Ptolemaic queens with
➜➜
the city and to suppress pirates, Rhodes maintained a which Mediterranean peoples found fascinating: “If
powerful navy. Like other Hellenistic cities, Rhodes there is an intelligent animal, it is the elephant. I my-
became a center of learning, providing instruction in self saw an elephant clanging the cymbals while
philosophy, rhetoric, literature, and science. other elephants danced; two cymbals were fastened
to the player’s forelegs and one on his trunk. As he
rhythmically beat the cymbal on either leg in turn the
Voyages of Exploration dancers danced in a circle, raising and bending their
Greek expansion during the Hellenistic period forelegs.” During the voyage in the Indian Ocean,
brought the Greeks into direct contact with a multi- Nearchus traveled so far south, he reported, that at
tude of foreign cultures, stimulating a great interest noon the sun cast no shadow at all and at night some
in geographical exploration. A popular genre of of the familiar stars could not be seen. According to
travel literature known as the periplus described the another writer, Nearchus once encountered a pod of
strange places and peoples that travelers encoun- spouting whales, and when the rowers of the war-
tered in the course of their journeys. These literary ships became distressed at the sight of these huge
works were often of a practical nature, having been beasts, “Nearchus went and encouraged and cheered
commissioned by rulers interested in the nature of them. He signaled them to turn the ships’ bows
the territories to which they had laid claim or au- toward the whales as if to give battle and to raise their
thored by merchants seeking the best places to trade battle cry and make a great deal of noise. When they
and the safest routes for getting there. In contrast to neared the monsters, they shouted with all the power
earlier geographical accounts, which had been based of their throats, and the bugles blared, and the rowers
on myth and legend, these were based on firsthand made the greatest splashings with their oars. So the
observations. Much of the impetus for these works whales were frightened and dove into the depths,
came from the campaigns of Alexander the Great, es- and much praise was showered on Nearchus for his
pecially his travels in India. courage.”
In 325 b.c.e., Alexander’s admiral, Nearchus, was
ordered to survey the coast between India and Persia. periplus (Greek for “sailing around”) Hellenistic genre
He did so in great detail, and after his return, around of travel literature.
310 b.c.e., he wrote a book about India. He told of Nearchus Admiral of Alexander the Great who in the
trees so large that one of them could shade ten thou- fourth century b.c.e. wrote a book about India.
sand people and he discussed the habits of elephants,
102 CHAPTER 4 From Polis to Cosmopolis: The Hellenistic World, 387–30 B.C.E.
A report of a voyage along the coast of the Red Sea We were struck with terror and our fortune-tellers ad-
(which extended all the way to India in this version) vised us leave the island.” Farther along, he reported
was written in the first century b.c.e. by an anonymous encountering an “island full of savages. They had
merchant who catalogued market towns and the kinds hairy bodies and the interpreters called them goril-
of goods that could be traded. He reported that, after las.” If this account is true, Hanno must have gone as
leaving Egypt, a traveler encountered along the east far as the Congo River. According to one account,
coast of Africa the fish-eaters, the Berbers (a variation Hanno eventually turned back because of a lack of
on the word barbarians), the flesh-eaters, and the calf- supplies, but another version has him sailing around
eaters. Farther along were trading cities with good har- Africa and eventually arriving in Arabia.
bors: “There are exported from these places ivory, and Finally, a Greek sailor from Marseilles named Pyth-
tortoise-shell and rhinoceros-horn, but practically the eas described a voyage he made up the Atlantic coast
whole number of elephants and rhinoceros that are of Europe around 300 b.c.e. looking for a sea route to
killed live in the places inland, although at rare inter- sources of tin and amber. He traveled to Britain,
vals they are hunted on the seacoast.” The merchant which he called Albion, and then continued even far-
traveled no farther, however, than the Horn of Africa ther north to a place called Thule, six days’ sail north
(modern Somalia), writing, “Beyond these places the of Britain, which has been identified as the Shetland
unexplored ocean curves around toward the west, and Islands or even Iceland, places previously unknown
running to the south of Africa it mingles with the west- to the Greeks. Pytheas noted that on June 21, the sun
ern sea.” A voyage down the coast of Arabia, on the never set, suggesting that he even reached the Arctic
other side of the Red Sea, was rather more dangerous. Circle. He described sailing conditions in which there
According to the merchant, “The country inland is was no distinction between the earth, air, and sea,
peopled by rascally men who plunder those who ap- perhaps a reference to a very thick fog. He also was
proach the coast and enslave those who survive ship- the first Greek to report on the tides and to connect
wrecks. Navigation is dangerous along this whole them with the motion of the moon.
coast of Arabia, which is without harbors, with bad an-
chorages, foul, inaccessible because of breakers and
rocks, and terrible in every way.” But beyond this lay
the “frankincense country.” The business of producing Hellenistic Culture
frankincense, one of the most sought-after spices of an- and Science
tiquity, was controlled by the local king: “The frankin-
➜
cense is gathered by the king’s slaves and those who In what ways did Hellenistic scientists use methods
different from those of earlier philosophers?
are sent to this service for punishment. These places
➜
are very unhealthy, and almost always fatal to those What was the nature of Hellenistic scientific
discoveries?
working there.” From there, the merchant sailed past
Arabia toward India, reaching the Indus River. In In- The incorporation of the Persian and even the Indian
dia, the merchant obtained turquoise, lapis lazuli, silk, worlds into the Greek experience brought a new form
and indigo in exchange for frankincense, gold, and sil- of Greek culture called Hellenistic culture, through
ver. Finally, this account makes the first known west- which the Greeks lost the Greek-centered view of the
ern mention of China, which the author called Thinae: world of the Classical Age and learned to value other
“Silk, silk yarn, and silk cloth are brought on foot peoples and cultures. The old distinction between
through Bactria, and are also exported by way of the Hellenes and barbarians became less clear as popula-
river Ganges. But this land is not easy of access; few tions and cultures from Greece to the Indus River val-
men come from there, and seldom.” ley became mixed. As during the Archaic Age, eastern
Other merchants traveled west, out of the Mediter- influences in art, government, and thought flowed
ranean and into the Atlantic. One voyage story told of into Greece. Greek culture became a hybrid, an amal-
a fifth-century b.c.e. expedition by the Carthaginian gamation of western and eastern culture that gave
sailor Hanno down the west coast of Africa, as far as western and eastern people new common ground.
the equator or beyond. Sailing up one river, Hanno
encountered crocodiles and what he called hippo-
potamuses, a word meaning “water horses.” At a Hanno Fifth-century b.c.e. Carthaginian explorer who
later landing point, he wrote, “We could see nothing wrote of a voyage down the west coast of Africa.
but forest by day, but at night many fires were seen Pytheas Greek sailor from Marseilles who wrote about
and we heard the sound of flutes and the beating of his voyage to Britain around 300 b.c.e.
drums and tambourines, which made a great noise.
Hellenistic Culture and Science 103
united in a way they had never been before and never change. Every change, he believed, occurs for a rea-
would be again. son, by means of some material cause and for some
purpose. There was little room for gods in Aristotle’s
universe. He acknowledged that some kind of divin-
Aristotle and the Rise of ity had originally set the universe in motion, but it
Practical Philosophy then became self-perpetuating. He created a method
for understanding the world based on observation,
During the Hellenistic period, Greek scientific logic, and common sense that could also be repli-
thought turned from theory based on speculation cated—that is, proved by someone else—thus mak-
and convincing argument to theory based on obser- ing Aristotle’s model very different from the methods
vation and experimentation. The first practical scien- of earlier philosophers. Aristotle laid down many of
tific thinker was Aristotle, a native of northern Greece the rules for what later would be known as the scien-
whose father had been the personal physician and tific method, in which evidence is collected, studied,
friend of King Philip II of Macedonia. After studying classified, and analyzed, with conclusions based on
medicine with his father, the young Aristotle pursued the evidence, not on who can make the best argu-
his studies at Plato’s Academy in Athens. He taught ment. His approach was adopted by other Hellenistic
for a while at the Academy and then moved to Ionia, scientists, whose experiments, observations, and con-
where he turned his attention to biology and began clusions in fields such as mathematics, medicine,
his practice of collecting observations. He then re- physics, and astronomy were not superseded until
turned to Macedonia, where he is said to have tu- the seventeenth century or later.
tored Alexander the Great. Eventually, in 335 b.c.e.,
Aristotle returned to Athens and founded his own Hellenistic Science
school, called the Lyceum.
As Plato’s most influential pupil, Aristotle reacted Alexander the Great himself was a believer in scien-
against the view that scientific problems could be tific investigation, and his armies included a staff of
solved simply by contemplation. Aristotle’s method scientists who observed and recorded discoveries in
of understanding the universe and human behavior fields ranging from geography to botany. The works
was to collect evidence, analyze it, and then come to of his botanist Theophrastus, for example, served as
conclusions based on observation. Rather than focus- the foundation for modern botany. Alexandria was
ing purely on theory, as did the Academy, the Lyceum especially famous as a center of science and mathe-
undertook broad scientific study of the real world of matics, and the most influential of the Alexandrian
nature. Whereas Plato’s Academy looked for a uni- scientists was the mathematician Euclid, who wrote a
fied system that would explain everything in the textbook on plane geometry around 300 b.c.e. that is
world, Aristotle’s interests were much more eclectic. said to be, after the Bible, the most influential book
He and his pupils believed in categorizing and subdi- ever published. Euclid’s textbook presented five ax-
viding all the fields of study and looking at each one ioms that were obviously true, such as that only one
individually. His work on animals and plants, for line parallel to another line can be drawn through a
example, resulted in the categorization of different given point, and then combined them to prove more
kinds of species. Aristotle published books on biol- complex propositions, called theorems, which then
ogy and zoology, astronomy, chemistry, poetry, rheto- could be used to prove other theorems. Modern
ric, mathematics, logic (a field he virtually invented),
ethics, politics, sociology, and economics. His book
The Politics formulated his own idea of an ideal soci-
ety that was not theoretical, like Plato’s, but fixed Lyceum School of philosophy established in Athens
firmly in the real world and based on a collection of by Aristotle.
the constitutions of many different governments, Theophrastus Third-century b.c.e. Greek philosopher
and naturalist.
including even those of barbarians like the Cartha-
Euclid Hellenistic mathematician who around 300
ginians. Aristotle believed that people could govern
b.c.e. wrote a textbook on geometry.
themselves, but only if they were virtuous.
axioms and theorems In geometry, axioms, statements
Plato had denied the importance of change by ar- that are assumed to be true without needing to be
guing that the transitory things of this world are just proved, are used to prove theorems, hypotheses that
imperfect reflections of the world of perfect unchang- must be proved by using axioms and previously
ing forms. In contrast, Aristotle thought that the proved theorems.
world was defined by the manner in which things do
Hellenistic Culture and Science 105
A reconstruction of Eratos-
thenes’ map of the world
from the third century
b.c.e. In Eratosthenes’
model, the world had
three continents, Europe,
Asia, and Libya (Africa),
and was surrounded by a
single large ocean. (Visual
Connection Archive)
geometry textbooks do little more than reproduce Eu- perfect circles but in a complex pattern of circles
clid’s theorems. within circles.
Alexandria also was home to many famous as- Hellenistic scientists also made advances in medical
tronomers. One topic of investigation was the place science, which had begun at the very end of the Classi-
of the earth in the universe. Aristotle and other Greek cal Age with the work of Hippocrates. Known as the
scientists had assumed that the sun, moon, and plan- father of medicine, Hippocrates was the first Greek
ets revolved around the earth. Contrary to this view, physician to reject the idea that illness was caused by
Aristarchus, around 250 b.c.e., proposed a heliocen- the gods. He believed that sickness was caused by diet
tric universe, with the sun at the center and the earth and environment and that an important point in an
rotating on its own axis. Shortly thereafter, Eratos- illness was the crisis, after which the patient would
thenes devised a method for computing prime either recover or die. Because he believed that the body
numbers—numbers that cannot be divided by any was largely capable of healing itself, through rest, he
other number—and estimated the circumference of was reluctant to administer medicines. Hippocrates
the earth by comparing the difference in length be- also taught the importance of observing symptoms so
tween shadows cast at noon at two different places in that similar illnesses could receive similar treatments.
Egypt. His figure of 24,887 miles was almost exactly He established a school of medicine that included
correct (the actual circumference is 24,902 miles). many later Greek doctors, and the medical ethics he
Eratosthenes also made a map of the world and pre- developed are preserved in the modern Hippocratic
dicted that there were other continents in the South- Oath. During the Hellenistic period, medical science
ern Hemisphere and that one could reach India by was expanded by an Alexandrian school of medicine
sailing west from Spain. that studied human anatomy and physiology by dis-
The most notable Hellenistic astronomer was Hip- secting the bodies of condemned criminals. By this
parchus, who around 140 b.c.e. established the field means, Alexandrian physicians discovered the func-
of observational astronomy by creating the first west- tion of nerves and the flow of blood through vessels.
ern star catalogue. He measured the exact positions
of some five hundred stars with an astrolabe, a device
using a long thin tube to pinpoint a star’s location. Aristarchus Alexandrian astronomer who about 250
To create his catalogue, Hipparchus had to devise b.c.e. proposed a heliocentric (from Greek for “sun-
a standard reference system, using lines of latitude centered”) universe.
and longitude that could be used to define positions Hipparchus Alexandrian astronomer who believed in
a geocentric (from Greek for “earth-centered”) uni-
both on the earth and in the sky. Hipparchus rejected
verse and about 140 b.c.e. created the first western star
Aristarchus’s heliocentric model because it could not catalogue.
be proven observationally and returned to the tradi- Hippocrates Greek physician of the early fourth cen-
tional geocentric system, with the earth in the center tury b.c.e who established Greek medicine and whose
of the universe. To explain the occasional looping ethical model provides the oath taken by modern
motion of the planets against the stars, Hipparchus physicians.
proposed a system whereby the planets moved not in
106 CHAPTER 4 From Polis to Cosmopolis: The Hellenistic World, 387–30 B.C.E.
Hellenistic Technology
During antiquity, technology generally evolved
slowly, and antiquity is not generally thought of as a
great age of invention. The Hellenistic Age, however,
stimulated by the intellectual interaction of eastern
and western thought, was a period of great techno-
logical advancement. Machines were invented both
for practical purposes and as curiosities; some prefig-
ured modern technological developments. The first
great Hellenistic inventor, Ctesibius of Alexandria,
was the son of a barber. His first invention was a
counterweighted mirror that could be adjusted to the
height of a customer’s head. His realization that air
was a substance that could be manipulated led to the
invention of a number of devices based on the use of
water pressure and compressed air. He created a wa-
ter clock in which a system of valves turned the sup-
ply of water on and off, a high-pressure pump used to
shoot streams of water at fires, and an organ that used
water pressure to create airflow through sets of
pipes—the first keyboard instrument.
Hero of Alexandria, nicknamed “the machine
man,” likewise devised machines based on air and wa-
ter pressure. He invented the first steam engine, which
transformed steam into circular motion by means of
jets placed on the sides of a hollow sphere. The same
principle is used in the modern jet engine. Instead of
being put to practical use, Hero’s engine was used
only as a toy, to make puppets dance. Other curiosities
invented by Hero included automatic door openers for
temples. More practical were his hydraulic devices to The octagonal Tower of the Four Winds in Athens was de-
signed by the Hellenistic scientist Andronicus of Cyrrhus
force the oil out of olives. He also invented an odome- around 150 b.c.e. to be used on the outside as a sundial and
ter, a system of gears connected to a wheel that could weathervane and on the inside as a waterclock. The name
be used to measure distances. During the Roman Em- comes from the depictions of the eight winds carved on the
pire, Hero’s odometer was used to place the mile eight sides: Boreas, for example, represented the north wind.
markers on the famous Roman road system. (Ancient Art & Architecture Collection)
The most famous Hellenistic inventor was Archi-
medes, a native of Syracuse in Sicily, who had been
a pupil of Aristarchus at Alexandria. Around 225 walls over the ships sunk some by the great weights
b.c.e., Archimedes invented the field of mathematical that they dropped down upon them; others they
physics. According to one story, Archimedes was lifted up into the air by an iron hook and whirled
once sitting in a bath when he observed that his body about until the sailors were all thrown out, when at
had displaced its own volume of water. On this basis, length they were dashed against the rocks below.”
he was able to calculate specific gravity of any object,
the ratio of the object’s weight to the weight of the
same volume of water. He also invented the Archi- Ctesibius of Alexandria Alexandrian Greek inventor
medes screw, a device for boosting water out of rivers of the water clock, after 250 b.c.e.
and canals for irrigation. Hero of Alexandria Inventor of an ancient steam
Hellenistic inventions also could be used for war- engine.
fare, as happened in 212 b.c.e., when Syracuse was Archimedes Greek scientist from Syracuse who about
attacked by the Romans. According to Plutarch, 225 b.c.e. invented mathematical physics and devel-
Archimedes used his engineering knowledge to at- oped the concept of specific gravity.
tack the Roman navy: “huge poles thrust out from the
Hellenistic Culture and Science 107
Archimedes also was said to have built a gigantic lens doms in which cities were shuffled around from one
that set Roman ships afire by focusing sunlight on kingdom to another. As cities lost their political inde-
them. When the Romans finally took the city, Archi- pendence, Greeks lost part of their personal identity.
medes was in the midst of diagramming a problem in Being a subject of a king simply could not replace the
the sand. Plutarch reports, “He never noticed that the sense of belonging that came from being a citizen of
city was taken. A soldier, unexpectedly coming up to an independent polis. The feeling now arose that one
him, commanded him to follow him, which he de- was a citizen of the cosmopolis, or world-city. People
clined to do before he had completed working out his encountered the wider world every day—in the street,
problem. The soldier, enraged, drew his sword and in literature, and in the schoolroom. In the market-
ran him through.” place, they heard not only Greek but also Persian,
Other machines were equally complex. The ability Aramaic, and Egyptian. Because they were constantly
to predict the motions of the sun, moon, and planets exposed to foreign cultures, the Greeks could no
had practical significance for astrologers, for it per- longer be supremely confident that their culture was
mitted them to cast horoscopes for any date in the the best in the world, and they felt that their sense of
past, present, or future. Elaborate geared mechanical cultural identity was threatened. In fact, foreign cul-
devices were constructed that allowed the user to tures had many attractions for the Greeks, and they
portray the position of the heavenly bodies at any time. no longer felt that all foreign things were barbarian.
One such device, the first known mechanical comput- Greek culture now was Hellenistic culture, which
ing machine, was discovered by a Greek sponge diver meant the assimilation of the cultures of many for-
in 1900 off the coast of Crete near the island of Anti- eign peoples.
cythera, hence the name “the Anticythera device.” These changes made the Greeks uncomfortable.
Built around 80 b.c.e., it is the most complicated ma- They were used to being in control, to being able to
chine to be preserved from antiquity. The surviving understand and feel integrated in their world. Now
section alone (part of it is missing) contains thirty- they felt lost. Life seemed unpredictably governed by
two gears. The device is based on the theories of Hip- Tyche, a goddess who represented blind chance, who
parchus and can predict the position of the sun, could bring either good fortune or complete ruin. To
moon, and planets in the zodiac, along with the phases try to regain a sense of control, many Greeks turned
of the moon, with an accuracy of one part in 86,000. to personal religion. Some sought supernatural guid-
ance, adopting some of the very same Near Eastern
ideas that had made them uncomfortable in the first
Identity in a place. Babylonian astrology, which taught that the fu-
ture had been ordained by the gods and could be read
Cosmopolitan Society in the motions of the stars and planets, gained a great
following. The famous Babylonian astrologer Berossus
➜➜
Magical charms also were used for self-medication, though there were several general similarities. Initi-
for then, as now, people were very concerned about ates were sworn to secrecy, but enough information
their health. An ancient pregnancy test suggested, slipped out to give a general picture of the rites. The
“You should make the woman urinate on the Great- ceremony often began with a purification ritual that
Nile plant. When morning comes, if you find the plant made the initiate fit to come into contact with the de-
scorched, she will not conceive. If you find it green, ity. The initiate then sat through, or participated in,
she will conceive.” Incubation—that is, sleeping in an elaborate performance that explained the cycle of
the sanctuary of a healing god such as Asclepius— life and death.
was thought to be a means of curing maladies rang- To be initiated into most mystery cults, all one had
ing from psoriasis to lameness to cancer. Temple walls to do was attend the ceremony, although some cults
were hung with plaques attesting to various cures. had more demanding initiations than others. The
One, regarding a wounded soldier, read, “As he was Eleusinian mysteries at Athens honored the grain
sleeping in the Temple the god extracted the spear- goddess Demeter. In Greek mythology, Demeter’s
head. When day came he departed, cured.” People also daughter Persephone had been carried off to the un-
believed that they could receive help from the gods in derworld by the god Hades but was allowed to re-
dreams received while they slept in temples. Accord- turn to earth six months of the year. The initiation
ing to one report, “Arata, a woman of Sparta, was began with a ritual purification in which initiates car-
dropsical. While she remained at home, her mother ried a piglet into the sea. Then the piglet was sacri-
slept in the temple and saw a dream. It seemed that ficed, and the initiates were baptized by being
the god cut off her daughter’s head and hung her sprinkled with its blood. They then took part in a
body upside-down. Out came a huge quantity of fluid torchlight procession to holy places in the Athenian
matter. Then he fitted the head back on the neck. Af- countryside that appeared in the myth of Demeter
terward she went home and found her daughter in and Persephone, thus sharing in the goddesses’ expe-
good health.” riences. The climax of the ceremony occurred in the
Hall of Initiation, where a religious drama depicting
The Hellenistic Mystery Cults the return of Persephone from the underworld was
presented. Sacred objects, such as ancient wooden
Another way people attempted to gain greater con- statues of the goddesses and wheat stalks, also were
trol over their lives was by attempting to find happi- displayed. The poet Pindar wrote about these myster-
ness after death. Many believed this could be done by ies, “Blessed are those who have seen these things for
participating in mystery cults, which promised a they understand the end of mortal life and the begin-
blissful afterlife gained by participating in secret ritu- ning of a new life given by god.”
als. Mystery cults taught that people could obtain sal- Initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries took place
vation from the cares of this world by following the only in Athens, but initiation into most other cults
model of a god who had endured terrible suffering or could occur anywhere. During the Hellenistic period,
death on earth and then had been either restored or the ancient Egyptian cult of Isis, whose brother Osiris
reborn. If the god could triumph over the troubles of had been brought back from the dead after being torn
this world, people believed that they could, too. But to pieces, was revived. This cult was similar to the
participants in mystery cults could not obtain salva- Eleusinian mysteries, but it also made greater de-
tion by their own efforts. They needed help, in the mands. Initiates were expected to purify themselves
form of going through the proper rituals, to under- by living in the temple with the priests and attending
stand the mystery of how the god they were worship- worship services, even if only for a day. Participants
ing had obtained salvation. Unlike modern religions then viewed sacred books and were baptized in wa-
of redemption, moreover, mystery religions were not
intended to help someone obtain forgiveness and
avoid punishment for past sins, but simply to ensure mystery cult (based on Greek mysterion, “secret”)
Form of worship modeled on the experiences of a god
that a participant received an afterlife. There was no and promising a happy afterlife through secret initia-
concept of guilt, repentance, or regret for past sins. In- tion rituals.
deed, mystery cults had no concept of sin at all. salvation Process by which people believed they were
A participant in a mystery cult was thought to ob- saved from the suffering and troubles of this world
tain salvation by participating in an initiation cere- and gained eternal life; also known as redemption.
mony that allowed one to share the identity of the Eleusinian mysteries Mystery cult at Athens that
god and thus the god’s immortality. Different cults honored the grain goddess Demeter.
created this mystical union in different ways, al-
Identity in a Cosmopolitan Society 109
Hellenistic period, before and after 300 b.c.e., new thousand years. Just as every part of the machine
philosophical teachings aimed to fulfill the needs of played its part in the smooth functioning of the mech-
individuals. In the mid fourth century b.c.e., the anism, it was everyone’s duty to perform his or her
philosopher Diogenes, for example, taught that individual role in the pattern established by the Lo-
people could find their proper place in the world, and gos. Zeno, therefore, also taught that one should live
also become invulnerable to the unpredictability of by nature, but his point was that all must accept the
Tyche, by discarding all human social conventions role that they had been assigned in nature. The Stoic
and “living according to nature.” His followers gained prayer was, “Lead me, O Zeus, wherever you will,
the name Cynics, from the Greek word for “dog,” be- and I will follow willingly, and if I do not, you will
cause they lived like dogs, performing all of their drag me.” The only choice a person had was either to
natural functions—eating, sleeping, defecating, and accept what already had been determined or to fight
having sex—in the street. Cynics were self-sufficient against it and inevitably be destroyed as a conse-
and indifferent to suffering. Their lack of respect for quence. The importance given to performing one’s
social conventions also meant they were outspoken duty made Stoicism attractive to individuals who
social critics and took no account of rank or status. In were committed to political service.
a famous story, one day Alexander the Great visited
Diogenes, who lay naked sunning himself. When Hellenistic Judaism
Alexander asked Diogenes what he could do for him,
Diogenes replied, “You could move to the side a bit At the same time that mystery cults and new philoso-
and stop blocking the sun.” phies were emerging, a very significant religion of
The philosopher Epicurus, from the Aegean island antiquity was once again facing challenges from out-
of Samos, took a materialistic approach to life. Begin- side. Under Persian rule, the Jews of Judaea, as the
ning just before 300 b.c.e., in the philosophy known Jewish homeland was now called, had been permitted,
as Epicureanism, he taught that the universe was and even encouraged, to pursue their worship with
comprised of atoms randomly falling through space. little or no interference from the government. When
There was no guiding principle and no underlying Judaea was absorbed into the empire of Alexander,
structure. There were no gods, no chance, no good or the Jews continued to enjoy the same religious free-
bad fortune, just falling atoms. Sometimes these dom. Following the disintegration of Alexander’s
atoms would swerve, clump together, and create the empire, Judaea lay in the disputed border area be-
material world. The swerve also gave people free will tween the Ptolemaic and Seleucid kingdoms and thus
by introducing an element of variation into the falling was often drawn into a long series of border wars.
atoms. A person’s only goal should be to pursue a Eventually the Seleucids prevailed, and the Seleucid
form of pleasure that Epicurus defined as preventing kings initially maintained the Jews’ freedom to wor-
one’s atoms from being disturbed, and this meant ship as they saw fit.
avoiding pain. Thus, any pleasure that later caused The situation changed with the Seleucid king An-
pain, such as drunkenness or overeating, was to be tiochus IV Epiphanes, who, desiring to unify his still
avoided. To avoid pain, one also needed peace of vast and very disparate kingdom, sought to implant
mind and the ability not to be affected by circum- Greek culture in Judaea much more actively than had
stances. Epicurus thus advocated withdrawal from his predecessors. Many Jews, mostly from among the
public life in favor of a calm life of seclusion spent with well-to-do, already had become Hellenized by learn-
like-minded friends. But the focus on pleasure led to
misunderstanding of Epicurus’s teachings; today, the
term Epicurean refers to someone who overdoes plea-
Diogenes Mid-fourth century b.c.e. Greek Cynic
sure seeking, exactly the opposite of what Epicurus philosopher.
meant. Epicurus’s school was unusual in that he ad-
Epicureanism Philosophy founded by Epicurus (341–
mitted women. 270 b.c.e.) that advocated the avoidance of pain.
Just after 300 b.c.e., Zeno, a native of Cyprus, pre- Stoicism Greek philosophy founded by Zeno just after
sented a different view in the philosophy known as 300 b.c.e. that advocated doing one’s duty in the
Stoicism. He also taught that the universe was mate- universe.
rialistic, but for him it was highly structured and had Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 175–164 b.c.e.; his name
an unalterable pattern established by a divine gov- means “God Made Manifest”) Seleucid king who
erning force called the Logos. The universe was like a attempted to Hellenize the Jews.
finely organized machine, full of wheels and gears, Hellenization Process of implanting Greek culture.
that repeated the same cycle about every twenty-six
Identity in a Cosmopolitan Society 111
ing Greek, studying Greek literature, and adopting rest and disagreements among the Jews themselves.
Greek religious and philosophical practices and be- There were conflicts over how Jewish law was to be
liefs. Because Greeks, who exercised in the nude, be- interpreted and over the assimilation of non-Jewish
lieved that circumcision was a gross deformity, some culture. A group called the Sadducees, who repre-
Jews even underwent surgical processes to undo cir- sented the wealthy and were in charge of overseeing
cumcision. The enthusiasm of these Hellenized Jews the temple in Jerusalem, embraced many Hellenistic
may have led Antiochus to believe that the rest of the beliefs and formed a secular-oriented group that coop-
Jews also were ready to adopt Greek culture. erated with foreign rulers. They took a narrow inter-
Many conservative Jews, however, opposed Hell- pretation of Jewish law, relying on written scripture
enization. The book of Maccabees in the Hebrew only. Sadducees usually controlled the supreme legal
Bible reported, “In those days certain renegades came and legislative body of the Jews, the Sanhedrin, which
out from Israel and misled many, saying, ‘Let us go met in the Temple in Jerusalem and had seventy-one
and make a covenant with the Gentiles around us.’ members, including the High Priest. On the other
So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to hand, the Pharisees, the successors of the Hasidim,
Gentile custom, and removed the marks of circumci- who tended to come from well-to-do but not rich
sion, and abandoned the holy covenant.” The great- backgrounds, opposed Hellenization and supported
est opposition to Antiochus’s policies arose among a rigorous enforcement of Jewish religious law. They
less privileged Jews, led by the Hasidim, who feared studied and interpreted scripture in synagogues and
that any adoption of Greek culture not only violated created a more religiously oriented party. During the
Jewish beliefs but also would lead to their destruc- reign of Queen Salome Alexandra (r. 76–67 b.c.e.), the
tion. Nevertheless, Antiochus pursued his policy of Pharisees gained control of the Sanhedrin and were
Hellenization by actively attempting to undermine able to impose many elements of religious law. Their
Jewish practices. He issued laws forbidding circumci- oral interpretations of the laws of Moses increased
sion, study of the Torah, and the observance of the the number of prohibitions and regulations necessary
Sabbath. The book of Maccabees continued, “They for living a life acceptable to Yahweh. For example,
put to death the women who had their children cir- biblical law identified 39 kinds of work prohibited on
cumcised, and they hung the infants from their moth- the Sabbath, a number eventually raised to 1,521 by
ers’ necks.” Antiochus Hellenized the Jewish Temple oral interpretations. Even some Pharisees, however,
in Jerusalem by instituting ritual prostitution and were influenced by foreign religious beliefs to the ex-
placing in the Temple a statue and altar to Zeus on tent that they adopted a belief in an afterlife that in-
which pigs, which the Jews believed to be unclean, cluded the resurrection of the body.
were sacrificed. The Jews referred to this affront to At the same time, the Jewish Diaspora continued
the Jewish religion as the “abomination of desola- as Jews settled throughout the Mediterranean world.
tion.” Antiochus even demanded that he himself be There continued to be a large Jewish population in
worshiped as a god. Mesopotamia, and a large colony of Jews comprised
In 167 b.c.e., rebellion broke out, led by the elderly of exiles, merchants, and mercenaries arose in Alex-
Jewish priest Mattathias and his son Judas, nick- andria in Egypt, eventually outnumbering the Jews
named Maccabee (“The Hammer”). The rebels,
joined by the Hasidim and other discontented Jews,
became known as the Maccabees. Their goal was Gentiles (Latin for “peoples”) Non-Jews.
political independence, which they now believed Hasidim (Hebrew for “pious ones”) Jews who resisted
was necessary for true religious freedom. Against all the adoption of Greek culture.
odds, Judas defeated Antiochus in 165 b.c.e. and lib- Maccabees Jewish rebels against the Seleucids in the
160s b.c.e.
erated Jerusalem (see Choice). In the following year,
the Temple was cleansed and reopened to the regular Hanukkah (Hebrew for “dedication”) Jewish
festival commemorating the defeat of the Seleucids
Jewish sacrifices, an event that is still commemorated by the Maccabees and the reopening of the Temple in
each year in the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. The Jerusalem.
Seleucids, however, did not concede defeat easily. Sadducees Class of wealthy Jews who were in charge
Fighting continued, and Judas and several of his of the Temple in Jerusalem.
brothers were killed. Ultimately, the revolt of the Sanhedrin Supreme legal and legislative body of
Maccabees resulted in the creation of an independent the Jews.
Jewish state, ruled by members of Judas’s family, that Pharisees Class of Jews who supported a rigorous
would last for another hundred years. interpretation of Jewish law.
Jewish independence did not mean an end to un-
112 CHAPTER 4 From Polis to Cosmopolis: The Hellenistic World, 387–30 B.C.E.
in Palestine. These foreign Jews were remarkably cording to tradition, seventy Jewish translators went
successful at preserving the fundamental aspects of to work on their own translations into koinē Greek,
their culture, such as adhering to dietary regulations, each of which turned out to be exactly the same. This
building synagogues, and keeping the Sabbath, in the Greek version of the Old Testament was known as the
midst of foreign cultures. But in other respects, espe- Septuagint.
cially language, foreign Jews were compelled to ac-
commodate themselves to local conditions. The Jews
of Alexandria eventually spoke Greek rather than Septuagint (based on Latin for “seventy”) Greek trans-
Hebrew, and to make scripture available to these lation of Jewish scripture by seventy translators.
Greek-speaking Jews, a translation was needed. Ac-
How did Alexander and his successors attempt to the Mediterranean. Never at any time in history has
maintain control of the Macedonian conquests?
the western world, broadly defined, been so cultur-
➜
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Antiquity was a time of massive construction as rulers attempted to immortalize themselves, their nations,
and their people with pyramids, temples, fortifications, palaces, and tombs. All the peoples of antiquity,
from Mesopotamians to Egyptians to Persians to Greeks, placed great importance on architecture. But
whereas the Near Eastern peoples such as the Egyptians are remembered for quantity, as represented in the
size of their monuments, the Greeks are remembered for quality. Most Greek temples were in fact quite
small but were so exquisitely designed that they have never been surpassed.
During the Hellenistic period, the competitive Greeks compiled a list of the seven most famous construction
projects of antiquity. The Egyptians were represented by the pyramids, the Babylonians by their hanging
gardens, and the Lydians by the temple of Artemis at Ephesus in Ionia. The remaining four entries were
Greek. The classical period of Greek art was represented by the statue of Zeus at Olympia, the site of the
Olympics (curiously, the Parthenon did not make the list). The Hellenistic period had three representatives:
the mausoleum built ca. 350 B.C.E. at Halicarnassus in Ionia by King Mausoleus for his wife, Artemisia; the
lighthouse built at Alexandria ca. 290 B.C.E.; and the giant statue of the sun god Helios built at the entrance
to the harbor on the island of Rhodes circa 280 B.C.E. Of these wonders, only the pyramids survive.
Ever since antiquity, other rulers and other peoples have likewise attempted to make a lasting mark on his-
tory by constructing huge monuments—during the Roman Empire, amphitheaters; in the Middle Ages,
cathedrals; today, massive museums, churches, libraries, and government buildings. And ever since antiquity,
Greek styles of architecture have been used for monumental buildings. The architectural and artistic styles of
Greek temples, with their rectangular format and rows of Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian columns and sculptural
decoration, are as common today as in antiquity. Modern buildings often use the form of a Greek temple or
other ancient model to create a sense of majesty, and even private homeowners wishing to create an air of
elegance and permanence will put a row of Greek columns outside, or even inside, their homes.
Suggested Readings
Green, Peter. Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the historical importance of Alexander as seen from antiquity
the Hellenistic Age. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of to the modern day.
California Press, 1990. A historical survey of the Hellenistic pe- Tarn, William W. Hellenistic Civilization. London: Arnold,
riod from 336 to 30 b.c.e. 1927. The standard study of the history and culture of the Hel-
Hammond, Nicholas G. L. Alexander the Great: King, Com- lenistic world.
mander, and Statesman. Bristol, England: University of Bristol Tcherikover, Victor. Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews.
Press, 1989. An excellent biography of Alexander by a leading Translated by S. Applebaum. New York: Atheneum, 1977. A
classical historian. study of the significance of the Jews in the context of the Hel-
Rihll, Tracy E. Greek Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, lenistic world, including the significance of the Maccabees.
1999. An overview of Greek science with excellent coverage of Welles, C. Bradford. Alexander and the Hellenistic World.
Hellenistic scientific thought. Toronto: Hakkert, 1970. The importance of Alexander the Great
Roisman, Joseph. Alexander the Great: Ancient and Modern for the evolution of Hellenistic culture.
Perspectives. Lexington, Mass.: D. C. Heath, 1995. A survey of
Websites
Resource site with links to more than 200 other sites relating to Technically oriented site with thorough coverage of Hellenistic
the Hellenistic world, The Hellenistic World on the Web, at inventions such as the Anticythera device, The Science and
www.isidore-of-seville.com/hellenistic Technology of Ancient Greece, at www.mlahanas.de/
Well-illustrated site detailing the life and achievements of Greeks/Greeks.htm
Alexander the Great, Alexander the Great, at http://
1stmuse.com/frames/index.html
114
CHAPTER
The Rise of Rome,
753–27 B.C.E.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
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NORTH AFRICA AR SINAI
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S A H A R A le
Red
Sea
115
116 CHAPTER 5 The Rise of Rome, 753–27 B.C.E.
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Spartacus Decides to Revolt
By the early first century B.C.E., the Romans had enslaved
hundreds of thousands of non-Italian foreigners. Many of
these slaves were very badly treated. One was Spartacus, a
native of Thrace, a mountainous region north of Greece.
According to the Greek historian Plutarch, “He was a Thra-
cian belonging to one of the nomad peoples, and a man not
only brave and of high spirit, but also rich in understanding.
He was unexpectedly gentle, and more of a Greek than the
people of his country usually are.” It was said that when
Spartacus was first sold as a slave in Rome, a snake coiled
itself on his face and his wife, a prophetess and worshiper of
the god Bacchus, saw the snake as a sign of future greatness
but also of a bad end.
Spartacus Spartacus was forced to become a gladiator at Capua, a city on the Bay of
During the Roman Republic, Naples. Gladiators performed at public spectacles, either individually or in
most Roman slaves had no groups, fighting in an arena until their opponents were either wounded or
right to make meaningful killed. Spartacus and his fellow gladiators realized that they would probably die
decisions about their lives in the arena, but they had no choice. Revolt would have seemed out of the ques-
and could do nothing about tion, for no slave revolt had ever succeeded, and slaves who tried to rebel were
their condition, no matter savagely punished.
how badly they were treated. Even though Spartacus knew the odds against him, he decided to fight for his
But Spartacus, a Thracian freedom and, in 73 B.C.E., he led his fellow slaves in revolt. Breaking out of their
slave, chose to revolt and, by cells, they grabbed knives in the kitchen, overpowered their guards, and seized
so doing, gave hope to the weapons in Capua. Many of the rebels had formerly been soldiers, and under Spar-
other slaves in Italy. Sparta- tacus’s leadership, they defeated several units of Roman soldiers sent against them
cus’ example has intrigued and even captured a Roman army camp. Their numbers were constantly increased
people for centuries, and his by additional slaves who escaped from neighboring estates, and Spartacus soon
story has been told in art and had more than seventy thousand soldiers. They could be as brutal as the Romans
literature. This nineteenth- they were fighting against, looting the countryside and dividing the spoils equally
century engraving shows among themselves. When a friend was killed in combat, Spartacus sacrificed three
Spartacus and his fellow hundred Roman prisoners to his dead friend’s ghost. In the conflict between the
slaves being overwhelmed rebels and the Romans, no mercy was expected, or given, on either side.
by Roman soldiers at the In spite of his successes, Spartacus realized that the rebels could not resist the
end of their revolt. Romans indefinitely. He therefore made another important decision: to lead his
(Bettmann/Corbis) people out of Italy. He first planned to go north across the Alps, where the rebels
could scatter and attempt to return to their homes, but the rebels preferred to
continue their looting in Italy. Spartacus then planned to hire pirates to ferry the
slaves across to Sicily, where he thought the large slave population also would be
ready to revolt, but the pirates ran off with the payment, leaving Spartacus
trapped in Italy.
In 71 B.C.E., the Roman general Crassus led eight legions (more than forty thou-
sand soldiers) against Spartacus. When one of his armies was defeated by the
rebels, Crassus showed that he was as tough as Spartacus by imposing the punish-
ment called decimation: one of every ten of his disgraced soldiers was executed.
The Development of Roman Identity, 753–509 B.C.E. 117
By doing so, he demonstrated that he would not tolerate failure. Crassus finally
cornered Spartacus in southern Italy, and Spartacus had no choice but to fight the
large, well-trained Roman army. In the ensuing battle, Spartacus and many of his
followers were surrounded and slaughtered. Rebels who tried to escape were
killed or captured, and six thousand captives were crucified along the road leading
south from Rome. The great slave revolt was over, but if the example of Spartacus
taught Italian slaves the futility of revolt, it also taught the Romans something,
too. To prevent future slave revolts, they improved the conditions in which slaves
were forced to live.
Chronology
1184 B.C.E. Aeneas escapes from Troy and later settles 186 B.C.E. Romans investigate Bacchus worshipers
in Italy
133–122 B.C.E. Reforms of Tiberius and Gaius
753 B.C.E. Traditional date of the foundation of Rome Gracchus
by Romulus and Remus
108 B.C.E. Marius creates the volunteer army
ca. 600 B.C.E. Etruscans bring civilization to Rome
90 B.C.E. Italian allies revolt against Rome
509 B.C.E. Etruscan kings are expelled from Rome;
Roman Republic is established 88 B.C.E. Sulla uses his army to seize Rome.
500–287 B.C.E. Conflict of the Orders 73–71 B.C.E. Spartacus leads a slave revolt
451–450 B.C.E. Twelve Tables of Roman law are issued 63 B.C.E. Cicero suppresses Catiline’s conspiracy
to overthrow Roman government
390 B.C.E. Rome is sacked by Gauls
60 B.C.E. Crassus, Pompey, and Caesar form First
343–290 B.C.E. Romans fight Samnite Wars Triumvirate
264–146 B.C.E. Romans fight Punic Wars against the 44 B.C.E. Caesar is assassinated on Ides of March
Carthaginians
43 B.C.E. Lepidus, Mark Antony, and Octavian form
227 B.C.E. Sicily becomes first Roman province Second Triumvirate
216 B.C.E. Hannibal defeats Romans at Battle 31 B.C.E. Octavian wins Battle of Actium against
of Cannae Antony and Cleopatra, who commit suicide
the next year.
212 B.C.E. Denarius is introduced
27 B.C.E. Roman Republic ends; Roman Empire begins
202 B.C.E. Scipio defeats Hannibal at Battle of Zama
had escaped from the burning city of Troy around According to legend, Romulus’ city was first pop-
1184 b.c.e. and fled to Italy. There he established a city ulated by Latin men who needed wives. They there-
not far from the future site of Rome that was popu- fore kidnapped women from the Sabines, a nearby
lated by his Trojan followers and local people known Italian people who spoke a slightly different dialect.
as Latins. One of Aeneas’s distant descendants was a Romulus established a monarchy and became the
woman named Sylvia, who gave birth to twin sons, first of seven kings of Rome. Later Romans believed
Romulus and Remus, claiming that the god Mars that these kings had established many of Rome’s
was their father. Their uncle, who had stolen the most ancient traditions and customs, such as that the
throne, ordered the twins to be put to death, fearing kings had two powers: the imperium, which gave
that they would replace him. But the executioner did
not have the heart to kill the boys, so he set them
adrift in a basket in the Tiber River. Downstream, a
shepherd found them being suckled by a wolf and Latins Peoples living in Latium in central Italy, distin-
raised them as shepherds. Subsequently, the legend guished from the neighboring Italian peoples by their
continues, the two boys discovered their true identity dialect; they gave their name to the Latin language.
and decided to establish their own city on a site with Romulus and Remus Twin brothers, the legendary
seven hills on the south bank of the lower Tiber River. founders of Rome in 753 b.c.e.
In the course of an argument, Remus was killed by imperium Power of Roman kings and consuls to gov-
Romulus, and the new city was named Rome, after ern Rome and command armies.
him. The date was April 21, 753 b.c.e.
The Development of Roman Identity, 753–509 B.C.E. 119
o
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Early Romans
Gauls
Expansion of Celts/Gauls
to 200 B.C.E.
M
Malta Greeks
0 50 100 Km.
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0 50 100 Mi.
OSCI Other peoples
MAP 5.1 Early Italy, ca. 760–500 B.C.E. When Rome was founded ca. 750 B.C.E., Italy was occupied by
three groups of peoples: Greeks on the southern coast, Etruscans in the northwest, and Italian peoples in
the uplands. By 400 B.C.E., the Po Valley in northern Italy had been occupied by Celts (also known as Gauls)
from Gaul. All these peoples influenced the development of Roman culture.
The Development of Roman Identity, 753–509 B.C.E. 121
they first would ask, What would our ancestors have Roman social relations revolved around the idea of
done? But the Romans were not blindly conservative. bilateral (two-way) duty that was viewed in terms of
They also were very sensible and willing to adapt to contractual commitments. If someone did a Roman a
changing conditions if circumstances required it. The favor, the Roman was obligated to that person until
Romans valued moral qualities such as responsibility, the favor had been repaid. This practice lay behind
discipline, industry, frugality, temperance, fortitude, one of Rome’s most important social institutions, the
and modesty. Except on a very few occasions, such as patron-client relationship, in which persons owed
after a great military victory, they refrained from self- services to each other and were bound together in an
promotion. The greatest Roman virtue was pietas, the almost religious union. At this time, the patrons were
sense of duty toward gods, family, friends, and coun- usually patricians, who would have many plebeians
try. Romans did their duty because of religio (from as their clients. A patrician patron provided physical
which our word religion is derived), a sense of subor- protection, civil and criminal legal services, and eco-
dination to external forces that included the gods, nomic support, including foodstuffs, seed grain, and
state officials, and family members. Everyone in Rome even land to rent when times were tough. In return,
was subordinate to some greater authority and thus the plebeian client accompanied the patrician in time
knew how he or she related to everyone else. Even of war (the patricians did most of the actual fighting),
when Romans pursued their personal ambitions, they helped to raise a ransom if he should be captured, and
always expressed themselves in terms of these tradi- contributed to a dowry when a patrician’s daughter
tional Roman values. was married. This system of reciprocal responsibility
Early Roman society was composed mostly of free knit Roman society together in a way that Greek soci-
citizens belonging to three tribes believed to be the ety was not, with the result that Romans were much
descendants of original populations of Latins, Ital- less likely to resort to violence against each other
ians, and Etruscans. Citizens enjoyed both private when disputes arose. The system also was designed to
rights, which allowed them to marry, inherit prop- preserve the position and privileges of the patricians.
erty, and carry on business under Roman law, and
public rights, which permitted male citizens to vote
and run for public office. At this time, the population Early Roman Religion
of foreigners and slaves was small because Rome was Religious beliefs and practices were deeply embed-
not yet very prosperous. Unlike in other ancient soci- ded in early Roman society, culture, and politics.
eties, the slaves of Roman citizens who were set free Much of the Romans’ sense of subordination to a
gained full Roman citizenship rights, providing an- greater power derived from their religion. The Ro-
other example of how the Romans were willing to in- mans believed that their most ancient religious insti-
tegrate newcomers into their society. tutions had been established by Numa, the second
Even as a city, Rome remained a primarily agrarian king of Rome. But the Romans also adopted other re-
society. As some farmers grew more successful than ligious practices from the Etruscans and the Greeks.
others, two social orders evolved: the patricians and Roman religion was polytheistic, with many gods
the plebeians (or plebs). The patricians were the who took many forms. Some gods looked after the
equivalent of the Greek aristocrats; the only way to be- welfare of the state as a whole, and others were con-
come a patrician was by being born one. The patricians cerned with Roman private life. The earliest Roman
owned the best land, and the heads of the patrician gods were numina, vague and shapeless forces of
families were members of the Senate, a hereditary
body of about one hundred that originally advised the
king. The senators were the most powerful persons in patricians The most privileged of the early Roman
citizens, equivalent to aristocrats.
Rome. They saw themselves as preservers of Roman
tradition and as models of Roman virtue, which they plebeians (or plebs) The less privileged of the early
Roman citizens; later, the generic term for Roman
believed was best exemplified through military ser- citizens.
vice. The plebeians, on the other hand, were mostly Senate Primary governing body of the Roman Repub-
farmers, working either their own small plots or land lic; its members were senators.
that belonged to the patricians. As a result of the ex- patron-client relationship The rendering of mutual
pansion in commerce and manufacturing under the services between a senior party (a patron) and a junior
Etruscans, some plebeians became very wealthy, but party (the client).
even so they could not enter the hereditary patrician numina (sing. numen) Formless forces of nature that
class. At the other extreme, plebeians who defaulted controlled the natural environment.
on loans could be sold into slavery.
122 CHAPTER 5 The Rise of Rome, 753–27 B.C.E.
Etruscan fears about the afterlife are reflected in this scene from an Etruscan tomb of ca. 300 b.c.e. depicting the
execution of Trojan captives during the Trojan War to placate the ghosts of the dead. The underworld demons
Charu (Greek Charon), who will hit the deceased with his hammer, and his winged female companion Vanth
wait to escort the dead man to the underworld (From Massimo Pallottino, The Great Centuries of Painting:
Etruscan Painting [Milan: Skira Editore]. Courtesy, Princely House of Torlonia, Rome)
nature that controlled the environment. The numen ing the crops. Religious rituals were marked by com-
Janus, for example, who could be visualized with two pulsive attention to detail. The slightest deviation
faces pointing in opposite directions, was in charge of from a ritual, such as a sneeze or whisper, would neu-
comings and goings and beginnings and endings. tralize its effectiveness. The greatest personal sacri-
Each family had its own household gods, known as fice that an individual Roman could make was the
Lares, who looked after the well-being of the family, ritual called devotion. When a Roman battle was go-
and Penates, who ensured that the storeroom was ing badly, a Roman commander sometimes devoted
never empty. The Manes were spirits of beloved ances- himself to the gods and then committed suicide by
tors. The Lemures, on the other hand, were restless spir- charging into the enemy ranks. His men then re-
its of the dead who had to be placated every May with gained confidence in the belief that the gods would
an offering of black beans. It was said that Romulus fulfill their part of the bargain by granting victory.
had begun this festival to pacify the spirit of Remus. As a consequence of their contacts with the Etrus-
The Romans’ social values were mirrored in their cans and Greeks, the Romans also began to worship
religious convictions. They believed that deities, too, anthropomorphic gods and goddesses in permanent
had duties to perform, and they attempted to force stone temples. Thus, Jupiter, along with being the
the gods to do their duties by making ritualized con- formless numen of lightning and thunder, also could
tracts with them. Thus, each year a red dog was sacri- be visualized as a bearded man throwing a lightning
ficed at a crossroads to ensure that the numen Robigus bolt. In the course of creating Rome as a city, the Etrus-
did his duty and kept the red leaf blight from infect- cans built several temples in the area of the Forum.
The Development of Roman Identity, 753–509 B.C.E. 123
The most important was a three-chambered temple bers. Thus the second daughter of a Marcus Julius
on top of the Capitoline Hill, the highest hill in would be Julia Secunda. Romans also had a third
Rome, where it could be seen from far out in the name identifying their family, a subset of a clan. Fam-
countryside. This was the temple of the gods who ily names often referred to a physical characteristic of
looked after the welfare of the Roman state: Jupiter a distant ancestor, such as Caesar (“hairy”). Thus, a
the Best and Greatest; his wife, Juno; and Minerva, a Roman citizen had three names, for example, Gaius
war goddess—the Roman equivalents of the Greek Julius Caesar. Senators were extremely proud of their
Zeus, Hera, and Athena. The temple served as an heritage. The foyers of their houses contained wax
important symbol of Roman power and authority. portraits of ancestors that were paraded during fu-
Sacrifices of oxen and other animals were made in nerals. Roman fathers expected to have a son to carry
exchange for the gods’ support of the well-being of on the family name and inherit the family property. If
the Roman people. a man had no natural sons, a son could be brought
State priests saw to it that the government func- into the family by adoption.
tioned according to religious law and that the pax de- The concept of subordination to a greater author-
orum (“peace of the gods”) was maintained between ity carried over into Roman family life. The chief au-
the gods and the Roman people. The most important thority within each nuclear family (a father and all of
Roman priest was the pontifex maximus, who was in his dependents) was the paterfamilias, who had life-
charge of other state priests and priestesses, includ- and-death power over the household. A newborn
ing the vestal virgins, who kept the sacred hearth fire baby was placed at the feet of its father; if he refused
of the goddess Vesta burning in the Forum. The pon- to pick it up, the infant was exposed and left to die.
tifex maximus also kept official lists of government of- The father had the legal authority to execute any of
ficials and of important events and controlled the those in his power as long as the cause (such as a vio-
calendar, every so often adding an extra month after lation of family or national honor) warranted doing
February to keep the months synchronized with the so. In one legendary case, a Roman general executed
seasons because the year as established by King his son, who had just won a battle, for disobeying or-
Numa was 10 days short of a 365-day solar year. ders; he was praised for putting loyalty to Rome be-
Many Roman religious rituals were borrowed fore loyalty to his family. It was possible for a young
from the Etruscans, who used divination to discover man to become a paterfamilias in his own right if his
the will of the gods. Etruscan priests observed flights father pretended to sell him as a slave three times and
of birds and examined sheep livers, looking for good then set him free. Most men, however, simply waited
or bad omens. Roman state priests used the same rit- for their fathers to die before becoming free of pater-
uals to discover whether the decisions of the Roman nal authority.
government had the support of the gods. If the priests Girls were permitted to marry young, and some
found bad omens, government business could not were wed as young as age twelve, often to much
proceed. Etruscan religious practices also found their older men. Men generally waited until a later age,
way into Roman private life. Etruscan funeral cere- around thirty. For a Roman marriage to be legally
monies, which included wrestling matches, combats valid, the two parties both had to be Roman citizens.
to the death, and human sacrifices intended to placate Marriages between Romans and foreigners or Ro-
the demons of the underworld, evolved into Roman mans and slaves did not convey any legal rights to
gladiatorial matches.
public baths and attending religious ceremonies and consuls had the powers of imperium and auspicium.
dinner parties. They had the right to introduce laws, oversee the ad-
The most honored Roman women were the six ministration of justice, and name new senators. But
vestal virgins, who also were the only women com- the primary duty of the consuls was to lead the Ro-
pletely free of male legal authority. They were permit- man legions in war. The greatest honor that a senator
ted to manage their own property and make wills in could receive was to be granted a ceremony called a
their own names. Girls became vestals before the age triumph after a military victory during his term as
of ten and served for thirty years. After they retired, consul. The consul, with his face painted red like the
they were permitted to marry, but many continued to god Jupiter, led a procession of cheering soldiers and
serve the goddess and to keep their legal indepen- pitiful captives through the streets of Rome and up to
dence. Because the welfare of the state was tied to the the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill. Only in
vestals’ purity, those convicted of being unchaste were grave emergencies did the Romans return to a very
sentenced to the horrible fate of being buried alive. restricted form of one-man rule. In such cases the
consuls would appoint a dictator, the highest ranking
of all magistrates. But there were severe limitations
The Evolution of the Roman on the dictator’s authority: he could serve only until
the crisis was over and never for more than six
Republic, 509–146 B.C.E. months.
Over time, other lower-ranking officials, elected by
➜
Table 5.1
Officials of the Roman Republic (by 146 B.C.E.)
Title Number Duties Term
Annually Elected Officials (in rank order)
Nonannual Officials
life. But the assemblies did not have the right to intro- in the assemblies. The patricians controlled the elec-
duce laws. Instead, they could vote only on measures tions in the same way, and given that new senators
presented to them by the consuls, and the consuls were appointed by the censors, there was no chance
were expected to have consulted with the Senate be- that a plebeian would be chosen. In addition, only the
fore they introduced any laws. The Senate thus was patricians knew the laws, which were passed down
the primary governing body of Rome, and the patri- by word of mouth from one generation to the next. At
cians controlled the government because all three the beginning of the Republic, therefore, the patri-
hundred or so members of the Senate were patricians cians held virtually all the political, legal, social, and
and could instruct their plebeian clients how to vote economic authority.
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Polybius Describes the Roman Constitution
During the 130s B.C.E., the Greek historian Polybius, a Roman hostage who became
a good friend of Scipio Aemilianus and other leading Roman senators, described
the constitution of the Roman Republic as an evenly balanced combination of
monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. He equated the consuls with monarchy, the
Senate with aristocracy, and the Roman people with democracy. By explaining
Roman government in terms of various forms of Greek government, Polybius
demonstrated both that Greeks were trying to understand Rome in terms of their
own experiences and that Romans wanted their own traditions to be understood
in terms of the more ancient Greek past.
➜ How did these three
forms of government Three kinds of government shared in the control of the Roman state with such
function? fairness that it was impossible even for a native to pronounce with certainty
whether the system was aristocratic, democratic, or monarchical. ➜ For if one
The Evolution of the Roman Republic, 509–146 B.C.E. 127
fixed one’s eyes on the consuls, the constitution seemed completely monarchical; if
➜ How is Polybius putting on that of the Senate, it seemed again to be aristocratic; and when one looked at
Roman government into a the power of the masses, it seemed clearly to be a democracy. The parts of the
Greek context? state falling under the control of each element are as follows. ➜
The consuls, before leading out their legions, exercise authority in Rome over
all public affairs. Besides this, they consult the Senate on matters of urgency, they
➜ What is the relationship carry out in detail the provisions of its decrees. ➜ It is their duty to summon as-
between the consuls and the semblies, to introduce legislation, and to preside over the enforcement of the
Senate? popular decrees. As for warfare, their power is almost uncontrolled, for they are
empowered to make whatever demands they choose. They also have the right of
inflicting punishment on anyone under their command, and they are authorized
to spend any sum from the public funds. So that if one looks at this part of the
administration alone, one may reasonably pronounce the constitution to be a
pure monarchy.
To pass to the Senate. It has the control of the treasury, all revenue and expen-
diture being regulated by it. In addition, crimes committed in Italy, such as trea-
son, conspiracy, poisoning, and assassination, are under the jurisdiction of the
Senate. It also occupies itself with the sending of all embassies to countries outside
➜ How would the Senate of Italy for the purpose either of settling differences, or of offering friendly ad-
expect its “friendly advice” vice, ➜ or indeed of imposing demands, or receiving submission, or of declaring
to be received? war; and in like manner with respect to embassies arriving in Rome it decides an-
swer should be given to them. All these matters are in the hands of the Senate, so
that without the consuls the constitution appears to be entirely aristocratic. ➜
After this we might ask what part in the constitution is left for the people,
➜ How does Polybius’s de- considering that the Senate controls all the particular matters I mentioned, and
scription of the role of the that the consuls have uncontrolled authority as regards armaments and military
Senate compare with the operations. But nevertheless there is a very important part left for the people. The
description given in the chap- people alone have the right to confer honors and inflict punishment. They are
ter text? the only court that may try capital charges. The people bestow office on the de-
serving, the noblest reward of virtue in a state. The people have the power of ap-
proving or rejecting laws, and they deliberate on the question of war and peace.
➜ In what ways do the Further, in the case of alliances, terms of peace, and treaties, it is the people who
people not have as much ratify all these or the reverse. Thus, here again one might plausibly say that the
power as Polybius suggests? people’s share in the government is the greatest, and that the constitution is a
democratic one. ➜
The plebeians’ earliest demand was to know the and they did so by allying themselves with the most
laws. Therefore, in 451 b.c.e., to avoid a secession of wealthy and influential plebeians. A law of 367 b.c.e.
the plebeians, the Senate appointed a board of ten declared that from then on, one consul had to be a
men, the decemvirs, to write down the existing laws. plebeian. Subsequently, all other government offices
The result was the Twelve Tables, issued in 450 b.c.e., also were opened up to plebeians. The Conflict of the
which became the basis for all later Roman law. One Orders finally came to an end in 287 b.c.e., when
of Rome’s most important contributions to western the Hortensian Law gave the Council of the Plebs the
civilization is the concept of rule of law, the idea that right to pass laws binding on all the Roman people.
governments and officials are subordinate to the law. These laws were introduced by the tribunes of the
Roman law represented not the will of the gods or the plebs, who, like the consuls, were expected to consult
whims of godlike rulers, as in the Near East, but the with the Senate before proposing any legislation. The
collective will and wisdom of the people. Once the law result of the Conflict of the Orders was an evolution,
was written down, the plebeians became more confi- just as had occurred in Greece, from an aristocracy, in
dent that it would be fairly enforced, and what was which Rome was effectively governed by the patri-
already a stable society became even more stable. cians alone, to an oligarchy, in which both patricians
The Twelve Tables reveal much about how Roman and important plebeians served in the Senate and
society functioned. They dealt with trial procedures, held high office.
inheritances, property ownership and transfer, law- The key to the success of Roman republican gov-
suits, and religious law. They reflect both the harsh ernment lay in the willingness of the senators to share
nature of early Roman life and the Roman virtues of rule among themselves. But sharing rule was not al-
responsibility, discipline, fortitude, and frugality. Ro- ways easy, for senators constantly competed with each
mans were expected to maintain proper decorum in other for status. Every five years, the censors drew up
times of stress, and it was decreed that “women shall a list of senators in rank order, and every senator’s
not weep on account of a funeral.” There was no ambition was to be the princeps, the “first man” on
place for nonproductive persons: another regulation the list. Senators whose ancestors had been consuls
stated, “A dreadfully deformed child shall be quickly became an inside group, called the nobles, who jeal-
killed.” Serious crimes such as treason, arson, and ously monopolized access to this office. Only the most
perjury were punished by death. Some laws did ap- able non-nobles could be elected consuls, and some-
pear to benefit less privileged persons. For example, a one who did so was called a new man. Though rare,
patron who “devised any deceit against his client” the election of a new man demonstrated that an am-
could be legally killed. But overall, the laws were de- bitious Roman man did have a chance to rise to the
signed to maintain the favored position of the patri- very top of Roman politics and society.
cians. One law specified that plebeian debtors could
be loaded down with chains and sold as slaves, and
another prohibited marriages between patricians and Going to War
plebeians, blocking the one means by which mem- The early years of the Republic were a struggle for
bers of a plebeian family could enter the aristocracy. survival as the Romans fought off Etruscan attempts
The plebeians became so angered by such laws that to recapture the city and competed with neighboring
they seceded. The patricians responded with laws Latins and Italians for control of the rich agricultural
that recognized the existence of the Council of the plain of Latium. The combined army of patricians and
Plebs and guaranteed the personal safety of the trib- plebeians was able to defend Rome until 390 b.c.e.,
unes of the plebs. At the same time, a new assembly, when a raiding party of Gauls from northern Italy
the Council of the People, was created, modeled on attacked. The Gauls, more generally known as the
the Council of the Plebs but also including patricians.
Continued agitation by the most wealthy and in-
fluential plebeians soon brought the repeal of the ban Twelve Tables First written collection of Roman law,
on intermarriage. Plebeians married into patrician created by the decemvirs in 451–450 b.c.e.
families, and the children of a plebeian woman who rule of law The idea that the law has higher authority
married a patrician were patricians. Plebeians also than governments and officials.
were permitted to hold military offices that gained princeps (Latin for “first”) The first man on the list of
them entry into the Senate and participation in its senators drawn up by the censors.
decision making. The patricians eventually acknowl- new man A consul who did not have an ancestor who
edged that to avoid future unrest they would have to had been a consul.
give at least some plebeians a share in government,
The Evolution of the Roman Republic, 509–146 B.C.E. 129
assistance. Occasionally, the Romans went to war to might as well have lost. The losses of the Romans
gain land for distribution to poor plebeians. Finally, of were even greater, but they simply refused to give up,
course, there were genuine threats, for the Romans had and in 275 b.c.e., Pyrrhus withdrew and returned to
to resist when they were attacked by a foreign power. Greece. The Greeks of southern Italy then made peace
Even though the Romans defeated a great many on Roman terms. In these campaigns, the Romans
peoples in Italy and throughout the Mediterranean prevailed primarily because of their persistence and
world, they at first were reluctant to take over, admin- their willingness to take greater losses than their op-
ister, or exploit the territory of the peoples they de- ponents. They lost more battles than they won, often
feated. This policy was different from that of the Near because the consuls who led their armies were in of-
Eastern and Greek peoples of the past, for several rea- fice for only one year and not experienced generals.
sons. First, the Roman justifications for going to war, Even though the Romans had defeated all the
explained above, did not support empire building. In peoples of Italy by 268 b.c.e., they showed little inter-
addition, the Romans had no tradition of conquest for est in imposing direct control over them. Primarily,
economic or political gain. They did not believe that they wanted to keep their neighbors from posing a
gaining territory contributed to the greater glory of threat, and they did so in several ways. To be able to
Rome. Moreover, they recognized that building and concentrate their forces quickly, they created a net-
keeping an empire would require a large professional work of all-weather military roads. The first, the Ap-
army, something the Senate neither wanted nor could pian Way, was begun in 312 b.c.e. and went from
afford. The Roman government had very little tax Rome to southern Italy. The Romans also occupied
revenue—taxes were very low, and there was no reg- enough land to establish military colonies at strategic
ular tax collection system—and the Roman economy points such as mountain passes or river fords. These
was so undeveloped that the Republic did not issue colonies also allowed the Romans to give land there to
coinage for more than two centuries after it began. Be- poor plebeians and thus make them wealthy enough
cause there was no money to support a standing army, for military service. The keystone of Roman foreign
Rome’s army was a citizen militia. Soldiers were re- policy was to impose treaties on defeated enemies in
cruited from among farmers and artisans only when a which Rome was the patron and the enemy was the
consul was assigned a war. They had to be able to sup- client. The former enemy remained independent but
ply their own weapons and largely to pay their own became a Roman ally. Whenever Rome went to war,
way as part of their civic duty. Thus, poor people were its allies were expected to provide military units to as-
unable to serve in the army. When the war was over, sist the Roman legions, which were manned only by
the soldiers returned to civilian life, and the Senate Roman citizens. This Italian alliance gave Rome ac-
did not have any responsibility for them. A citizen cess to a manpower reserve of close to a million men.
militia was not the kind of army that empire building Rome soon became engaged in even bigger wars
required, and the Senate had no desire to expand outside Italy. The first were with the powerful North
Rome’s government to administer an empire. African trading city of Carthage. The Carthaginians
worshiped the goddess Tanit, who commanded that
The Expansion of Rome the first-born sons of Carthaginian families be sacri-
ficed to her. Excavations of Carthaginian infant ceme-
Shortly after 350 b.c.e., the Samnites, an Italian teries testify that many devout Carthaginians observed
mountain people, began expanding west toward the this practice. During the third century b.c.e., Carthage
Bay of Naples. Fearful of a threat to their security, the attempted to gain control of the island of Sicily. The
Romans fought three wars between 343 and 290 b.c.e. prospect of such a powerful neighbor only a few miles
against the Samnites and their allies. After losing sev- offshore from Italy worried the Romans. When Sicilian
eral battles, the Romans finally defeated a combined Greeks asked for Roman protection, a consul who was
force of Samnites, Etruscans, and Gauls in 295 b.c.e.,
and the Samnites soon capitulated. Soon afterward,
the Greeks of the southern Italian city of Tarentum, militia Military force of nonprofessional citizen
fearing Rome’s growing power, summoned the able soldiers.
Greek general, King Pyrrhus of Epirus, to help them. Pyrrhus of Epirus (318–272 b.c.e.) Greek king who
Pyrrhus invaded Italy in 280 b.c.e. and won three fought the Romans between 280 and 275 b.c.e.
hard-fought battles, but his losses were very heavy. Italian alliance Defeated cities and peoples of Italy
His comment after one battle, “Another victory like who were required to follow Roman foreign policy and
this and I will be totally ruined,” gave rise to the term supply Rome with soldiers.
Pyrrhic victory, meaning a victory so costly that one
The Evolution of the Roman Republic, 509–146 B.C.E. 131
eager to win personal glory convinced the people to Spain. Chosen consul for the year 205 b.c.e., Scipio be-
vote for war. Rome thus became committed to its first gan training an army to invade Africa, which he did
overseas conflict, the First Punic War (264–241 b.c.e.). the next year. He convinced many Numidians to
To get to Sicily, the Romans, who had little seafaring change sides, thus gaining some excellent cavalry. Sci-
tradition, were compelled to create a navy. They won pio defeated the Carthaginians, who then recalled
their first battle by simply running their ships along- Hannibal from Italy. The final confrontation came in
side the Carthaginian ships, boarding them with sol- 202 b.c.e. at the Battle of Zama, where the Roman cav-
diers, and effectively changing a sea battle into a land alry was able to slip behind the Carthaginian army
battle. The Carthaginians were not fooled again, but and attack from the rear. Hannibal was defeated, and
this unexpectedly easy victory only strengthened the Scipio received the nickname “Africanus” (“the con-
Roman commitment to fight on until they had won. queror of Africa”) in recognition of his victory. The
After a long war, the Carthaginians made peace in 241 next year, Carthage surrendered. The Romans did not
b.c.e., agreeing to evacuate Sicily and to pay an indem- take over any territory in Africa, but they did compel
nity of 3,200 talents of silver, for the Romans expected Carthage to give up Spain (which was made into two
the defeated party to pay the cost of the war. The Ro- new Roman provinces), destroy its navy, and pay an
mans then had to decide what to do about the territory indemnity of 20,000 talents. Scipio generously per-
Carthage had abandoned. Fearful of having the rich is- mitted Hannibal to live, but Carthage never again
land of Sicily become another source of trouble, in 227 would be a strong military power.
b.c.e., the Romans made it their first province, a for- The Romans looked back to the Second Punic War as
eign territory over which Rome assumed direct con- their defining moment. They had never considered sur-
trol. Two years later, Sardinia and Corsica, which in the rendering. All of Rome pulled together: Roman women
past had been Carthaginian bases, became Rome’s sec- donated their jewelry to the war effort, and contractors
ond province. Having no method for governing for- provided war supplies on credit. The war also dem-
eign territories, the Romans created two new praetors onstrated the strength of Rome’s Italian alliance, for
to serve as provincial governors. Otherwise, they did nearly all Rome’s allies had stayed loyal. Rome now
little with the new provinces, content simply to keep was the only power in the western Mediterranean.
them from Carthaginian control. The war also left Rome completely exhausted.
Meanwhile, the fortunes of the Carthaginians re- Tens of thousands of soldiers had been killed, Italian
vived under the leadership of Hannibal, one of the property losses were staggering, and the Roman gov-
ablest generals of all time. After losing the First ernment was deep in debt. Nevertheless, Rome imme-
Punic War, the Carthaginians rebuilt their army using diately was drawn into conflicts with two of the three
silver and Celtic mercenaries from Spain. In 218 great Hellenistic kingdoms to the east: Antigonid
b.c.e., after the Romans had attempted to interfere in Macedonia, Seleucid Syria, and Ptolemaic Egypt. In
Carthaginian-controlled Spain, Hannibal led an army 200 b.c.e., the Romans declared war on Macedonia be-
of Celtic infantry, Numidian cavalry, and thirty-seven cause the Macedonians had made an alliance with
war elephants out of Spain, through the Alps, and Hannibal. Three years later, they soundly defeated
into Italy, thus beginning the Second Punic War (218– the Macedonians and compelled them to pay a war
201 b.c.e.), the most difficult war the Romans ever indemnity, give up their navy, and evacuate their
fought. Hannibal’s goal was to break up Rome’s Ital-
ian alliance. He quickly won three spectacular victo-
ries. At Cannae, in 216 b.c.e., a Roman army of more Punic Wars (from the Latin Poenus, “Phoenician”)
than 50,000 men was surrounded and virtually anni- Series of three wars (264–241, 218–201, and 149–
hilated by Hannibal’s smaller 30,000-man army. Sub- 146 b.c.e.) that Rome fought against Carthage in
North Africa.
sequently, for fear of losing another battle, the Romans
indemnity Monetary penalty imposed by the Romans
simply refused to fight Hannibal in Italy, and he
on a defeated enemy.
marched about unopposed for another thirteen years.
Hannibal (ca. 247–183 b.c.e.) Carthaginian general
Hannibal finally met his match in the Roman gen- who invaded Italy in 218 b.c.e., beginning the Second
eral Scipio. Scipio’s father and uncle both had been Punic War.
killed fighting Hannibal, but Scipio was determined Numidia Region of western North Africa famous for
never to surrender. As a young man, he was placed in horsemanship.
command of the Roman armies in Spain, where he Scipio Africanus (ca. 236–183 b.c.e.) Roman general
gained a reputation for fair treatment of prisoners. By who defeated Hannibal at the Battle of Zama in
206 b.c.e., Scipio had defeated three veteran Carthagin- 202 b.c.e.
ian armies and forced the Carthaginians to evacuate
132 CHAPTER 5 The Rise of Rome, 753–27 B.C.E.
What were the consequences of changes in Roman man senator who represented old Roman values and
military recruiting policies? opposed the assimilation of Greek culture.
Scipio Aemilianus (185–129 b.c.e.) Roman senator
The growth of Roman power had many conse- who defeated Carthage and favored the assimilation of
quences for Roman life. To cope with the acquisition Greek culture.
of far-flung provinces, the Romans had to restructure
The Effects of Roman Expansion, 146–88 B.C.E. 133
social, cultural, and economic effects. The influx of The old Roman virtues of frugality and modesty
wealth from overseas brought the most noticeable gave way to taking pleasure in luxury and display. On
changes. So many riches were seized from Macedo- one occasion, women protested against a law that no
nia in 168 b.c.e. that taxes on Roman citizens were woman should own more than a half-ounce of gold,
eliminated. The Romans realized that provincial re- or wear multicolored clothing, or ride in a carriage in
sources, such as the silver mines of Spain, could be Rome. They blockaded the Forum and confronted the
made into a permanent source of income. Because of senators, engaging in an unprecedented form of polit-
the financial opportunities created by Roman expan- ical activism. The conservative consul Cato the Elder
sion, a new social class arose, the equestrians, who complained, “Our freedom is conquered by female
ranked just below the senators. They made fortunes fury, we even now let them meddle in the Forum,” but
in trade, manufacturing, moneylending, tax collecting, the offensive law was repealed nonetheless.
and selling supplies to the army. Senators, who pre-
ferred to invest in land, became even more wealthy
than before through their service as provincial gover- equestrians (from Latin eques, a person wealthy
nors. Expansion also created the need for money to enough to own a horse) Roman social class ranking
pay for it. A Roman silver coin, the denarius, was just below the senators.
finally introduced in 212 b.c.e. when tremendous denarius Silver coin introduced by the Romans in
amounts of coinage were needed to meet the expenses 212 b.c.e.; it became the standard coin of the Mediter-
of the Second Punic War. The denarius soon became ranean world.
the standard currency of the Mediterranean world.
134 CHAPTER 5 The Rise of Rome, 753–27 B.C.E.
Not all Romans, however, thought that the accep- a new province was created, a senatorial commission
tance of Greek culture was a good thing. Some con- created a Law of the Province that established general
servative senators, such as Cato the Elder, feared that administrative guidelines, but otherwise local cus-
old Roman values would be destroyed by what he toms were respected and native laws remained in
perceived as Greek luxury, extravagance, and im- effect. Roman governors held the office of either prae-
morality. He advised his son, “Take this as a prophecy: tor or proconsul (a senator who in the past had held
when those Greeks give us their writings, they will the office of consul). Governors served for two or
corrupt everything.” As censor, Cato expelled from three years and had very small staffs, consisting only
the Senate any senator who did not meet his moral of a quaestor to handle the finances and a few legates,
standards. When Greek Epicurean philosophers, who deputies to whom their authority could be delegated.
Romans thought advocated a life of self-indulgence, The governors’ primary responsibilities were to
visited Rome, Cato saw to it that they were deported. provide military defense, oversee the administration
And in a personal protest against Greek literature, of justice, and collect taxes. Every effort was made to
Cato wrote his own history of Rome in Latin. Later minimize expenses. Roman taxes were not excessive,
Roman authors followed his example, and by the end but the Romans did expect the provinces to pay for
of the second century b.c.e., Latin had become an es- themselves. To keep costs down, armies were sent to
tablished literary language in its own right. The Ro- provinces only when needed. Because the governor
mans even developed their own literary genre, satire, did not have the staff to govern the province directly,
which used parody, obscenity, and abuse to project a local government was left in the hands of city govern-
critical but humorous view of society, morality, and ments. If a province did not already have cities, as in
personal behavior. the case of much of Europe, the Romans created
Romans’ concerns about their values also surfaced them. In Spain, for example, Romans redefined the
with regard to foreign religious practices, which territory of a Celtic people as belonging to a city cre-
Rome also assimilated. At the end of the third century ated to serve as an administrative center. This process
b.c.e., for example, the worship of the eastern mother eventually would foster the urbanization of western
goddess Cybele was introduced into Rome. The unin- Europe. Governors made a regular circuit of provin-
hibited practices associated with these religions caused cial cities to resolve legal disputes that could not be
anxiety in some conservative senators. In 186 b.c.e., a settled locally.
Roman consul received a report that worshipers of The rudimentary Roman provincial administra-
the wine god Bacchus were holding secret orgies. The tion led to several problems. Provincial people had
Senate not only saw such behavior as a threat to con- no rights in Rome, and the governor was the highest
ventional morality but also feared that the covert court of appeal. Corrupt governors therefore could
gatherings might lead to conspiracies against the enrich themselves by selling legal decisions to the
government. According to the Roman historian Livy, highest bidder or by confiscating property, and there
many Romans were sentenced to death, with women was nothing the provincials could do about it. Nor
being turned over to their families “so they could in- was there any established procedure by which provin-
flict the punishment in private.” In spite of Roman cials could become Roman citizens. But the provin-
resistance, however, Greek culture continued to infil- cials’ greatest complaint involved tax collection. In
trate Rome. some provinces tribute, a fixed annual sum, was col-
lected and in others the tithe, a tenth of the crops. Be-
Problems in the Provinces cause the Roman governor did not have staff to
collect the taxes, the right to do so was auctioned off.
The most significant consequence of Rome’s wars Tax collection companies paid the Roman govern-
was the acquisition of an increasing number of for- ment a lump sum for tax-collection rights and then
eign provinces. By 146 b.c.e., these provinces had went out into the countryside and extorted as much
made Rome into an empire in everything but name. It
soon became clear, however, that Rome was unable to
cope with the administration of its foreign territories.
proconsul A senator who in the past had held the
Even though the Romans had the best intentions of office of consul and later served as a provincial gov-
fulfilling their responsibilities in the provinces, they erner with the power of imperium.
lacked the institutions for doing so, and the conserva- tithe Form of taxation, one-tenth of everyone’s crops,
tive Senate saw no reason to alter Rome’s form of imposed on some Roman provinces; other provinces
government to accommodate the provinces. As a re- paid tribute, a fixed annual amount.
sult, direct Roman administration was minimal. When
136 CHAPTER 5 The Rise of Rome, 753–27 B.C.E.
as they could. In provinces with the tithe, tax collec- her jewelry and asked to see Cornelia’s jewelry, Cor-
tors known as publicans had a reputation for seizing nelia called in her two sons and said, “These are my
large quantities of crops and calling it a tenth. Even if jewels.” It came as a great surprise to many when
a governor protested against this practice, as many these two distinguished senators attempted to reform
did, he did not have the workforce to prevent it. the Roman landholding system
At best, the Roman attitude toward the provinces As a tribune of the plebs in 133 b.c.e., Tiberius
could be called benign neglect. The Romans did not Gracchus introduced legislation to distribute public
intend to exploit the provinces, and they did not land to poor plebeians in order to make them pros-
make much money from them. Any corruption that perous enough for military service. His proposal met
arose benefited individual governors or profiteers, great resistance from senators who had been renting
not the Roman government. The government simply public land and saw it as their personal property. Sus-
did not have any centralized procedures for policing pecting that the Senate would not pass his legislation,
the provinces. One of the primary failures of the Re- Tiberius took it directly to the Council of the Plebs,
public was that it was unable to integrate the provinces, where it was passed and put into effect without first
and their inhabitants, into the mainstream of Roman being discussed by the Senate. His ignoring of tradi-
government and society. tional procedures threatened the authority of conser-
vative senators, who organized an armed mob that
confronted Tiberius in the Forum. In the ensuing riot,
The Gracchi and the Military Tiberius and several hundreds of his supporters were
Recruitment Crisis killed. Tiberius’s younger brother Gaius then was
elected as tribune in 123 b.c.e. and proposed addi-
Fighting wars and acquiring provinces created a need tional reforms, including a law to confiscate land
for armies, which led to another serious problem. from senators and give it to poor plebeians. A year
Ever since the Samnite Wars, Roman armies had been later, conservative senators organized another mob,
fighting farther and farther from home for longer and and Gaius committed suicide rather than be captured
longer periods. Because military recruiting policies alive. Over a thousand of his supporters reportedly
required soldiers to be property owners, thousands of were killed.
property-owning farmers were fighting far from The deaths of the Gracchi and their supporters
home instead of farming, and Rome’s agricultural marked not only the first appearance of serious vio-
economy suffered as a consequence. Moreover, many lence in republican politics but also the breakdown of
farmer-soldiers did not come back, and those who the carefully cultivated cooperation among senators
did often chose not to return to a life of drudgery on that had made the Republic work. Increasingly, sena-
the farm and sold their land to senators, who always tors looked out for their own self-interest as they
were looking to expand their landholdings. As a re- competed to gain political influence and high office.
sult, many landless plebeians settled in Rome, and Instead of working with the Senate, many ambitious
senators acquired huge farms known as latifundia. senators now took their legislation directly to the as-
These developments created a military recruitment semblies, appealing to the urban poor by offering
crisis because there were fewer and fewer landown- jobs, entertainment, subsidized food, free land, and
ers eligible to serve in the army. The Senate could reduced army service.
have addressed the crisis either by abandoning the
property requirement for military service or by dis-
tributing state-owned public land to landless ple- Marius and the Volunteer Army
beians and thus making them eligible for military The new land distribution policy did not meet the
service. In typical fashion, however, the conservative need for army recruits. The old recruitment system
Senate chose to do nothing. was sufficient as long as there were no large demands
Two brothers, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, at- on it, but it broke down completely beginning around
tempted to deal with the recruitment problem. The
Gracchi, as they were known, were related to the no-
blest Roman senatorial families. Their mother, Cor- latifundia (in Latin, “wide-spread estates”) Large
nelia, was the daughter of Scipio Africanus, and after estates belonging to Roman senators.
the death of her husband, she raised the two boys Gracchi Tiberius (163–133 b.c.e.) and Gaius (154–122
herself. She became the model Roman mother. Ac- b.c.e.) Gracchus, Roman reformers, ca. 133–122 b.c.e.
cording to one story, when a friend was showing off
The End of the Republic, 90–27 B.C.E. 137
113 b.c.e. The first crisis came when two large groups came Roman citizens. This unification of Italy, even
of northern European Celts, the Cimbri and Teu- though it was long in coming, provides another ex-
tones, arrived in southern Gaul looking for land and ample of the long Roman tradition of being able to
defeated one Roman army after another. At the same make outsiders into insiders.
time, Rome went to war against the Numidian chief-
tain Jugurtha, whose army had massacred some Ital-
ian merchants, but Roman armies had little success
against Jugurtha’s hit-and-run tactics. In addition, The End of the Republic,
there was a massive slave revolt in Sicily in 104 b.c.e. 90–27 B.C.E.
It was simply impossible to recruit enough soldiers to
➜
handle these emergencies. In what ways did senators put their own interests ahead
of those of the Republic?
The recruitment problem was solved by Marius, a
➜
member of a previously undistinguished equestrian What caused the fall of the Roman Republic?
family. After gaining a military reputation in Spain, By 90 b.c.e., the Republic faced grave problems that
Marius pursued a political career. As a newcomer, he the Senate had been both unwilling and unable to
had a difficult time and lost several elections, but he deal with. The most serious problem was ambitious
persevered. He also married Julia, a member of the and powerful senators who controlled large armies.
distinguished Julius Caesar family. In 108 b.c.e., Mar- Although these senators tried to maintain their duty
ius was elected consul and thus became a new man. to Rome, too often their conflicts erupted into civil
He was appointed to take command in Africa, and to war. In the end, contests among ambitious senators
raise an army he enlisted men who had no property led to the collapse of Roman republican government
at all. Other generals soon did the same, thereby and Rome was left under the control of a single pow-
creating a volunteer army of professional soldiers erful general.
whose livelihood was based on their military service.
Soldiers no longer fought to protect their homes, but
for pay and any other kinds of personal profit. When Sulla’s Example
the Senate refused to pay for these new armies or to
Following the Italian revolt, the Roman Republic con-
reward the soldiers with land grants after the war
fronted three overwhelming problems: ineffective
was over, these responsibilities were left to the gener-
administration of the provinces, lack of control over
als. The armies, therefore, began to feel more loyalty
the volunteer army, and ambitious senators who put
toward their generals than toward the state. Using this
their personal interests ahead of the best interests of
new army, Marius soon was able to defeat Jugurtha,
Rome. Dissatisfaction with provincial administration
the Cimbri and Teutones, and the Sicilian slaves. By
was especially widespread in prosperous provinces
101 b.c.e., the military threats to Rome had been
such as Sicily and Asia in Anatolia, where there was
averted, and the military recruitment crisis was over.
more opportunity for corruption. In 88 b.c.e., resent-
But Rome was now left with an even more serious
ment of tax collection methods boiled over into open
problem—armies whose loyalty to the state was de-
revolt in the province of Asia, providing an opening
pendent on the goodwill of the senatorial generals
for Mithridates, the ambitious king of Pontus on the
who commanded them.
southeastern coast of the Black Sea, to invade the Ro-
Military recruitment policies also created another
man province. Eighty thousand Romans were said to
problem for the Republic. Over time, Rome’s Italian
have been murdered on a single day, and a Roman
allies had provided an ever greater percentage of
general was executed by having molten gold poured
Rome’s armies, increasing from half in the third cen-
down his throat while being told, “And now let the
tury b.c.e. to two-thirds by the early first century
Roman thirst for gold be satisfied.”
b.c.e. The allies believed they were bearing more of
the burden for Rome’s wars but sharing less in the
benefits. These concerns grew into Italian demands to Cimbri and Teutones Celtic peoples who attacked
be granted Roman citizenship. The Senate repeatedly Roman territory beginning in 113 b.c.e.; finally de-
refused, resulting in a massive revolt of the Italian al- feated by Marius in 101 b.c.e.
lies in 90 b.c.e. The Romans could not hope to win Marius (157–86 b.c.e.) Roman general who created the
such a war and once again showed that they could volunteer army ca.108 b.c.e.
change if they had to. Citizenship was quickly volunteer army Professional Roman army comprised
granted to the Italians, and the fighting soon stopped. of men without any property.
Nearly all of the free people living in Italy thus be-
138 CHAPTER 5 The Rise of Rome, 753–27 B.C.E.
Back in Rome, the Senate assigned the war against Choice). Crassus was assigned the war against the
Mithridates to the consul Sulla, a shrewd member of slaves, raised his own volunteer army, and suppressed
a penniless patrician family who was hoping to re- the revolt with great severity. This victory made Cras-
store his family’s fortunes. Marius, however, who sus one of the most powerful senators in Rome, but it
had hoped to get the command for himself, convinced also made the Senate reluctant to grant him another
the Council of the Plebs to transfer the command to military command that would enable him to become
him. Rather than accepting this disappointment, Sulla even more powerful.
appealed to his army for support. His soldiers seized Pompey had gained a military reputation as a sup-
Rome, and Sulla forced the Senate to reconfirm his porter of Sulla; for his enthusiastic execution of
command. Sulla then sailed off to the east, where he Sulla’s enemies he was nicknamed “the Teenage
eventually defeated Mithridates. Five years later, in Butcher.” In 67 b.c.e., he was assigned to wipe out the
83 b.c.e., Sulla returned and again seized Rome. To re- pirates who infested the Mediterranean. He swept
tain absolute power, he had himself appointed dicta- from Gibraltar to Anatolia, clearing out the pirates as
tor, but without the customary six-month limitation. he went. In the following year, he undertook and won
In order to raise the money to pay off his army, he another war against Mithridates. He then abolished
issued the proscriptions, a list of fifteen hundred the Seleucid kingdom and made Syria into a Roman
enemies condemned to execution and the loss of their province. He also annexed part of the Jewish king-
property. Before his death in 78 b.c.e., Sulla at- dom, leaving the rest in the hands of a Jewish client
tempted to strengthen the authority of the Senate king, who owed his position to Rome. When he re-
to prevent anyone else from doing what he had turned home, Pompey discovered that the Senate was
done, but it was his example of using an army to take so jealous of his successes that it refused to approve
control of the government that was his most impor- his organization of Syria and Judaea and to grant
tant legacy. land to his army veterans.
Other ambitious senators also discovered uses for An ambitious senator who made his reputation
an army. Away from Rome, military victories allowed not in the army but with his legal and oratorical tal-
a general to gain clients in the provinces, to acquire ents was Cicero, who came from a previously un-
wealth, and to win glory, and by doing so to fulfill distinguished equestrian family. After a string of
Roman ideals of virtue. In Rome, soldiers could be successful court cases, he was elected consul as a new
used to manipulate votes in the Senate and assem- man for the year 63 b.c.e. The senatorial conserva-
blies. The only way to get authorization to recruit an tives had supported Cicero because they preferred
army was to be assigned a war somewhere in the him to his opponent Catiline, who was appealing to
provinces. Ambitious senators therefore became even the poor by proposing to cancel all their debts. The
more eager for military commands. disappointed Catiline then formed a conspiracy to
overthrow the government. The conspirators raised
Late Republican Politics
After Sulla’s death, three ambitious senators struggled Sulla (ca.138–78 b.c.e.) Roman senator who used his
for power: Crassus, the richest man in Rome; Pompey, army to overthrow the government in 88 b.c.e.
a young supporter of Sulla; and Julius Caesar, a mem- proscriptions List of enemies published by Sulla.
ber of an old patrician family. The next crisis for the Re- Crassus (ca.115–53 b.c.e.) Very rich senator, member of
public was another consequence of Roman expansion. the First Triumvirate.
Hundreds of thousands of war captives had been sold Pompey (106–48 b.c.e.) Excellent general, member of
the First Triumvirate.
in Italy as slaves. Those with useful skills could look
forward to a comfortable urban life and eventual free- Julius Caesar (100–44 b.c.e.) Member of the First
Triumvirate who conquered Gaul and seized control of
dom, but unskilled slaves were considered no more Rome after a civil war.
than “speaking tools,” and large numbers were put
Spartacus (d. 71 b.c.e.) Thracian slave who led a revolt
to work, and often badly treated, in the fields of sena- of slaves against Rome in 73 b.c.e.
torial latifundia. Cato the Elder recommended that client king Foreign ruler named by and dependent on
agricultural slaves be bought cheaply, often as war the Romans.
captives, fed little, worked to death, and then replaced Cicero (106–43 b.c.e.) Roman senator known as an
with additional cheap slaves. Occasionally, slaves re- excellent speaker who was consul in 63 b.c.e. and
volted and were brutally punished. This was the case suppressed the conspiracy of Catiline.
in the slave revolt begun by Spartacus in 73 b.c.e. (see
The End of the Republic, 90–27 B.C.E. 139
an army, and Cicero himself narrowly escaped being great wealth, and created a battle-hardened army.
assassinated. In a series of famous speeches, Cicero Meanwhile, Crassus waged a disastrous war against
warned the Senate about Catiline’s plans, and Cati- the Parthians in 54 b.c.e. His army became trapped in
line fled. Cicero had Catiline’s supporters in Rome ar- the sands of Mesopotamia, Crassus himself was
rested and illegally executed without a trial, and killed in a skirmish, and thirty thousand of his troops
Catiline himself then was defeated and killed. This in- were killed or enslaved. Crassus’s head ended up be-
cident demonstrates that Roman politics had reached ing used as a stage prop in a production of a Greek
the point where any ambitious senator was willing to play in the Parthian capital.
act illegally. In Rome, Cicero and other senators turned Pompey
The third powerful general of this period was against Caesar by playing on his vanity. In 50 b.c.e.,
Julius Caesar, a member of a patrician family suppos- with Pompey’s support, the Senate ordered Caesar to
edly descended from the goddess Venus. Caesar was disband his army and return to Rome as a private cit-
the nephew of Sulla’s enemy Marius and had barely izen. Caesar realized that if he did so, he probably
escaped after his name appeared on Sulla’s proscrip- would be killed by his enemies. He therefore decided
tion list. His political career therefore started slowly, to bring his army back to Rome with him. In 49 b.c.e.
but he still had great ambitions. Once, in his early he led his army across the shallow Rubicon River, the
thirties, he burst into tears when reading about Alexan- boundary between Gaul and Italy, an act that auto-
der the Great. When asked what was wrong, he replied matically put him in rebellion against the Roman
that at his age Alexander had conquered the world, state. Pompey and his supporters fled to Greece to
whereas he, Caesar, had not yet done anything mem- prepare their own army. Caesar soon followed, and at
orable. Caesar was popular with the people, and in the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 b.c.e. Pompey was de-
60 b.c.e. he was elected consul for the next year. Like feated. Pompey fled to Egypt, the last independent
any ambitious senator, he wanted to be assigned a Hellenistic kingdom, where King Ptolemy XIII, think-
province where he would be able to recruit a large ing to do Caesar a favor, beheaded him. But when
army and gain military glory. The Senate, however, Caesar arrived, he was not pleased that an Egyptian
insultingly assigned him “the cattle trails of Italy” as king had murdered a distinguished Roman senator.
his province. He therefore deposed Ptolemy in favor of Ptolemy’s
sister (and wife) Cleopatra. After his return to Rome,
The Triumvirates Caesar, like Sulla before him, had to decide what his
official position would be. He attempted to make his
Crassus, Pompey, and Caesar all had been disre- one-man rule look legal by regularly serving as consul
spected by the Senate. In 60 b.c.e., therefore, they and by holding the position of dictator for life. But his
formed an unofficial alliance known as the First Tri- unconstitutional policies and monopolization of high
umvirate, whereby they agreed to use their influence offices aroused hostility and jealousy in several sena-
on one another’s behalf. As consul, Caesar saw to it tors, who conspired against him. At a meeting of the
that Pompey’s legislation was passed and that land Senate on the Ides of March (March 15), 44 b.c.e., Cae-
was given to his soldiers. Caesar himself was reas- sar was stabbed to death.
signed two provinces in Gaul, giving him an opening Caesar’s assassins presumed that after he was
for military adventures to the north. And Crassus, gone, the old Republic would be restored, but they
who desired to refurbish his own military standing, were mistaken. Two of Caesar’s generals, Lepidus
eventually was granted a military command against and Marcus Antonius (known to us as Mark Antony),
the Parthians in the east. The triumvirs thus con-
trolled affairs in Rome by cooperating and avoiding
competition with one another. Conservative senators
were troubled by this arrangement but could do triumvirate A group of three men; the First Triumvi-
rate (Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey) was formed in 60
nothing about it. b.c.e., and the Second Triumvirate (Antony, Lepidus,
In 58 b.c.e., Caesar took his army to Gaul, where he and Octavian) in 43 b.c.e.
remained for nine years. One of the best generals of Lepidus (d. 13 b.c.e.) One of Caesar’s generals and a
antiquity, Caesar played off one Celtic people against member of the Second Triumvirate.
another and ultimately defeated them all. His reports Mark Antony (ca. 80–30 b.c.e.) One of Caesar’s gener-
of his campaigns, the Gallic Wars, are one of the best als and a member of the Second Triumvirate; defeated
historical works of antiquity. By 50 b.c.e., Caesar had by Octavian, committed suicide in 30 b.c.e.
annexed all of Gaul up to the Rhine River, gained
140 CHAPTER 5 The Rise of Rome, 753–27 B.C.E.
The life and death of Cleopatra, the last queen and pharaoh of Egypt, fascinated the people of the Roman
world, and she often appeared in artwork. This fresco from the Via Latina catacombs in Rome shows Cleopatra
committing suicide as she holds a poisonous asp to her breast. Thus, even Christians were fascinated by the
career of Cleopatra. (Photo © Held Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library)
made an alliance against the assassins with Octavian, ceiving Italy and the west, and Antony obtaining
Caesar’s eighteen-year-old grandnephew, whom Cae- Syria and the east. Antony spent most of his time in
sar had adopted in his will. The three divided up Egypt, where Queen Cleopatra helped him to build
Caesar’s armies and in 43 b.c.e. formed the Second up his forces. In 31 b.c.e., Octavian and Antony at-
Triumvirate. To honor Caesar’s memory, they had tacked each other, and their armies met at the Battle
him deified, or declared to be a god, by the Senate. Ini- of Actium on the western coast of Greece. Antony
tially, Roman politicians thought little of young Octa- and Cleopatra were defeated and fled back to Egypt.
vian, but he soon showed that he possessed a political The following year, 30 b.c.e.., Octavian and his mas-
shrewdness well beyond his years. The triumvirs sive army arrived in Egypt. Antony and Cleopatra,
seized control of the government, and Cicero, who
had delivered a series of speeches against Antony, was
murdered. In 42 b.c.e., the assassins were defeated at Octavian (63 b.c.e.–14 c.e.) Adopted son of Caesar and
the Battle of Philippi in Macedonia. Another struggle a member of the Second Triumvirate who gained
then began among the triumvirs to see who would control of the Roman world in 30 b.c.e.
gain sole control of the state. deification An act whereby the Senate declared that a
Lepidus soon was forced to retire, and Antony and deceased Roman was a god.
Octavian divided up the Roman world, Octavian re-
Summary 141
not wishing to be disgraced by being displayed in Latin literary culture experienced its Golden Age,
Octavian’s triumphal procession, committed suicide, and some Latin writers made their reputations solely
and Octavian annexed Egypt as a new province. on the basis of their literary accomplishments. These
Once again, a powerful senatorial general had been included the poets Catullus, known for his love po-
able to use his army to eliminate all his rivals and to etry, and Lucretius, who gained fame with a lengthy
take control of the entire Roman world. The civil wars poem called On the Nature of Things, which described
had demonstrated that the Republic could no longer the Epicurean view of the universe. But many late Ro-
work, and by 27 b.c.e., it had been replaced by the Ro- man writers also were active in public life because the
man Empire. senatorial ideal included the expectation that a sena-
tor would engage in literary activities. Politicians
such as Caesar and Cicero also were well-known au-
Society and Culture at the End thors. Cicero, in fact, was later considered by many
of the Republic to be Rome’s greatest writer, publishing not only
By the end of the Republic, Rome had experienced speeches and letters but also works on oratory and
many social and cultural changes. Roman women philosophy. Roman politicians and generals thus also
now enjoyed a freedom that would have been un- saw themselves as the representatives of Roman cul-
thinkable in the past, and high-ranking women were ture and values.
even more visible in public life. In one famous case,
the Second Triumvirate attempted to tax the wealthi-
est women of Rome, whereupon the women assem- Golden Age Period of Latin literature beginning
bled in the Forum. There, Hortensia, the daughter of around 75 b.c.e. and represented by writers such as
the orator Hortensius, delivered a speech in which Cicero and Caesar.
she argued, “If we have no share in government or Catullus (ca. 84–54 b.c.e.) Writer of Latin love poetry.
army commands or public office, why should we pay Lucretius (ca. 94–49 b.c.e.) Epicurean philosopher who
taxes?” The triumvirs responded by reducing the tax wrote the poem On the Nature of Things.
on women and raising that on wealthy men.
What kinds of beliefs and practices identified a per- threats. Eventually, the Romans defeated all the
son as being Roman?
peoples in Italy and the Mediterranean world. Al-
➜
How did Rome grow from a small village to be the though they initially were reluctant to take over di-
strongest power in the Mediterranean?
rect administration of the peoples they had defeated,
➜
of personal glory, Roman senators always attempted had become the responsibility of Octavian, the
to adhere to standards of Roman virtue and strove to adopted son of Julius Caesar and the final victor in
show that they were good Romans. Generals such as the civil wars.
Sulla and Julius Caesar saw themselves as Roman
senators, not as kings or autocrats.
Contests between these powerful senators with ➜
Thinking Back, Thinking Ahead ➜
their large armies brought strife and civil war to the
Republic. Sulla, Caesar, and Octavian all used their How did the opportunities for the Roman
armies to gain sole control of the Roman government, people to participate in government compare
and all confronted the question of what their role in with such opportunities for Greek and Near
the government would be. By 27 b.c.e. the Roman re- Eastern peoples?
public was at an end. Governing the Roman world
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
From Appian Way to Interstate Highway
The marvels of Roman engineering are most spectacularly evident in Rome’s roads and bridges. In the past,
Mediterranean peoples had used the sea for transportation and communication. But the Romans realized
that to concentrate military resources quickly, it also was necessary to have a road system. The first military
road was the Appian Way, begun in 312 B.C.E., which connected Rome to southern Italy. Eventually a net-
work of roads radiating from Rome reached northern Italy, Gaul, Spain, and the rest of the Roman world.
Roman roads were well-drained, with foundations of crushed stone several feet deep topped with cut-
stone pavements. They were built largely by Roman soldiers.
More than twenty centuries later, the United States also discovered a need for a military road system. In
1956, construction of a National Defense Highway System was authorized by President Dwight D. Eisen-
hower to provide for the speedy concentration of military resources and the rapid evacuation of cities in
case of nuclear attack. Plans called for the creation of some forty-two thousand miles of high-speed, multi-
lane, limited-access highways, which were seen as much less vulnerable to bombing than railroads. The
final link in the original system—the largest government public works project ever undertaken—was com-
pleted in 1993. Construction continues on additional stretches of the interstate highway system, which has
been called one of the Seven Wonders of the United States.
As in ancient Rome, the road networks built by the U.S. government for military purposes came to be used
primarily for personal and commercial purposes. Both networks led not only to increased economic devel-
opment but also to expanded cultural interactions among the different sections of vast territories. But there
is one big difference between the two systems. Roman roads and bridges have stood the test of time. Dur-
ing World War II, for example, General George Patton’s tanks used several Roman bridges in Italy. The spec-
tacular Rome bridge at Alcantara, Spain, continues to be used today, as does the aqueduct at Nîmes in
France. But U.S. interstate highways are in a constant state of disrepair, resulting not only in travel delays
but also in a proliferation of unanticipated repair expenditures.
Suggested Readings
Boatwright, Mary T., Daniel J. Gargola, and Richard J. A. Tal- Bradley, Keith. Slavery and Society at Rome. Cambridge, Eng-
bert. The Romans: From Village to Empire. Oxford: Oxford land: Cambridge University Press, 1994. A thorough discus-
University Press, 2004. The rise of Rome, with particular atten- sion of slavery in the Roman world, including the significance
tion given to Rome’s early history. of the revolt of Spartacus.
Websites 143
Cary, Max, and Howard H. Scullard. A History of Rome Down story of how Rome’s armies conquered a larger and larger part
to the Reign of Constantine. 3rd ed. New York: Bedford/St. of the Mediterranean world.
Martin’s Press, 1976. A massive and detailed standard survey Lintott, Andrew. The Constitution of the Roman Republic.
of the full extent of Roman history. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. The legal basis for
Crawford, Michael H. The Roman Republic. 2nd ed. Cam- the functioning of the government of the Roman Republic.
bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2006. A survey of Ro- Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. Oxford: Oxford Uni-
man Republican history from an expert on Roman coinage. versity Press, 1939. A classic account of the role played by am-
Errington, Richard M. The Dawn of Empire: Rome’s Rise to bitious senators in the fall of the Roman Republic.
World Power. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1972. The
Websites
Vast collection of images and primary and secondary sources On the Etruscans, including their origins and their language,
related to Roman history, LacusCurtius, at http:// Etruscology, at http://etruskisch.de/pgs/pn.htm
penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/home.html
Participatory website with extensive information on Roman
history, life, and geography, The Roman World, at http://
vlib.iue.it/history/europe/ancient_rome/index.html
144
CHAPTER
The Roman Empire,
27 B.C.E.–284 C.E.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
40 20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Note: C.E. means “common era.”
The Roman Empire in 117 C.E.
At its maximum extent, the Roman Empire stretched from
Scotland to the Persian Gulf. The empire surrounded the
Mediterranean Sea, which the Romans referred to as “Our Roman territory, 44 B.C.E.
Sea.” Do you think that the Roman Empire was land-oriented Territory added to Roman Empire by death of Augustus, 14 C.E.
CALEDONIA
or sea-oriented? (85–105 C.E.) Territory added by death of Hadrian, 138 C.E.
Hadrian's Wall
122 C.E. Territory gained and lost, with dates held
North Baltic
York Sea
Sea Parthian Empire
BRITAIN
Major battle
Elb
St. Albans Colchester e V is
GERMANIA tu l a D on
London LOWER (4–9 C.E.)
GERMANY Vo l
Teutoberg Forest ga
Cologne
Bonn 9 C.E.
BELGICA D n ie
Mainz p er
ATLANTIC Paris
Alesia
DO
M
ne
52 B.C.E.
NG Caspian
hi
LUGDUNENSIS R Strasbourg KI
AN Sea
OCEAN GAUL
UPPER
GERMANY RAETIA P OR
Vienna B OS
AQUITANIA
S Budapest
LP
Lyons NORICUM
Bordeaux CAUCASUS M
ne A
DACIA TS.
Rh ô Milan PANNONIA D
(107– 272 C.E.)
NARBONENSIS anub
Eb CISALPINE e
Nîmes GAUL Po Belgrade Black Sea
ro
Narbonne
A
MOESIA ARMENIA
TARRACONENSIS at
i
Ti
Actium Tarsus ph
gr
PAMPHYLIA rat
is
31 B.C.E. A
Me Athens Ephesus I CI es
di Corinth CIL Antioch Ctesiphon
SICILY
te Syracuse
ACHAEA LYCIA
Palmyra
T ANIA Carthage rr SYRIA
Seleucia
U RE a RHODES
MA n
NUMIDIA ea Malta CYPRUS
n Damascus
AFR
CRETE
JUDAEA
Se
IC
a Jerusalem
A
Cyrene
PR
Leptis
C
O
O Alexandria Petra
N CYRENAICA
SU A R A B I A N
LA ARABIA
NORTH AFRICA RI
S
EGYPT
D E S E R T
BAHRIYA
OASIS Ni
S A H A R A le
Red
Sea
145
146 CHAPTER 6 The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.E.–284 C.E.
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Boudicca Chooses to Revolt
Against Rome
During the early years of the Roman conquest of
Britain, Boudicca, the queen of the Celtic people
known as the Iceni, decided to lead a revolt against the
mighty Roman Empire. Boudicca’s husband, Prasutagus,
had been a client king whom the Romans had allowed
to continue to rule as long as he acknowledged Roman
authority. Prasutagus had hoped to leave his kingdom
to his two daughters when he died, but he was afraid
the Romans would simply annex it. In his will he there-
fore left half his kingdom to the emperor Nero, hoping
that Nero would then allow his daughters to rule the
Boudicca rest. But Prasutagus’s plan failed. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, after
Prasutagus’s death in 60 C.E., “the kingdom was ransacked by soldiers as if it was
Some of the strongest resis- conquered territory. The king’s wife Boudicca was beaten, and his daughters were
tance to Roman expansion raped. The leaders of the Iceni were stripped of their property, and those close to
came from the Celts. In the king were enslaved.” The Romans had decided to demoralize the Iceni in every
Britain, Celtic resistance was way that they could, using rape to humiliate their leaders, and to occupy the en-
led by Boudicca, queen of tire kingdom.
the Iceni. In 1905, this Boudicca, whose name may be derived from Boudiga, the Celtic goddess of
bronze sculpture showing victory, took over the leadership of the Iceni. She faced a difficult dilemma: she
Boudicca and her two could permit the Romans to loot and occupy the kingdom, or she could rebel. If
daughters was erected in she led a revolt, she knew the odds were against her, for almost all past resistance
London to symbolize all against Roman occupation had failed. But she also would have known of the vic-
British resistance against tory of Arminius, who had successfully resisted the Romans in Germany forty years
invaders. (Courtesy, Gary earlier. Unwilling to suffer further disgrace at the hands of the Romans, Boudicca
Houston) chose to revolt. She convinced other Celtic peoples to do the same, and at first the
rebels had great success. The Roman city of Colchester was captured and the in-
habitants slaughtered. One Roman legion was ambushed and destroyed, and an-
other was so terrified that it hid in camp and refused to march against the rebels.
Paulinus, the Roman commander in Britain, evacuated London, which the Celts
then sacked and burned in a fire so hot that a ten-inch layer of melted red clay
still can be found fifteen feet below London’s streets. The only other Roman city in
Britain, St. Albans, also was destroyed. In the end, the Celts were said to have
killed 70,000 Romans and Roman sympathizers, and it appeared that their uprising
would succeed.
Paulinus then gathered what was left of the Roman army. In the decisive battle,
10,000 Romans faced nearly 100,000 Celtic warriors accompanied by family mem-
bers and encumbered by wagons filled with loot. According to Tacitus, Boudicca,
riding in her chariot with her daughters in front of her, addressed her army thus:
Just as I have summoned each of the peoples, it also is customary for the
Britons to be led by women in war. I come to avenge not my kingdom and
riches but my lost liberty, my wounded body, and my ravished daughters.
Augustus and the Creation of the Roman Empire, 27 B.C.E.–14 C.E. 147
The lusts of the Romans have grown to the point that they respect the bod-
ies of no one; they leave untouched neither old age nor undefiled virginity.
Now, the gods of avenging justice are at hand. One legion that dared to
fight us already has been destroyed; the others have fled or are hiding in
their camps. We must conquer in the line of battle or fall. That is the fate of
this woman; let men live on as slaves if they wish.
The wild Celtic charge then was met by the disciplined Romans, who were
drawn up on a hillside with forests protecting their flanks and rear. The Britons
were thrown back, became entangled in their own wagons, and then were slaugh-
tered. It was said that 80,000 Celts were killed, but only 400 Romans.
Boudicca, like Cleopatra before her, committed suicide to avoid the disgrace
of being paraded in a triumph in Rome. After this last attempt at independence,
the British Celts accommodated themselves to Roman rule. In modern times,
Boudicca, also known as Boadicea, became the symbol of British resistance to
any foreign invader.
Chronology
31 B.C.E. Octavian defeats Antony and Cleopatra at 69–96 Flavian dynasty rules Roman Empire
Battle of Actium
79 Eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroys Pompeii
30 B.C.E. Cleopatra and Antony commit suicide
96–192 Antonine dynasty rules Roman Empire
27 B.C.E. Roman Empire begins when the Senate gives
Octavian the title of Augustus 193–235 Severan dynasty rules Roman Empire
27 B.C.E.–68 C.E. Julio-Claudian dynasty rules 203 Perpetua is martyred for being a Christian
Roman Empire
212 Caracalla grants Roman citizenship to everyone
9 C.E. Germans defeat Romans at Teutoberg Forest but slaves
14–192 Peace and prosperity prevail during the 235 Imperial crisis begins
Roman Peace
250 Decius institutes loyalty oath
ca. 33 Jesus of Nazareth is crucified
270 Aurelian begins to restore the Roman Empire
60 Boudicca leads British revolt against
Roman Empire 284 Imperial crisis ends
64 Great fire burns part of Rome Note: C.E. means “common era.”
the Roman Empire is known. He shrewdly gained the control of the army, and to do that, he had to stay in
support of both the army and the Senate. He created power. Octavian was a shrewd politician, with a good
an image of the emperor as the embodiment of Ro- sense of what would work and what would not. Sulla
man virtue and of Rome itself. The measures he intro- and Caesar had tried to stay in power by using the of-
duced not only gave him the powers that made him fice of dictator, but their approach was considered by
an emperor but also brought unity to the previously the other senators to be unconstitutional and auto-
disorganized Roman world. It was largely as a result cratic and had created great opposition. Octavian
of his efforts that the Roman Empire became the most could not repeat their example.
successful empire that the world has ever known. To remain in power peacefully, Octavian knew
that he needed the support of the people and the
Augustus the Emperor Senate. After sixty years of civil war, the people
wanted peace, and, therefore, being a better adminis-
In 30 b.c.e., after the suicides of Antony and Cleopa- trator than a general, Octavian committed himself
tra, Octavian, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, was to creating a peaceful world. Gaining the support of
left in undisputed control of the Roman world. He the Senate was even more crucial. The senators were
commanded eighty legions, and all of his significant the only experienced military and civil administra-
opponents were defeated or dead. He faced some dif- tors; they controlled most of the economic resources
ficult choices, such as whether he should retire or try of the Roman world; and as the most influential pa-
to hold on to power. According to the Roman biogra-
pher Suetonius, Octavian “thought that he himself
would not be safe if he retired and that it would be Suetonius (ca. 70–ca.135 c.e.) Secretary of the
dangerous to trust the government to more than one emperor Hadrian who wrote biographies called The
person.” He would have realized that to protect him- Twelve Caesars.
self and to keep the peace, he would have to retain
Augustus and the Creation of the Roman Empire, 27 B.C.E.–14 C.E. 149
Augustus created a model of empire that was used where Celtic and Germanic peoples posed threats of
by his successors. The powers of a proconsul and a raids, if not organized invasions. To safeguard the
tribune became the two primary sources of the au- northern border, Augustus expanded the Roman
thority of the Roman emperors during the principate, frontier to the Danube River, but an attempt to ex-
permitting them to control the army and the laws pand to the Elbe River in Germany ended in 9 c.e.,
while at the same time keeping a low profile. Every- when the Germanic leader Arminius ambushed and
thing the emperor did was done according to the Re- destroyed three Roman legions in the Teutoberg For-
public’s constitution. The Senate still met; consuls est. The Romans withdrew to the Rhine River, and the
still were appointed; and being a senator or consul Danube and the Rhine became the permanent north-
continued to be a great honor. But the Senate, sena- ern frontier. Border areas not considered important
tors, and consuls no longer had any real power. Au- enough to annex were left in the hands of client kings,
gustus’s restoration of the Republic was a fiction, but such as Herod (r. 41 b.c.e.–4 e.c.) in Judaea, who were
a fiction that everyone was happy to go along with. permitted to remain in office as long as they did not
antagonize Rome. After this period of strategic ex-
The Unification of the Roman World pansion, Augustus focused on guarding the frontiers,
regulating commerce and interaction with the out-
Augustus used his authority to bring stability and side world,and consolidating the territories that Rome
unity to the Roman world and to create internal cohe- controlled. This policy was followed by nearly all of
siveness where none had existed before. He turned his successors. The Roman army became a garrison
what in the past had been problems, such as the army army, spread out along the frontiers but doing little
and the provinces, into opportunities for unity. The actual fighting. This single line of defense worked
most important institution in the Roman Empire was well as long as no enemy was able to break through
the army, for the empire could not succeed if the and make its way into the undefended inner regions
army was not fully integrated into the life of the em- of the empire.
pire. The army was responsible for defending the em- The army also held the empire together and uni-
pire from foreign attacks and for maintaining internal fied it in other ways. Roman army camps brought Ro-
order (there was no civil police force). It was by far manization, the extension of Roman culture, to the
the biggest drain on the imperial treasury. There also very edges of the empire. Augustus allowed provin-
was a constant threat of its becoming involved in cials to serve in the army, and the first thing these
politics. The emperor’s top priority always was to soldiers had to learn was Latin. Romanization also
maintain the army’s loyalty, and Augustus created a was promoted by the elaborate Roman road system,
standing, professional army that was loyal directly to which had been designed for military transport but
him. To minimize expenses, he reduced the army to was used primarily for personal and commercial traf-
twenty-eight legions—about 140,000 men—a number fic. In addition, during Augustus’s reign, eighty colon-
considered barely sufficient for defense plus a single ies were established for hundreds of thousands of
offensive campaign. To keep the army out of politics, army veterans who received land in Spain, North
Augustus stationed it on the frontier, as far away Africa, and Greece, creating additional centers of Ro-
from Rome as possible. The only troops in Italy were man culture in the provinces. The army was a con-
the Praetorian Guard, an elite 10,000-man unit camped stant presence in the Roman world, but often a benign
on the outskirts of Rome. one. It was rarely used for internal peacekeeping; in
The army was responsible for overseeing thou- fact, there were only two rebellions against the Romans
sands of miles of frontier. During the Republic, there after a province had been completely conquered—
had been no coherent plan for expansion or defense. both by the Jews—a remarkable record for an empire
Augustus changed that. He terminated the practice of supposedly based on military might. The army was
helter-skelter expansion that had characterized the
Republic. He expanded the empire to fixed bound-
aries that were easy to defend and then stopped. In Praetorian Guard Ten thousand–man elite Roman
the south was the Sahara desert. To the east lay the army unit stationed at Rome.
Parthian Empire, which extended from the Euphrates garrison army Professional army stationed perma-
River to India. Augustus realized there was nothing nently in the same place that does little fighting.
to be gained by attacking the Parthians, so he negoti- Romanization Extension of Roman culture throughout
ated a favorable treaty and established peaceful rela- the empire.
tions. The most dangerous frontier was in the north,
Augustus and the Creation of the Roman Empire, 27 B.C.E.–14 C.E. 151
Roman schoolchild. Vergil stressed Aeneas’s sense of Augustus as the person who had brought peace to
duty, and readers recognized that their emperor had the Roman world. Augustus did additional remodel-
the same qualities. The historian Livy authored a mas- ing work on the Senate house, the Capitoline temple
sive history of Rome that commenced with the city’s of Jupiter, and Julius Caesar’s basilica in the Forum.
foundation and showed how the reign of Augustus He also built a great circular mausoleum to hold his
was a continuation of the Roman Republic. There also own remains and those of his family and successors.
was a flowering of poetry by poets such as Ovid, Augustus’s efforts to adorn and beautify Rome were
whose Metamorphoses provided a summary of Greek so extensive that he claimed he had changed Rome
and Latin mythology that placed Rome in the context from a city of brick into a city of marble.
of the ancient Greek classical tradition. Finally, Augustus also showed his devotion to the
Augustus also demonstrated his commitment to Roman people by presenting many kinds of enter-
tradition by building and remodeling many Roman tainments. He reported that he paid for eight shows
buildings, especially temples. In his memoirs, he of gladiators in which 10,000 men fought and twenty-
stated, “I rebuilt in the city eighty-two temples of the six wild beast hunts in which 3,500 animals were
gods, omitting none that needed to be repaired.” One killed. Later emperors followed his example by spon-
of these temples, honoring Mars, was located in the soring building projects and extravagant entertain-
new Forum of Augustus, which adjoined a forum ments in Rome.
built by Julius Caesar. Augustus also built an Altar of Beginning with Augustus, therefore, the emperor
Peace that showed Augustus, his family, and the Sen- became the patron of the Roman world, whose in-
ate performing a religious sacrifice and portrayed habitants became his clients. The emperor provided
154 CHAPTER 6 The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.E.–284 C.E.
honors and offices for the senators and equestrians, successors, but only when an emperor had the fore-
salaries and employment for the soldiers, citizenship sight to put his successor in place before he died. If he
for the provincials, and public works and entertain- failed to do so, a crisis could arise if the Senate and
ment for the people of Rome. different armies around the empire disagreed over
who the next emperor should be.
Augustus died in 14 c.e. at the age of seventy-
eight. He was immediately deified by the Senate, and
The Roman Peace, Tiberius smoothly succeeded him as emperor. It now
14–192 C.E. had been more than seventy years since the Republic
had actually worked. Few remembered it as anything
➜
Describe how the Roman Empire functioned during the but ancient history, and everyone expected that Rome
Roman Peace.
henceforth would be ruled by emperors. The suc-
➜
god Jupiter. Domitian (r. 81–96 c.e.) liked being ad- population of the empire, which was able to enjoy the
dressed as “lord and god.” And Commodus (r. 180– benefits of Roman citizenship to its fullest extent.
192 c.e.) portrayed himself on coinage as the Greek Only males, for example, were able to hold office or
hero Hercules and fought as a gladiator. Emperors be members of the Senate.
who exhibited such extreme behavior ran the risk of Other previously disadvantaged segments of the
being assassinated, as in fact happened to the three population gained new rights. It became easier for
just mentioned. both sons and daughters to get out from under the
authority of their fathers and establish their legal in-
dependence. Women gained greater authority to
Society and Culture
choose their own husbands. A jurist stated, “Engage-
During the Roman Peace, a unified society and cul- ments, like marriages, come about by the consent of
ture extended from Britain in the northwest to Arabia the parties and, therefore, the consent of a daughter
in the southeast. The extension of Roman culture to of a family is needed for an engagement just as it is
the provinces was balanced by continued Roman as- for a marriage.” Some women could even act in court
similation of provincial culture. The culture of the Ro- without a guardian. The lot of many slaves had also
man Empire usually is called Greco-Roman culture improved. They were now much more valuable than
but might be better called Mediterranean culture, for they had been in the days of the Republic, for the
the culture of the Roman world was an amalgama- wars of conquest and the cheap slaves they brought
tion of the cultures of all the peoples incorporated un- as spoils were long gone. Slaves’ legal rights included
der the Roman umbrella, including not only Romans the opportunity to accumulate money to buy their
and Greeks but also Egyptians, Syrians, Jews, Ger- freedom. The regulations for slaves on one imperial
mans, and many others. estate stated that baths and hospitals were to be pro-
The two things that bound Roman society together vided and that slave women were to be set free after
were Roman citizenship and urban life. Those who bearing a specified number of slave children. But not
enjoyed both were fully integrated into a homoge- all slaves were treated well. The enslaved gold min-
neous Roman system. But even noncitizen country ers of Dacia, for example, spent their lives chained
dwellers and foreigners felt the impact of Roman underground and were left lying where they died.
culture. During the Roman Peace, legal and poli- The empire also offered career opportunities. The
tical privileges were extended to larger numbers of emperors sponsored an extensive education system,
people, and many provincials attained Roman citi- for the expanding imperial bureaucracy had an insa-
zenship, intensifying the sense of collective identity. tiable need for educated civil servants. There were
This process culminated in 212 c.e., when the em- municipal and imperial salaries for teachers of gram-
peror Caracalla (r. 211–217) granted citizenship to mar and public speaking. The school curriculum was
everyone (except slaves and certain ex-slaves) who purely literary, based on studying texts such as Ver-
did not yet have it. Foreigners who settled within the gil’s Aeneid, with little inclusion of mathematics and
empire also became citizens. Everyone in the empire science. Law became the most popular field of ad-
was under the same legal system—even slaves had vanced study; even if orators had fewer chances to
legal rights. rise in politics than in the Republic, they still could
Political power also filtered out from Rome into argue cases in court.
the provinces. By the beginning of the second century The period from 14 c.e. until about 200 c.e. is called
c.e., emperors such as the Spaniards Trajan and the Silver Age of Latin literature. Around 100 c.e.,
Hadrian were coming from the provinces. The Senate
included North Africans, Greeks, and Syrians along
with Italians and other western Europeans. People
Greco-Roman culture Composite culture shared by
living outside Rome saw themselves as Romans first
people living in the Roman Empire.
and Greeks, Gauls, or Egyptians second. In a speech
Caracalla (r. 211–217 c.e.) Roman emperor who raised
entitled “To Rome,” the Greek orator Aristides ex- the pay of the soldiers and gave Roman citizenship to
pressed to the emperor Hadrian the sense of satis- almost everyone in the empire.
faction provincials felt: “No one fit for office or a jurist Legal expert who commented on the law and
position of trust is an alien. There exists a universal advised emperors.
democracy under one man, the best prince and ad- Silver Age Period of Latin literature lasting from
ministrator. You have made the word Roman apply the death of Augustus until the end of the second
not to a city but to a universal people.” Aristides was century c.e.
speaking, of course, primarily for the privileged male
The Roman Peace, 14–192 C.E. 157
Tacitus, the greatest Roman historian, examined the war. Vespasian and his sons sponsored the construc-
times from Caesar through Domitian in the Annals tion of the Flavian Amphitheater, commonly known
and the Histories. Shortly thereafter Suetonius, secre- as the Colosseum, one of the most enduring Roman
tary of the emperor Hadrian, wrote a collection of monuments. Trajan built baths, a forum, and a mar-
biographies of emperors called The Twelve Caesars. ket used for the distribution of subsidized food.
Much of the literature, moreover, was practical in na- Hadrian constructed the circular Pantheon, a temple
ture. The rhetorician Quintilian’s manual on oratori- of “all the gods,” and a new mausoleum for himself
cal training became a standard school text. Pliny the and his successors. Caracalla built a huge public bath
Elder, a Roman admiral who died while investigat- complex that is still used for opera performances.
ing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 c.e., authored Many emperors contributed to the upkeep of roads,
a massive Natural History that dealt with geogra- bridges, aqueducts that brought in fresh water from
phy, ethnography, zoology, botany, and geology. In up to forty miles away, and a sewer system that
the second century, the astronomer and geographer flushed Rome’s waste into the Tiber River. The most
Ptolemy of Alexandria refined Hipparchus’s concept destitute residents of Rome could expect the emperor
of an earth-centered universe to create the complex to provide basic foodstuffs, such as bread and olive
Ptolemaic model, which was so convincing that it re- oil, and perhaps even some occasional cheese and
mained the standard model of the universe for the wine. On special occasions, such as an imperial birth-
next seventeen hundred years. Ptolemy also created a day, the emperors even distributed money.
world map and compiled a star catalogue containing Outside Rome, city life also formed the basis for
1,048 stars organized into 48 constellations whose the enjoyment and extension of Roman culture. Many
names still are in use. And around 180 c.e. the physi- western European cities, such as Lyons in Gaul, had
cian Galen of Pergamum, who had gained extensive been created out of nothing to meet the needs of the
knowledge of human anatomy by serving as the im- Roman administration, and they now served as focal
perial physician to gladiators, wrote the most impor- points for the dissemination of Roman civilization. So
tant medical works of antiquity, including books did colonies of Roman citizens that had been estab-
called “On the Natural Faculties” and “On the Use of lished early in the empire, such as Merida in Spain,
the Parts of the Human Body.” and the restored cities of Carthage in North Africa
and Corinth in Greece. Even on the frontiers, army
Urban Life garrison posts gave rise to cities such as Bonn, Mainz,
Strasbourg, Vienna, Budapest, and Belgrade. By the
Urbanism provided another unifying factor, for life second century, Alexandria in Egypt, Antioch in Syria,
during the principate was centered on cities. The and Carthage in North Africa had populations of
countryside, of course, remained important, for farm- over a quarter of a million. Members of city councils,
ing was the backbone of the Roman economy. But the decurions, patterned themselves on the Senate of
cities were the focus of cultural, social, religious, and Rome and manifested their civic pride by competing
economic development. Of all the cities in the empire, with one another to endow their cities with the same
Rome was easily the most important and provided a amenities as Rome, including theaters, amphithe-
model for urban life elsewhere. Rome now was home aters, temples, town halls, and libraries. Aqueducts
to 1 million inhabitants who had come from places delivered fresh water, which was made available at
both within and outside the empire. In the streets, streetcorner fountains. Public latrines were equipped
one would encounter Greeks, Celts, Egyptians, and with constantly flushing toilets. And elaborate public
Syrians as well as red-haired and blue-eyed Germans,
black Africans, and dark-skinned Arabs and Indians.
Commercial goods flowed in from throughout the
world, as did foreign languages, cultures, and reli- Tacitus (ca. 56–117 c.e.) Roman historian who ca. 100
c.e. wrote histories from Julius Caesar through the
gious practices. About the year 100 c.e., the Roman emperor Domitian.
satirist Juvenal wrote, “The Syrian river Orontes now Ptolemy of Alexandria (ca. 90–168 c.e.) Astronomer
flows into the Tiber, bringing its language and cus- and geographer who favored an earth-centered uni-
toms.” Rome had become a melting pot of peoples verse and created a star catalogue and world map.
and cultures. Galen of Pergamum (ca.129–200 c.e.) The most influ-
Rome was the showcase of the Roman world as ential medical writer of antiquity.
emperors continued to adorn the city. Vespasian’s Fo- amphitheater Large circular structure with seats
rum of Peace portrayed Vespasian, like Augustus, as around a circular arena, used for entertainments.
one who had brought peace after a period of civil
158 CHAPTER 6 The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.E.–284 C.E.
the seacoast and were rescued by Roman naval ves- ket was facilitated by two centuries of peace and lack
sels. Others took refuge underground, where they of government restrictions. The second century c.e.
were asphyxiated by the poisonous gases. Still others was the great age of the Roman middle class. Ease of
died in collapsing buildings or in the streets. The en- travel by water, by both sea and river, made it possi-
tire city was buried under thick layers of rock, mud, ble to ship bulk products great distances, and the Ro-
and ash. Over ten thousand inhabitants were killed. man road system, which extended to the most distant
The city was not rediscovered until the eighteenth frontiers, made land commerce much less costly than
century, and excavations of the site are still going on. it had been. Road tolls and port dues were low, ban-
The city preserves the tiniest details of everyday ditry had been suppressed, and piracy was virtually
life. Like most Roman cities, Pompeii had a forum, a eliminated. A unified and trustworthy currency sys-
theater, an aqueduct, public baths, a senate house, a tem facilitated monetary transactions. Long-distance
temple of the imperial cult, and even its own small commerce also was supported by imperial subsidies
amphitheater for putting on gladiatorial contests. The that kept frontier armies well supplied with food-
poor lived in large apartment buildings, the rich in stuffs and material goods. Much of the trade was in
villas built around a central garden. The streets were the hands of easterners, primarily Greeks, Syrians,
laid out on a grid plan, at right angles to each other. and Jews, resulting in a gradual shift of the economic
Steppingstones allowed inhabitants to avoid the ani- center of the empire from the western Mediterranean
mal droppings and other refuse that littered the streets; to the east.
sewers under the streets carried away the waste when The trade in luxury items such as gold, spices, and
it rained. Streetcorner lunch counters served soup, gems was complemented by large-scale commerce in
vegetables, and beverages. Vendors sold round loaves smaller-value items ranging from agricultural prod-
of bread. Street musicians entertained passersby. A ucts such as wine to manufactured items such as pot-
mosaic at the front entrance to one house depicts a tery, glassware, and clothing. Different regions were
dog and the warning, “Beware the Dog.” Graffiti known for different kinds of products. Italy and Gaul
carved into the walls preserve the actual words of in- were recognized for their ceramics; Sidon in Phoeni-
habitants, such as “Restitutus was here with his cia and northern Gaul were famous for glass; Spain
brother,” “Marcus loves Spendusa,” or “Money has and Britain were centers of mining. Amber was im-
no odor.” Like no other Roman remains, Pompeii ported from the Baltic Sea area and exotic animals
brings the Romans back to life. from sub-Saharan Africa. The most important grain-
growing areas were Egypt, North Africa (which was
Economic Activity heavily irrigated), and Sicily. Every year, a huge grain
fleet departed from Alexandria and struck out across
Even though cities have the greatest visibility in the the Mediterranean for Rome to help to meet Italy’s
literary and archaeological source material, they could voracious need for grain. In addition, olive oil was pro-
not exist without the produce of the countryside. The duced in North Africa, Italy, and Spain; wine in Italy
Roman economy remained primarily rural, and most and southern Gaul; and a popular fish sauce in Spain.
of the population lived in rural areas. Ninety percent Rome’s economic reach extended beyond the fron-
of the government’s tax income came from the tax on tiers, to the peoples the Romans knew collectively as
agricultural land. Some farmland was owned by small barbarians. For the Romans, as for the Greeks, barbar-
farmers, but most was consolidated into the large lat- ians were people whose culture was different from
ifundia of senators. Initially, latifundia had been farmed their own. None of the northern barbarian peoples
primarily by a combination of slave and day labor, had any written history prior to their contact with
but by the second century c.e., there was an increas- Rome. Greek and Roman accounts are full of stereo-
ing use of tenant farmers known as coloni, who paid types about them—they dressed in skins, liked to
a portion of their crop to the landowner and kept the fight, and smelled—and offer little information on the
rest for themselves. Many senators were absentee actual details of their lives and customs independent
landlords and left the administration of their estates
to privileged slaves. The largest landowner of all
was the emperor, whose estates grew ever larger as mosaic Work of art made from small colored pieces of
a result of purchases, bequests, and confiscations. stone or glass cemented together.
These, too, often were overseen by high-ranking im- coloni (Latin for “tenants”) Tenant farmers who
perial slaves. worked sections of large estates in exchange for a
Manufacturing and trade expanded dramatically percentage of their crops.
during the Roman Peace, as an empirewide free mar-
160
Roman Empire at its height, ca. 150 C.E.
Principal trade routes by sea
North Sea
Principal trade routes by land
JUTLAND Baltic
Grain Principal products
Lead Sea
Chester
BRITAIN
Wool Grain El Amber
be
London Slaves
ATLANTIC Tin Lead Cloth Don
Vi
Vol
BELGIUM Cologne ga
stu
la
OCEAN Cloth GERMANY Hides
Grain Dnie
per
Pottery
in e
Stone Caspian
Rh
Grain
GAUL Wine Sea
Iron Horses
Olbia Salt
CHAPTER 6 The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.E.–284 C.E.
Grain Metals
Wool Potaissa Grain Panticapeum CAUCA
Lyons PS Copper Gold
Fish CRIMEA SU Silk
Betanzos Aquileia
SM
Lead Glass AL TS Spices
Iron . Gems
Gold Pottery Po Danub DACIA Dioscurias Perfumes
Rhô n e
Eb Wine Grain Slaves
Horses ro Olives Luna Black Sea Routes to China
Narbonne DALMATIA and India
Marble Marseilles Pottery Split Sinope Trebizond
Ancona MOESIA
Silver
Olives THRACE Amisus ARMENIA
SPAIN Tarragona CORSICA Fish Timber
Horses
Rome
Ostia Dyrrhachium Byzantium
Grain ITALY Grain
Wool CAPPADOCIA
Olives Pozzuoli Salonica Wool
SARDINIA Melitene
Silver Wine MACEDONIA
Fish Horses
New Marble
Cadiz Carthage Olives ASIA
Wine
Ti
Eup
is
Carpets hr
Caesarea Corinth Antioch a te
s
SICILY
Timber Grain Pottery Wine Ctesiphon
Syracuse ACHAEA Myra
Copper Carthage SYRIA Seleucia
Olives M Copper
MAURETANIA Slaves Grain Timber
CRETE
ed
it CYPRUS Sidon
NUMIDIA er Damascus
Olives
ran
ean Glass
Salt Sea Cloth
Caesarea
NORTH AFRICA
Ivory Cyrene JUDAEA
Incense
Exotic animals Leptis Silphium Alexandria A R A B I A N
from Africa Olives
Aelana
LIBYA Memphis D E S E R T
0 200 400 Km.
Glass
Routes to southern Arabia,
Grain
Cloth EGYPT Spices eastern Africa, and India
NORTH AFRICA
0 200 400 Mi. Papyrus Gemstones
Nile
MAP 6.1 Trade Routes of the Roman Empire In exchange for trade goods such as textiles, glass, pottery, wine, and silver coinage, the Romans
imported products from as far away as the Baltic, India, and Africa. Roman economic influence thus extended far beyond the frontiers of the empire
and resulted in extensive cultural exchange with foreign peoples.
Religion in the Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity 161
of Mediterranean influence. The most numerous bar- world. But the most important religious development
barians were on the northern frontier, for in the south of the principate was the appearance of Christianity, a
was the sparsely populated Sahara desert and to the religion that grew out of Judaism and would shape
east were the Parthians, who were just as civilized as the development of western civilization.
the Romans. The northern barbarians, mostly Celtic
and Germanic peoples, were settled farmers and had
been living in contact with the Romans for centuries, State and Private Religion
so they were not uncivilized savages. Roman and Nearly all the people living in the Roman world were
barbarian traders and travelers exchanged not only polytheists, worshiping many gods. Polytheistic reli-
trade goods but also elements of culture, and barbar- gions included both state religion and private reli-
ians could not help picking up Roman culture, in- gion. State religion was exercised in public and
cluding the Latin language. A third-century historian revolved around the imperial cult. Emperors served
remarked, “The barbarians were adapting themselves as pontifex maximus and made regular sacrifices on be-
to the Roman world. They did not find it difficult to half of the Roman people to Jupiter, Juno, and Min-
change their lives, and they were becoming different erva, the gods who looked after the welfare of Rome.
without realizing it.” Rome’s influence extended even For the general population, participation in the impe-
to modern Poland, where an iron-working industry rial cult was a political act, a way of declaring loyalty
fluctuated according to economic and political condi- to Rome and the emperor, and did not entail a great
tions within the empire. Hoards of Roman coins found deal of spiritual devotion.
hundreds of miles beyond the frontiers also demon- In private religion, people sought personal reli-
strate Rome’s economic reach. gious satisfaction within a small circle of family and
Roman trade routes extended to the Far East, India, friends. Romans were exposed to many different
and even China. Roman gold, silver, fabrics, glassware, kinds of private religious practices. Many partici-
and wine were exchanged for eastern silks, spices, pated in mystery cults, such as the cult of Isis, that
gems, and perfumes. The emperor Trajan dredged out promised an afterlife to their initiates. Magic, which
a canal between the Nile River and the Red Sea, and allowed people to feel that they were empowered by
every year a fleet of over a hundred trading ships the gods, was widely practiced. Astrology was used
set out from Egypt to the east. The journey from Italy to cast horoscopes that predicted the future outcome
to India took about sixteen weeks. An Indian poet of of people’s lives. It was illegal, however, to cast the
the second century wrote, “Drink the cool and fra- horoscope of an emperor for fear that a bad forecast
grant wine brought by the Greeks in their vessels.” In could lead to unrest or revolt. The study of philoso-
166 c.e., traders claiming to be the representatives of phy continued to bring spiritual satisfaction. Sto-
the emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180) visited the icism, with its focus on duty and responsibility, had
Chinese court. One consequence of all this foreign great attraction for the Roman ruling class. One stoic
commerce was a huge trade deficit of some 550 million was the emperor Marcus Aurelius, whose Meditations
sesterces per year—enough to pay the annual salaries preserve his personal thoughts on what it meant to be
of the entire Roman army three times over. So many emperor. Some philosophers went to extremes to put
silver denarii flowed out of the empire that the denar- their beliefs into practice. For example, a Cynic
ius became the standard coinage used in India. philosopher named Proteus burned himself alive to
show that death was nothing to be feared.
People also believed in “divine men” who were
Religion in the Roman Empire able to use the power of the gods to perform miracles,
including curing disease, raising the dead, and con-
and the Rise of Christianity trolling the weather. The most famous miracle worker
was Apollonius, a native of Anatolia who lived in the
➜
healed the sick. He was believed to have overpow- suppress the rebellion. A Roman colony then was
ered a vampire and to have expelled a demon that built on the site of Jerusalem, and thousands more
was bringing the plague. It even was said that he Jews were expelled from Judaea, resulting in a fur-
could be in two places at the same time. Some sup- ther expansion of the Diaspora. By the second cen-
posedly divine men, however, were opportunists who tury c.e., there was scarcely a city in the empire that
took advantage of people’s gullibility. The satirist Lu- did not have a Jewish community.
cian made fun of “swindlers who deal in magic; they In spite of Roman efforts to destroy Jewish unity,
will guide your love life, defeat your enemies, find Jews living in the Roman Empire maintained their
you treasure, or get you an inheritance.” Lucian also unique identity. After the Bar Kochba revolt, a new
suggested, “These scoundrels are completely unprin- Sanhedrin assembled outside Jerusalem and contin-
cipled. They understand that human life is ruled by ued to receive Jewish contributions that previously
fear and hope, and that anyone who can control these had gone to the temple. The Jewish leader, now called
two things will become rich.” a patriarch, served as an intermediary between the
By the third century, as a result of religious syn- Jewish people and the Roman government. With the
cretism, the many different polytheistic gods were Temple gone, synagogues became the centers of Jew-
seen as being part of a single universal deity. Many ish religious life in cities with a Jewish population.
believed that the sun, worshiped as Jupiter, Apollo, There Jews met under the guidance of a rabbi to pray,
or the Unconquered Sun, represented a single, primary hear preaching based on scripture, and read and study
god. The emperor Aurelian (r. 270–275 c.e.) even at- scripture and commentaries on scripture. Learned Jew-
tempted to make the Unconquered Sun into the main ish rabbis met in Palestine to discuss and write down
god of the Roman Empire, and December 25, when interpretations of God’s will. About the year 200 c.e.,
the sun began to rise higher in the sky, was declared oral interpretations of Jewish law were collected into
to be his birthday. a volume known as the Mishnah, which became part
of a larger collection of Jewish teachings called the
The Jews in the Roman World Talmud, a comprehensive guide to Jewish life that
included oral tradition, interpretations of the Law of
Of all the peoples living in the Roman world, the Moses, statements on faith and morality, biblical com-
Jews were the most resistant to assimilation and mentaries, and historical narratives. Jews preserved
were, in fact, the only provincials to engage in orga- their way of life by living according to Halakha, a set
nized resistance to Rome. They continued to await the of guidelines that determined how Jews related to God
arrival of a Messiah who would restore their political and to fellow human beings. Halakha established a
independence. In general, the Roman government was common bond among all Jews everywhere.
tolerant of the Jewish insistence on worshiping only a The Talmud shows that Jews were ambivalent
single god and exempted the Jews from making sac- about Rome. According to one passage, “Rabbi Judah
rifices to the imperial cult. But some emperors of- said, ‘How excellent are the deeds of this nation. They
fended Jewish religious sensibilities. Caligula ordered have instituted market places, they have instituted
a statue of himself to be set up in Jerusalem, and the bridges, they have instituted baths.’ Rabbi Simeon
Jews were at the point of revolt until a sensible Ro- ben Yohai answered, ‘All that they have instituted
man official refused to implement the order. In 66 they have instituted only for their own needs. They
c.e., Jewish dissatisfaction with Roman rule broke have instituted market places to place harlots in
into open rebellion. Four years later, Titus, the son of them, baths for their own pleasure, bridges to collect
the emperor Vespasian, captured and sacked Jeru- toll.’” Whether they admired the Romans or not,
salem, destroying the Jewish Temple. Many Jews fled Jews were living in a Roman world. And some Jews
Palestine and settled elsewhere in the empire, adding
to the continuing Jewish Diaspora. Following Jewish
uprisings in Egypt and Palestine in 117 c.e., the em- rabbi Respected Jewish teacher who decides questions
peror Hadrian introduced anti-Jewish measures that of ritual and law.
included prohibitions on circumcision, reading of the Mishnah Written collection of interpretations of Jewish
the law, and observance of the Sabbath. In 132 c.e., law, compiled ca. 200 c.e.
Hadrian announced his intention to build a temple of Talmud Collection of Jewish teachings that serve as the
Jupiter on the site of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. comprehensive guide to Jewish life.
The Jews revolted again under Simon bar Kochba Halakha Guidelines that specify how Jews relate to
(“son of the star”), whom many Jews believed to be God and people.
the Messiah, and it took the Romans three years to
Religion in the Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity 163
Roman emperors often erected triumphal arches meant to commemorate their achievements. An arch built by
the emperor Titus shows scenes of the Roman sack of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 70 c.e. Here, Roman
soldiers carry off Jewish sacred items including the seven-branched Menorah that was used at Hanukkah to
celebrate the liberation from the Seleucids by the Maccabees. (Scala/Art Resource, NY)
did benefit, for the Jewish interest in commerce de- (or epistles) written by followers of Jesus. From a his-
picted in this passage reflects the unparalleled oppor- torical perspective, the evidence of the New Testa-
tunities to pursue business activities that were open ment is considered to be very reliable.
to Jews in cities throughout the Roman world and be- Jesus of Nazareth was born at the end of the reign
yond that had Jewish communities. of the Jewish king Herod, a time when many Jews
were expecting the arrival of the Messiah, a word
The Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
The most significant religious development of the
Jesus of Nazareth (d. 33 c.e.) Founder of Christianity,
early principate was the appearance of Christianity, a whom Christians believe was the Son of God and the
religion that grew out of Judaism and was based on Jewish Messiah.
the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Knowledge of the New Testament Books of scripture that the Christians
life of Jesus comes mainly from Matthew, Mark, added to the Hebrew Bible.
Luke, and John, the first four books of the New Testa- Apostles Original twelve disciples of Jesus Christ.
ment of the Bible, known collectively as the Gospels. crucifixion Form of execution in which the victim is
The next book, the Acts of the Apostles, discusses the hung from a wooden crossbar and left to die a linger-
activities of Jesus’s disciples after his crucifixion. The ing death; Jesus was crucified.
remainder of the New Testament consists of letters
164 CHAPTER 6 The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.E.–284 C.E.
A sixth-century manuscript from Rossano in Italy shows Jesus on trial before Pontius Pilate. On Pilate’s left,
Jews cry out for the condemnation of Jesus. Pilate disclaims responsibility for his order that Jesus be crucified
by washing his hands. (Scala/Art Resource, NY)
translated into Greek as Christos, or Christ. Accord- dove, and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my
ing to Christian scripture, Jesus’s mother, Mary, had beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’” Jesus then
been told by the angel Gabriel that even though she began to take his message to the people. He gathered
was a virgin, she would conceive by the Holy Spirit twelve disciples from varying backgrounds who ac-
and give birth to the Son of God. Mary thus already cepted him as their rabbi. Several, such as Peter, were
was pregnant when she married Joseph, a distant de- fishermen. Matthew was a tax collector and thus dis-
scendant of King David and a carpenter in the town liked by many people. Simon belonged to the Zealots,
of Nazareth. Christian tradition placed the birth of a group that advocated the violent overthrow of
Jesus on December 25 in a stable in the town of Beth- the Romans.
lehem. Jesus’s humble origins also were indicated by
his early life as a carpenter.
When he was about thirty years old, Jesus was
baptized in the Jordan River by his cousin John the Christ (from Greek “Christos,” or “anointed”) The
Baptist, a Jewish holy man whom some Jews had al- Greek translation of the Hebrew word for the messiah,
ready identified as the Messiah. The book of Luke and the name given to Jesus of Nazareth.
said of Jesus, “The Holy Spirit descended on him as a
Religion in the Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity 165
For the following three years, Jesus traveled about disciples, Judas, to identify him, and on that night Je-
Palestine, teaching in synagogues like any Jewish sus was arrested and questioned by the Sanhedrin.
rabbi and also preaching in the streets. He carried his Witnesses testified that Jesus had blasphemed against
message not just to the rich and educated but also to God, a capital crime under Jewish law. But only the
the poor and oppressed. He taught that the kingdom Roman governor had the authority to impose the
of God was open to all equally, including people death penalty, so on Friday Jesus was brought before
who were customarily looked down on, such as pros- Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect, or governor, of Ju-
titutes and tax collectors. He also taught that the daea, who sentenced Jesus to death. Because Jesus
kingdom of God was coming quickly and that people was not a Roman citizen, he was subjected to the hu-
needed to prepare themselves for it. People of high miliating punishment of crucifixion. He died that
social status would not have any special privileges, as evening and was buried in the tomb of one of his fol-
indicated by Jesus’s lesson that it was easier for a lowers. Two days later, on Sunday, the Gospels report
camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich that Jesus rose from the dead. In the book of Matthew,
man to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus recom- Jesus appeared to his disciples and commanded
mended that the rich should give their wealth to the them, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” thus
poor. He taught that the old Jewish covenants of making it clear that his message was to be delivered
Abraham and Moses with Yahweh now were replaced not just to Jews but to all the people in the world.
with a new covenant based on faith in the grace of Forty days after his resurrection, his followers be-
God. As a demonstration of the power of God, he per- lieved, Jesus rose to heaven.
formed miracles such as changing water into wine,
expelling demons, curing the sick, and raising the
dead. Many of the most important points of Jesus’s Early Christian Communities
teachings appear in his Sermon on the Mount, deliv- After Jesus’s death, his followers, who were known
ered on a hillside to his disciples and a large crowd. as Christians, or the followers of Jesus the Christ, con-
Jesus made clear his message of peace and love, say- tinued to proselytize—that is, to seek converts—for
ing, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love his teachings. The spread of Christianity was helped
your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, by three factors. First and foremost, Christianity met
love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do spiritual and social needs that other religions failed to
good to those who hate you, and pray for those who address. Second, it attracted gifted adherents who
spitefully use you and persecute you.” Unlike other were able to communicate its message and convince
Jewish popular leaders, however, and consistent with polytheists to convert. And third, it arose at a time
his message of peace, Jesus did not preach rebellion. when travel was easy and religious ideas could
When asked whether it was proper for Jews to pay spread among multitudes of people. Initially, efforts
taxes to the Romans, Jesus responded, “Give to Cae- at conversion were directed mainly at Jews, but this
sar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things changed under the leadership of Paul of Tarsus, also
that are God’s,” thus clearly expressing his teaching known as Saul. A Jewish Pharisee and also a Roman
that the world of God was separate from the world citizen, Paul originally had persecuted the Christians
of politics. and had stood by when Stephen, the first Christian
Those who believed Jesus’s message saw him not martyr, was stoned to death by Jews in Jerusalem.
only as the Messiah but also as the Son of God, but While on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians,
many Jews, especially Jewish leaders, saw him as a Paul had a vision in which Christ said to him, “Saul,
dangerous revolutionary. In the third year of his min- Saul, why do you persecute me?”, causing Paul to
istry, around the year 33 c.e., Jesus entered Jerusalem convert to Christianity and become one of its greatest
a few days before Passover, a Jewish spring holy day
that commemorates the Exodus. Many Jews hailed
him as the Messiah, causing the Sanhedrin, which grace The gift of God by which people receive
oversaw Jewish religious and civil administration, to salvation.
feel threatened by his increasing influence and to plot prefect Equestrian military and tax collection official,
against him. Jesus foresaw his own death, and called or a governor of a small province.
his disciples together for a meal. He distributed to proselytize To recruit new members actively for an or-
them bread and wine, which he told them to interpret ganization or belief.
as his body and blood, saying, “This is my blood of martyr (Greek for “witness”) One who suffers for his
the new covenant, which is shed for many for the re- or her faith.
mission of sins.” The Sanhedrin bribed one of Jesus’s
166 CHAPTER 6 The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.E.–284 C.E.
promoters. Paul convinced the Christians of Jerusalem ments, rituals that symbolized the bestowing of
that Gentiles (non-Jews) who converted to Christianity God’s grace. One was baptism, which Christians be-
should not be required to follow the Jewish laws, lieved washed away their past sins. Some Christians
which would have required circumcision and adher- felt that people should wait to be baptized until they
ence to a multitude of dietary and other restrictions. were old enough to profess their faith publicly; but
The primary requirement of converts was that they others thought that infants should be immediately
have faith in Christ, an emphasis that allowed Chris- baptized because even they were tainted with the
tians to deliver their message to all the peoples of the original sin of Adam and Eve, who had disobeyed
empire and beyond. God’s command not to eat the fruit of the tree of
Paul tirelessly spread Christ’s teachings throughout knowledge in Eden. The other sacrament was the Eu-
the Roman world, preaching that in the Christian charist, also known as Communion, a distribution of
world, there was “no Gentile and Jew, no circumcised bread and wine based on Christ’s Last Supper with
and uncircumcised, no barbarian and Scythian, no his disciples. By taking Communion with each other,
slave and free freeman, but Christ in all things.” Dur- Christians shared their sense of community in God’s
ing the 40s and 50s c.e., Paul visited Anatolia, Greece, grace. The worst punishment that could be inflicted on
and the Levant. He pursued his mission not just with a Christian was excommunication, denial of the right
visits, but also with letters—addressed to peoples such to take Communion with other Christians. Christians
as the Galatians, the Hebrews, and even the Romans— who repented of sins committed after baptism were
in which he clarified the nature of Christian belief and expected to confess them publicly before the other
the Christian life. Several of his letters later were incor- members of the Christian community. The penance
porated into the New Testament. In the late 50s c.e., that Christians performed to atone for their sins also
Paul was accused of plotting revolt and was arrested. was performed publicly. In this way, a sinner was
He exercised his right as a Roman citizen to appeal his reintegrated into the Christian community.
case to the emperor and was transported to Rome, Christianity prospered earliest in urban environ-
where he continued to preach. According to Christian ments for several reasons. The communal nature of
tradition, he eventually was tried, found guilty, and early Christianity required a sufficiently large popu-
beheaded, an execution that befitted a Roman citizen. lation, not found in the countryside. Cities also had
Early Christians felt that Christianity offered them diverse and often rootless populations looking for
a much greater feeling of personal identity and spiri- spiritual fulfillment. In cities, the Christian refusal to
tual fulfillment than the polytheistic religions. Like participate in traditional Roman religious practices
the mystery religions, Christianity promised an after- did not attract as much attention as it would have in
life, but it also offered much more. Christians be- the countryside. In addition, the Jewish communities
lieved that Christ died to gain forgiveness for their from which Christians often came were located in
sins. But they also believed it was their Christian duty cities. The fact that early Christians often competed
to try not to sin, for Christianity offered a moral code with Jews for converts may be one reason why the
according to which they were expected to live. The writers of the Gospels placed the blame for Christ’s
Christian message that all were equal in the sight of death not on the Romans but on the Jews, a conse-
God regardless of wealth or social rank gave Chris- quence of which has been centuries of antisemitism.
tianity a degree of inclusivity that made it popular Many Roman cities, especially in the east, gained
among less privileged people such as slaves, women, Christian communities during the first few centuries
and the poor. Christianity also provided a sense of of the principate. Christian congregations in each city
community, for along with offering the opportunity
for private spirituality, Christianity also had a com-
munal side. Christians met together to worship, very Apocalypse The revealing of Jesus as the Messiah, a
reference to the Second Coming of Christ, also known
often in someone’s house. Unlike Jewish synagogue
as Judgment Day.
meetings, which favored men, men and women par-
original sin Sin committed by Adam and Eve when
ticipated together in early Christian worship services. they disobeyed God’s command not to eat from the
Christian communities supported the poor, elderly, tree of knowledge.
and sick. Early Christians also lived in the expecta- excommunication The denial of Communion to a
tion that Christ soon would return. They believed Christian; later, the exclusion from other Christian
that this Second Coming, also known as the Apoca- sacraments as well.
lypse and Judgment Day, would bring the kingdom antisemitism Racial, religious, or ethnic hostility
of God and the destruction of the earthly world. directed against Jews.
The early Christian church recognized two sacra-
Religion in the Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity 167
were under the overall authority of a male bishop. gods still were liable to execution. On other occasions,
Christians believed that their bishops received their Christians were harshly treated. The historian Tacitus
authority by apostolic succession—that is, by being reports that in 64 c.e., a great fire incinerated a section
the direct successors to the Apostles of Christ. Lower- of Rome where the emperor Nero had wanted to build
ranking Christian clergy included priests, who over- a new palace. When suspicions arose that Nero him-
saw spiritual matters, administered sacraments, and self had ordered the fire to be set, he blamed the Chris-
mediated between God and the congregation, and tians, and many were executed in what came to be
deacons, who initially could be either male or female known as their first persecution. Christians also were
and whose duties included managing church prop- persecuted in other parts of the empire at other times.
erty, caring for the poor, and overseeing the instruc- In 250 c.e., for example, the emperor Decius proposed
tion of new converts. The first Christian communities to use religion to reunify the empire. He ordered all
had little contact with each other. They often used dif- citizens to revalidate their loyalty by sacrificing at the
ferent scriptures, had different rituals, and based their altar of the imperial cult. Many Christians were mar-
practices as much on oral tradition as on written texts. tyred when they refused to sacrifice, although others
did sacrifice and later were accused by other Chris-
The Christians in the Roman World tians of apostasy, or abandoning their faith.
Convicted Christians often were sentenced to die in
At first, the Romans took little notice of the Christians the arena because they were noncitizens and therefore
and had difficulty distinguishing Christians from not entitled to a more honorable form of execution,
Jews. But it soon became clear that there were differ- such as decapitation. Those who were executed be-
ences. Christians, for example, met not on the Jewish came martyrs and were revered for having died for
Sabbath (Saturday) but on “the day of the Sun” (Sun- their faith. Many martyrs also became saints, who
day). Like the Jews, the Christians refused to worship lived model Christian lives and were believed to have
other gods—a potential problem, for the imperial gov- the power to intercede with God. Two early martyrs
ernment saw participation in the cult of Rome and Au- and saints were the Apostles Peter and Paul, executed
gustus as the test for loyalty to the state. Jews were in Rome during the reign of Nero. Items associated
exempt from participation, but Christians were not. with martyrs, such as their bones and clothing, were
Normally, only high-ranking dignitaries were expected called relics and were thought to possess miraculous
to sacrifice during cult rites, so Christians rarely had to powers. The official court records of Christians’ trials
worry about being tested. But if Christians were ac- sometimes were preserved and later served as the basis
cused of atheism (not believing in the gods) or dis- for biographies known as “lives of the saints,” which
loyalty, they could be ordered to sacrifice. If they provided models for Christian behavior. One well-
refused, they could be found guilty of treason and ex- known such biography, that of Vibia Perpetua, in-
ecuted. Because Christianity was different from other cluded her own autobiographical account of the events
religions, misconceptions arose among the general leading up to her martyrdom at Carthage in 202 c.e.
public. Unlike polytheists, Christians worshiped in
private, out of the public view, leading to suspicions
that they were a secret society engaged in subversive bishop Leader of the Christian community in a city.
activities. It also was thought that Christians were can- apostolic succession Belief that Christian bishops
nibals because they ate the flesh and drank the blood receive their authority by being direct successors to
Jesus’s Apostles.
of their god (a misunderstanding of the sacrament of
Communion) and that they practiced incest because deacons Christian clerics responsible for overseeing
church finances and carrying out good works of the
they called each other “brother” and “sister.” church.
When the Roman government noticed the Chris- persecution The seeking out and punishing of Chris-
tians at all, it sometimes was tolerant. In 111 c.e., for tians by the imperial government.
example, Pliny the Younger, a Roman governor in Decius (r. 249–251 c.e.) Roman emperor who sought to
Anatolia, consulted the emperor Trajan about how to reunify the empire by ordering all citizens to sacrifice
deal with Christians. Trajan replied, “These people at the altar of the imperial cult.
must not be hunted out; if they are brought before you apostasy A Christian’s denial of his or her faith.
and the charge against them is proved, they must be saint (from Latin, “holy”) Christian martyr believed to
punished, but anyone who denies that he is a Chris- be able to intercede with God.
tian, and makes this clear by offering prayers to our relics Pieces of the bodies or clothing of saints, thought
gods, is to be pardoned.” Even in Trajan’s lenient pol- to possess miraculous powers.
icy, Christians who refused to sacrifice to the state
168 CHAPTER 6 The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.E.–284 C.E.
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Vibia Perpetua Records the Events Leading to
Her Martyrdom
Vibia Perpetua was a young Christian woman of Carthage in North Africa. In 202
C.E. she was arrested, convicted of being a Christian, and sentenced to fight wild
animals in the arena. Her first-person account of the events leading up to her
martyrdom on March 7, 203 C.E.—including her trial before the Roman procurator
and several visions she had during the course of her imprisonment—is preserved in
The Passion of Sts. Perpetua and Felicitas, from which the following selection is
taken. The following day Perpetua was sent into the arena to die. When a mad
cow failed to kill her, she guided the executioner’s sword to her throat with her
own hand. Her account then provided a model for later Christians for how to live
their lives.
Another day we were suddenly snatched away to be tried; and we came to the
forum and a very great multitude gathered together. We went up to the tribunal.
The others being asked if they were Christians, confessed. So they came to me.
➜ What kinds of pressures And my father appeared there also, with my son, and tried to draw me from the
are put on Perpetua to step, saying, “Perform the sacrifice; have mercy on the child.” ➜ And Hilarian the
sacrifice? procurator said: “Spare your father’s gray hairs; spare the infancy of the boy. Make
sacrifice for the emperors’ prosperity.” And I answered, “I am a Christian.” Then
Hilarian passed sentence on us all and condemned us to the beasts; and cheerfully
➜ What role did dreams play we went down to the dungeon. ➜ The day before we fought, I saw in a vision
in the ancient world? that Pomponius the deacon had come to the door of the prison and knocked hard
on it. And I opened to him, and he said to me: “Perpetua, we await you; come.”
And he took my hand, and we went through rugged and winding places. At last
➜ Does Perpetua show any he led me into the arena. And he said to me: “Be not afraid.” And he went away.
fear? Why or why not? And I saw many people watching closely. ➜ And because I knew that I was con-
demned to the beasts I marveled that beasts were not sent out against me. And
there came out against me a repulsive Egyptian, to fight with me. Also there came
➜ Why does Perpetua see to me comely young men as my helpers. ➜ And I was stripped naked, and I be-
herself as a male gladiator? came a man. And my helpers rubbed me with oil as their custom is for a contest.
And there came forth a man of very great stature, wearing a purple robe and
holding a green branch on which were golden apples. And he besought silence
and said: “If this woman shall conquer the Egyptian, she shall receive this branch.”
And he went away. And we came close to each other. The Egyptian tried to trip up
my feet, but with my heels I smote his face. And I rose up into the air and began
so to smite him. And I caught his head, and he fell on his face; and I trod on his
head. And I went up to the master of gladiators and received the branch. And he
➜ What does the “Gate of kissed me and said to me: “Daughter, peace be with you.” ➜ And I began to go
Life” signify? with glory to the gate called the Gate of Life. And I awoke; and I understood that I
should fight, not with beasts but against the devil; but I knew that mine was the
victory. Thus far I have written this, till the day before the games; but as for the
deed of the games themselves let him write who will.”
Source: Excerpt from “Vibia Perpetua Records the Events Leading to Her Martyrdom,” W. H. Shewring,
trans., The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity (London: Sheed & Ward, 1931). Reproduced by kind permission
of Continuum International Publishing Group.
The Roman Empire in Crisis, 193–284 C.E. 169
➜
In what ways did the principate no longer work in the
third century C.E,?
➜
How did the army contribute to the empire’s instability?
sometimes were hired. These soldiers had little in in another drain on the treasury. In some cases, em-
common with their cultured senatorial commanders perors appointed caretakers to oversee a city’s finances,
and were much more difficult to control. They were thus increasing the size of the imperial bureaucracy.
less interested in defending the idea of Rome than in There also were problems with tax collection, which
seeking personal gain. traditionally had been in the hands of the decurions.
The last emperor of the Severan dynasty was Shortfalls, which occurred more and more often, had
Severus Alexander (r. 222–235 c.e.), only thirteen years to be made up by the decurions from their own re-
old at the time he came to power. He was much too sources. In addition, philanthropy by decurions that
young to rule on his own, and the government there- in the past had been optional, such as sponsoring
fore was in the hands of his aunt and mother, both entertainments, by the third century c.e. had become
named Julia, who both received the title of augusta. mandatory. As a consequence, being a decurion
This was the closest that Rome ever came to being sometimes no longer was the great honor it once
ruled by women. Alexander’s mother attended meet- had been, and the emperors were in danger of losing
ings of the Senate and attempted to restore its author- local support.
ity to counteract the growing influence of the army.
The Imperial Crisis
The Ruin of the Roman Economy
In 235, the unruly army murdered Severus Alexan-
Septimius Severus was said to have advised his two der, marking the beginning of one of the most disas-
sons, “Treat the soldiers well, and despise everybody trous periods in Roman history, the imperial crisis.
else.” He followed his own advice by granting the For several reasons, armies throughout the empire
soldiers additional privileges. He allowed them to went out of control and began naming their com-
marry while still in service—making them happier manders as emperors. First, the uncultured soldiers
but also less mobile, for they became reluctant to just could not be effectively commanded by cultured
serve far from home. He also raised military salar- senators. In addition, because their salaries had be-
ies from 300 to 500 denarii a year. His son Caracalla come virtually worthless, their only meaningful pay
(r. 211–217 c.e.) followed suit and increased military became the gold donatives received when a new
pay to 750 denarii per year. The treasury did not have emperor was named, a situation that naturally en-
nearly enough income to meet these increases. couraged them to make new emperors. Armies aban-
To deal with the financial crisis, the emperors de- doned their frontier posts and marched on Rome to
based the money—that is, they mixed copper in with try to defeat the current emperor and force the Senate
the silver. Soon the coins were only 50 percent silver, to recognize their candidate. No emperor was able
and their value fell accordingly. In addition, more to get the army back under control or to establish a
than twice as many coins as usual were being poured new dynasty.
into circulation every year. As the value of the coins The borders could not have been left unguarded at
decreased and the money supply increased, the cost a worse time, for several powerful enemies were
of goods and services went up, resulting in runaway menacing the frontiers. Germanic peoples north of
inflation. To make matters even worse, people hoarded the Rhine had coalesced into larger, more formidable
the old all-silver coins and used the new debased coalitions, the Franks (“swordsmen”) on the lower
ones to pay their taxes. Thus, every year when the in- Rhine and the Alamanni (“all men”) on the upper
coming coins were melted down, there was less and Rhine. The Goths, a Germanic people living north of
less silver with which to mint new coins. In repeated the Black Sea, threatened Roman provinces on the
cycles of debasement and inflation, the silver coinage Danube. And in the east, the Parthians were over-
lost almost all its value. By 260 c.e., the amount of sil-
ver in the coinage had fallen to 5 percent, and the
salaries of the soldiers, rather than being increased, augusta (feminine form of “augustus”) Title given to
became virtually worthless. imperial women.
Financial catastrophe also hit the cities, many of imperial crisis Period of civil war and foreign inva-
which had been misspending and overspending as a sions, between 235 and 284 c.e.
consequence of poor management. Some cities had Franks, Alamanni, and Goths Barbarian peoples who
begun massive building projects, such as new aque- threatened Rome’s northern frontier in the third cen-
ducts and amphitheaters, that they could not pay for. tury c.e.
The emperors often made up the difference, resulting
The Roman Empire in Crisis, 193–284 C.E. 171
New Persian kings advertised their achievements on a large scale. In this rock carving from Naqsh-e Rostam in
Iran, the captured Roman emperor Valerian begs for mercy from King Shapur I, who had captured Valerian in
260 C.E. Valerian spent the rest of his life as a slave of the New Persians. (Ancient Art and Architecture Collection)
thrown in 227 c.e. by the Persians, who created the troops, began to get the army back under control and
New Persian Empire and proposed to reestablish the put the empire back together. Aurelian (r. 270–275 c.e.),
Persian Empire of the fifth century b.c.e. The Persians who gained the nickname “the Restorer of the World,”
laid claim to Egypt, Palestine, and Anatolia, resulting drove the Goths and other invaders back across the
in an immediate state of war with the Roman Empire. Danube. In the east, he defeated Queen Zenobia of
All these foreign enemies were eager to take advan- the desert city of Palmyra, who had declared her
tage of Roman weakness. independence and seized several Roman provinces.
Disaster followed on disaster. The Franks, Ala- Palmyra was destroyed, and the proud queen was
manni, and Goths broke through the frontier defenses taken captive. The Gallic empire capitulated without
and ravaged the heart of the empire. In 251 c.e., the a fight. The empire now was on the road to recovery.
emperor Decius was killed by the Goths, an event In 284 another soldier emperor came to throne and
that the Christians interpreted as the judgment of definitively ended the imperial crisis.
God against this persecuting emperor. The New Per-
sians invaded the eastern provinces and captured
and enslaved a Roman emperor. The provinces of
New Persian Empire Eastern empire extending from
Gaul, Spain, and Britain broke away and established Mesopotamia to Iran that succeeded the Parthian
their own empire. Then, just as it seemed that the em- Empire in 227 c.e.
pire was about to collapse, emperors known as the soldier emperors Emperors during the latter part im-
soldier emperors, who had risen through the ranks perial crisis who had risen through the ranks in the
in the army and then been made emperor by their army and been made emperor by their troops.
172 CHAPTER 6 The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.E.–284 C.E.
In what ways was the Roman Empire successful or numbers of people, and it attracted converts who
unsuccessful during the principate?
were effectively able to spread its message. There
➜
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
From Roman Gladiators to Boxing and Wrestlemania
The practice of ritual fighting to the death arose among the Etruscans as a means of appeasing underworld
demons. The Romans copied it, and the first gladiators appeared in Rome in 264 B.C.E. at a senator’s fu-
neral. As a form of mock warfare, gladiatorial combats found a ready audience among the Romans, who
were raised on stories of military bloodletting. During the empire, gladiators were the most popular enter-
tainers in the Roman world, and many cities had their own gladiatorial teams. Some gladiatorial shows
were truly spectacular: the emperor Trajan sponsored games with ten thousand combatants.
Gladiators were recruited from slaves, war captives, condemned criminals, and even freeborn persons—
including senators, equestrians, and women—looking for fame and excitement. They swore an oath “to be
Websites 173
burned, bound, beaten, and killed by the sword.” Gladiators were classified according to their weapons.
For example, some fought from chariots; some were armed like Gauls and wore large helmets decorated
with a fish; and others were equipped with a net and trident. Female gladiators fought as Amazons, the
female warriors of Greek legend.
If a gladiator was badly wounded, the crowd screamed “Hoc habet!” (“He’s had it!”). If they turned their
thumbs down, he was put to the sword, but if thumbs went up, he lived. Most combats did not end in
death—after all, gladiators were expensive to train and maintain. An individual gladiator might fight only
two or three times a year. Victorious gladiators were the sports heroes of their day. They enjoyed lengthy
periods of leisure, receiving hero worship from the crowd, access to good food, and other forms of pleasure
before training for their next combat. It was not uncommon for enslaved gladiators to be set free by popu-
lar demand after just a few victories.
The spirit of Roman gladiators lives on in many modern-day sports. Boxing matches often end with one or
both contestants bloody and battered and the bloodthirsty crowd screaming for more. But for showman-
ship, the closest modern equivalent to gladiatorial contests would be professional wrestling spectaculars,
where the crowd likewise screams for blood, but where—as must have been the case with many Roman
gladiatorial matches—the fighting is well choreographed, with little real danger to the participants.
Suggested Readings
Balsdon, John P. V. D. Romans and Aliens. Chapel Hill: Univer- of California Press, 1987. A study of the Roman Empire from the
sity of North Carolina Press, 1979. The role played by non- perspective of economic, social, and cultural development.
Romans in the evolution of Roman society. Millar, Fergus. The Emperor in the Roman World (31 B.C.–A.D.
Cary, Max, and Howard H. Scullard. A History of Rome Down 337). Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1992. The signifi-
to the Reign of Constantine. 3rd. ed. New York: Bedford/St. cance of the emperor for the evolution of the government of the
Martin’s Press, 1976. A massive and detailed standard survey Roman Empire.
of the full extent of Roman history. Webster, Graham. The Roman Imperial Army of the First and
Dodds, Eric R. Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety: Some Second Centuries A.D. 3rd ed. Norman: University of Okla-
Aspects of Religious Experience from Marcus Aurelius to homa Press, 1998. The role played by the Roman army in the
Constantine. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. A first two centuries of the empire.
discussion of the social, cultural, and emotional aspects of Whittaker, C. R. Frontiers of the Roman Empire: A Social and
the period when Christianity and paganism had their greatest Economic Study. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
conflict. 1994. An important study that emphasizes the role played by
Garnsey, Peter, and Richard Saller. The Roman Empire: Econ- frontier peoples in the development of Roman politics and
omy, Society, and Culture. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University culture.
Websites
On the role played by Roman coinage, Roman Numismatics, More than one thousand photographs of artifacts related to the
Art History, and Archaeology, at www.romancoins.info Roman Empire, The Roman Empire, at www3.flickr.com/
Detailed biographies of all the Roman emperors, including photos/44124324682@N01/sets/31666
maps and battle summaries, De Imperatoribus Romanis (On
the Rulers of Rome), at www.roman-emperors.org
174
CHAPTER
Late Antiquity, 284–527
CHAPTER OUTLINE
GERMANY VANDALS
D n ie
p er
e
CISALPINE GAUL .
PANNONIA DACIA
Rhô
Danu
Eb Po Milan be
NARBONESE GAUL Ravenna DA Black Sea
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LM
Marseilles A Adrianople
T
A
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SPAIN at
er
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Sea
175
176 CHAPTER 7 Late Antiquity, 284–527
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Constantine Decides to Become
a Christian
Fourth-century Christian historians report that during a civil war in the
year 312, the emperor Constantine pondered which god could bring
him victory. In the course of his soul searching, he received signs he
believed were divine revelations. One afternoon, he saw a cross of
light above the sun, accompanied by Greek words “In this sign you
shall conquer.” Those with him claimed to have seen the same sign.
Then, the night before a crucial battle, an angel came to Constantine
in a dream and commanded him to have his soldiers place on their
shields a sign made of the overlapping Greek letters X (chi) and P (rho).
Constantine obeyed, and the next day his army was victorious. Every-
one thought that the signs came from a powerful god. The cross was
seen as the cross on which Jesus had been crucified, and the chi-rho
sign, a symbol later known as the Christogram, was interpreted as the
first two letters in the Greek spelling of Christ’s name. Thereafter, Con-
Constantine
stantine showed great favor to Christianity. He became the first Christian emperor;
Raised to worship the sun, and Christianity became the dominant religious, cultural, social, and even political
Constantine became Roman force in the Mediterranean world.
emperor when Christianity The choice to support the Christian religion could not have been easy for Con-
was a persecuted religion. stantine. He had been raised as a worshiper of the unconquered sun, a militaristic
Soon afterward, he began to sun god who was viewed as the only true god. Constantine’s family had a long
support Christianity. Several tradition of military service. A profession of Christianity, with its command to
stories circulated about why “love your enemies,” was the last thing one would expect of a soldier. In his
Constantine had made this youth, Constantine had served at the court of the emperor Diocletian, who later
decision. Some believed he had done his best to eradicate Christianity. When Constantine became emperor in
had received signs directly 306, Christianity still was a persecuted religion, and Constantine would have been
from God, as seen in this legally responsible for enforcing the persecution. Most of the wealthy and impor-
fresco of ca. 1500 in the tant people of the empire, whose support Constantine particularly needed, were
papal palace in Rome by polytheists. No one would have suspected that someone with this background and
Raphael Sanzio showing working in this environment would have turned to Christianity.
Constantine seeing a vision The question of what made Constantine suddenly abandon past tradition and
of the Christian cross in the political good sense to embrace Christianity is difficult to answer. His earlier belief
sky. (Scala/Art Resource, NY) in the sun god had made him sympathetic to the belief in a single god, and he no
doubt was familiar with the popular belief that Christians were sun worshipers.
Conceptually, then, it would have been but a small step for him to adopt Chris-
tianity. In addition, Constantine realized that the traditional worship of the old
Roman gods simply did not arouse the kind of commitment that it had in the past.
He also saw the potential for Christianity to provide a unifying element for the
Roman world that the old imperial cult no longer could offer. When it came to
manifesting his Christian beliefs, however, Constantine sensibly realized that he
had to be careful not to offend too many people, especially powerful senators
devoted to worshiping the old Roman gods. As a consequence, Constantine ini-
The Restoration of the Roman Empire, 284–337 177
tially did not make his religions preferences obvious. For example, when he
erected an arch of triumph in Rome, he attributed his victory to “the will of the
divinity,” without specifying which divinity. He also waited until he was on his
deathbed to be baptized as a Christian, leading some to suggest he was not a
committed Christian, although it was common at the time for Christians to delay
baptism until the last moment in the belief that a person would then die without
sin and go directly to heaven. If Constantine had not decided to become a Chris-
tian, and if the Roman government had continued to suppress Christianity, west-
ern civilization would have taken a different course. Later, because of his support
for Christianity, he was called Constantine the Great.
the Middle Ages. Whereas the principate was a time What did Diocletian and Constantine do to try to restore
order in the Roman Empire?
of social, political, and cultural stability and unifor-
➜
Chronology
284 Diocletian becomes emperor 395 Roman Empire splits into eastern and western
halves
303 Great Persecution begins
406 Barbarians cross Rhine River
306 Constantine becomes emperor
410 Alaric and the Visigoths sack Rome
312 Constantine defeats Maxentius at Battle of Milvian
Bridge 437 Theodosius II issues Theodosian Code
313 Edict of Milan grants religious freedom to Christians 451 Romans defeat Huns at Battle of Chalons; Council
of Chalcedon condemns the Monophysites
325 Nicene Creed states official Christian beliefs
476 Western Roman Empire falls
337 Constantine is baptized a Christian
481 Clovis becomes king of Franks
364 Valentinian I becomes emperor
489 Ostrogoths invade Italy
378 Visigoths defeat Romans at Battle of Adrianople
527 Justinian becomes Byzantine emperor
387 Augustine baptized as a Christian
tunities for senators to hold high-ranking govern- participation in the imperial cult could be used to
ment posts, especially military ones. He divided up unify the empire. But this belief brought him into
possible sources of power. He split the army by conflict with Christianity, which rejected participa-
pulling the most able troops back from the border tion in the imperial cult and which Diocletian there-
and creating a mobile field army stationed in the inte- fore saw as a direct threat to the well-being of the
rior, leaving the remaining troops as a border army empire, all the more so because Christianity now at-
guarding the frontier. He separated civil careers from tracted not just less privileged persons but also sol-
military careers so provincial governors did not com- diers and even the occasional senator. As a result,
mand troops and generals did not govern provinces. Diocletian began in 303 what became known as the
By subdividing the provinces, he increased their num- Great Persecution. Christians were ordered to sacri-
ber from fifty to one hundred, thereby decreasing the fice in the imperial cult or die. Some Christians actu-
power of each governor. These subdivisions of au- ally were executed, especially in the east, and were
thority helped end the cycle of revolts but also greatly added to the growing catalogue of Christian martyrs.
increased costs. Soon there were approximately 40,000 But in most parts of the empire, the orders were ig-
officials on the imperial payroll, and the army had a nored. Christianity by now had become too popular
paper strength of about 450,000. and widespread to be eliminated.
Once Diocletian had solidified his authority over
the army and the government, he turned his attention The Rise of Constantine
to the economy. Tax income had been reduced be-
cause farms in border areas had been abandoned ow- Believing that the empire was too large and complex
ing to the constant warfare. In addition, the debased to be governed by a single emperor, Diocletian di-
silver coinage was virtually worthless; soldiers com- vided it into four parts and appointed three of his
plained that their entire annual salary was used up army colleagues as co-emperors. Doing so created the
on one small purchase. Taxes paid in these coins were Tetrarchy, shown in Table 7.1. Two emperors, Diocle-
hardly worth collecting. There was not enough gold tian and Maximian, had the rank of augustus (senior
and silver in the treasury to issue good gold and sil- emperor) in the eastern and western halves of the em-
ver coins, so in an attempt to make the money worth pire, respectively, whereas the other two, Galerius and
something again, Diocletian issued a large copper Constantius, were their junior emperors and had the
coin coated with silver. No one, however, was fooled. title of caesar. To create family ties among themselves
He then tried to restore value to the money by issuing and cement their alliance, the emperors married one
a law that set maximum prices for goods and ser- another’s daughters. Constantius, for example, was
vices, but the law was blatantly disregarded. compelled to dismiss his concubine Helena to marry
Diocletian finally recognized that the value of the Maximian’s daughter Fausta. Each emperor’s court,
money could not be restored, so he required that the consisting of his household, chief officials, and body-
land tax be paid in produce rather than in the worth- guard, accompanied him wherever he went. The mul-
less coinage. A farmer, for example, paid roughly 20 tiple emperors dealt effectively with matters of internal
percent of a harvest as taxes. Sheep owners paid in and external security. Maximian, for example, crushed
wool; the owners of iron mines paid in iron. Food- rebellious peasants in the west, and Galerius defeated
stuffs and other raw materials were gathered into im- the New Persians and brought peace to the eastern
perial storehouses, processed in imperial factories, frontier. But it always was clear that Diocletian was in
and used to pay soldiers with food rations, clothing, control. His personal authority forced his three col-
and weapons. A soldier’s only significant monetary leagues to rule peacefully together.
compensation was the donative, which now was is- This system of multiple emperors also gave Dio-
sued in pure gold and silver at five-year intervals. This cletian a way to deal with the imperial succession,
system was cumbersome, requiring an even larger
bureaucracy, but it worked. In a further attempt to
Great Persecution Last official persecution of Chris-
keep the empire going, Diocletian identified compul- tians, begun by Diocletian in 303 and ended by Con-
sory services that had to be performed. These who stantine’s Edict of Milan in 313.
performed these occupations, such as soldiers, bak- Tetrarchy (in Greek, “rule by four”) Four-emperor
ers, decurions, and tenant farmers, were prohibited system established by Diocletian.
from changing jobs, and their children were required Helena (ca. 250–330) Mother of the emperor Constan-
to hold the same jobs. Enforcement of this require- tine who believed she had discovered the cross on
ment, however, proved virtually impossible. which Christ was crucified.
Like earlier emperors, Diocletian believed that
180 CHAPTER 7 Late Antiquity, 284–527
Table 7.1
The Tetrarchy
Augustus Caesar
East Diocletian Galerius
(r. 284–305) (r. 293–311)
(Anatolia, Syria, (the Balkans)
Egypt)
(retired in 305) (promoted to
augustus in 305)
Constantine established a method for choosing em- years, Christianity went from a persecuted religion to
perors on the basis of dynastic succession that proved the only legal religion (aside from Judaism) in the Ro-
to be remarkably stable. Whenever possible, fathers man Empire. Conversions to Christianity, that in the
were succeeded by sons. If an emperor had no sons past would have occurred in an atmosphere of fearful
and the position became vacant, the army had the au- secrecy, now were celebrated with joyous publicity.
thority to acclaim a new emperor. The reigning em- Christianity soon pervaded late Roman culture, soci-
peror or emperors also had the authority to create new ety, and politics.
emperors. The Senates of Rome and Constantinople
had no role in choosing emperors except to deliver
congratulations. Male emperors still bore the title au- Constantine and the Church
gustus, and imperial women could be granted the title Like his predecessors, Constantine believed that reli-
augusta. Women were not constitutionally excluded gion could be used to unify the empire, but he also
from ruling although for more than four hundred and felt that Christianity was a better choice than the im-
fifty years no woman ruled in her own name. perial cult. If Christian support could be acquired, the
Late Roman government was cumbersome, but it organizational structure, standardized doctrine, and
worked. The government had civil and military public services of the Christian church could be mo-
branches. The highest-ranking generals were the mas- bilized on behalf of the empire. Constantine, there-
ters of soldiers, and the chief civil officials were the fore, favored the Christians in various ways, such as
four praetorian prefects. Ranking below them were exempting Christian priests from burdensome ser-
many layers of other officials. The Late Roman Empire, vice on city councils; making Sunday, the Christian
including the emperors themselves, continued to be day of worship, an official day of rest; and forbidding
ruled by law. Emperors preferred to deal with prob- Jews from keeping Christian slaves. At the same time,
lems by issuing laws, many thousands of which sur- social services, such as the care of the sick and poor,
vive. Every word that came from the emperor, even something the emperors had never had the resources
brief replies to questions, had the force of law. All of or resolve to undertake, were delegated to the church.
this legislation makes the Late Empire look like it reg- In addition, Constantine’s support for Christianity al-
ulated all aspects of Roman life, such as who could lowed him to confiscate polytheist temple treasures
marry whom or who could pursue what kind of career. and use the gold to mint his new gold coins and also
In reality, however, emperors were unable to enforce to finance the magnificent churches he constructed in
all these laws, and the laws often were disobeyed. Rome, Constantinople, and elsewhere.
They worked well enough to keep the empire going, But Constantine soon discovered that he had been
but not so well that it became a complete dictatorship. mistaken in assuming the Christians were unified.
When Constantine died in 337, his new succession The Christian community in each Roman city was in
policy went into effect, and the empire was divided many ways an independent enclave under the au-
among his three sons. The empire appeared as sound thority of its bishop. Christians in different parts of
and stable as it had been in the time of Augustus. the empire spoke different languages. There were no
higher-ranking church authorities to enforce unity.
Christians did not even agree on which books be-
The Christian Empire, longed in the Bible. The church was racked by dis-
putes over theology, practices, and authority. To deal
312–415 with these issues, Constantine assumed the responsi-
bility for encouraging, or even compelling, church-
➜
The most troubling Christian conflict of this time role that religion played in their lives. Christianity
involved questions about the nature of the Christian continued to offer the same attractions it had in the
God. In the book of Matthew in the Bible, Jesus told past: a moral code, communal worship services, a
his disciples to baptize “in the name of the Father, and sense of community, economic support, an emphasis
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” This instruction on personal spirituality, and hope of an afterlife. To
gave rise to the understanding that God consisted of this list now was added government preference, which
three persons, known as the Trinity. Conflict over resulted in increasing social and even official pres-
how the three related to each other burst forth in the sure for non-Christians to convert.
320s when an Alexandrian priest named Arius taught Christians also now had the opportunity to seek
that Christ the Son was subordinate to and of a differ- converts more openly than in the past. Conversion
ent nature from God the Father. This teaching became efforts were focused within the empire, where large
known as Arianism. Many others, however, believed numbers of people, especially in the countryside,
that the Father and Son were equal in status and of the clung to the religious practices of their ancestors.
same nature. Constantine, the only one with enough In addition, the senators of Rome, who believed that
authority to settle the dispute, convened an ecumeni- Rome’s past successes were the result of faithfulness
cal church council attended by bishops of cities from to the ancient Roman deities, continued to support tra-
throughout the empire who were told to come up ditional Roman religious practices. Convincing people
with a definition that everyone could agree with. such as these to change their religious identity was
Thus, in 325, 318 bishops assembled at the Council of difficult work. There was little official interest, there-
Nicaea, a city in northwestern Anatolia, and con- fore, in converting foreigners. Conversions of foreign
demned Arianism as a heresy, an illegal belief. The peoples, such as the work of Ulfilas the Goth, usually
bishops issued the Nicene Creed, which stated what were carried out privately. Another private mission-
all Christians were expected to believe and became ary was Patrick, a native of Britain who undertook to
the official statement of faith of the Roman Empire. convert the Irish to Christianity around 430. Not until
The council also adopted for the church an adminis- the sixth century, when most of the rural population
trative hierarchy based on the Roman model. Each of the empire finally had been brought into the Chris-
city in each province was placed under the spiritual tian fold, was formal missionary activity initiated
authority of a bishop and each province under the outside the Roman world.
oversight of a higher-ranking bishop called an arch- There continued to be alternatives to Christianity.
bishop. The bishops of three cities—Alexandria, Anti- Paradoxically, the rise of Christianity led to a mo-
och, and Rome—were given the even higher rank of mentary revival of polytheism. When Constantine’s
patriarch, as were the bishops of Jerusalem and Con- nephew Julian succeeded to the throne in 361, it turned
stantinople soon afterward. The bishop of Rome, the out that he had been a secret sympathizer with polythe-
original capital city of the empire, claimed the greatest ism. He abandoned Christianity and openly worshiped
status of all based on apostolic succession from the the traditional gods, thus gaining the nickname “Julian
apostle Peter, the first bishop of Rome. But many bish- the Apostate.” Julian attempted to weaken Christian in-
ops, including those who had their own apostolic suc- fluence. For example, he prohibited Christian professors
cession, refused to acknowledge this claim.
Constantine’s last official act left a troublesome
legacy, for his deathbed baptism in 337 was carried Trinity The three persons—Father, Son, and Holy
out by an Arian bishop who, in spite of his refusal to Spirit—making up the Christian God.
repudiate his belief, had risen in the emperor’s favor. Arianism Form of Christian belief introduced by the
Shortly after Constantine’s death, Arian bishops gained priest Arius, who taught that Christ the Son was sub-
ordinate to God the Father; condemned at the Council
much influence, and it appeared that Arianism might of Nicaea in 325.
yet triumph. The Goth Ulfilas learned the Arian form
ecumenical Relating to church councils made up of
of Christianity while living in the empire and re- bishops from throughout the Christian world.
turned home to convert many of his people. They and heresy A prohibited form of Christian belief as defined
other barbarian peoples then adopted Arianism. by church councils and the imperial government.
Nicene Creed Standard statement of Christian belief,
The Impact of Christianity issued at the Council of Nicaea in 325 and still recited
in many Christian churches.
The expansion of Christianity in the fourth century Patrick (ca. 385–450) British missionary who brought
induced great personal and spiritual soul searching. Christianity to Ireland.
Many people rethought their religious beliefs and the
184 CHAPTER 7 Late Antiquity, 284–527
from teaching classical literature, arguing that it was worshipers. Mithraism’s appeal was limited, however,
hypocritical to teach about gods in whom one did not by its exclusion of women. In the case of Neoplatonism
believe. He also used the Christian church as a model and Mithraism, the attractiveness of a non-Christian
for an organized polytheist church. But Julian’s efforts belief was influenced by how much it resembled
failed, for Christianity had gained too strong a hold on Christianity, indicating the degree to which Chris-
the devotion of the people. In 363, during an invasion tianity had become the standard by which other reli-
of the New Persian Empire, Julian was killed—some gions were measured.
said by a Christian soldier in his own army. He was the The only non-Christians who successfully retained
last non-Christian ruler of the whole empire. All seri- their ancestral beliefs were the Jews. There still was a
ous hope of imperial support for the old Roman reli- sizable Jewish population in Palestine, overseen by
gion died along with him. the Jewish patriarch. In addition, the Diaspora had
Other non-Christian forms of belief and worship placed Jewish communities in many cities in the em-
continued to attract followers. Neoplatonism, which pire and beyond, including over a million Jews living
had evolved from the teachings of Plato, was the most under New Persian rule in Babylon. Two versions of
influential philosophical teaching of Late Antiquity. It the Talmud were created by the Jews, who valued
viewed the universe as a hierarchy, with earthly mat- scholarship more than any other activity: a Palestinian
ter at the lowest level of existence and a single, imper- one, which was completed in the late fourth century;
sonal, divine principle called “The One” at the highest and a Babylonian one, which was in circulation by
and most distant level. An adherent’s duty was to try around 500 and continues to be the authoritative basis
to leave earthly existence behind and attain a higher for Jewish life. Even though the Christian population
level of consciousness. Neoplatonism’s stress on moral- generally acknowledged the Jews’ right to practice
ity and self-discipline made it attractive to Christians.
On the other hand, the cult of the Persian sun god
Mithras was particularly popular with soldiers. The Neoplatonism Late Roman philosophical belief
cult shared many aspects with Christianity, such as a descending from Plato that taught the existence of a
moral code, group worship, communal meals, and single overall god and stressed morality and self-
baptism (in the blood of a slaughtered bull). Mithras’s discipline.
birthday, December 25, was even adopted by the Mithras Persian sun god popular with the Roman
Christians as the birthday of their own god, giving ad- army.
ditional support to the idea that Christians were sun
The Christian Empire, 312–415 185
Christianity introduced in
Britain by Romans in
3rd century, nearly lost Canterbury
during Anglo-Saxon invasion D on
Vol
Aachen
Cologne ga
Rouen Dnie
ATLANTIC GERMANY
per
e
Paris Reims
n
OCEAN
Rhi
Tours Da
nu
Ca
be
sp
Ligugé
GAUL an
i
Lyons P
GOTHS Se
a
e
CAUC
br LOMBARDS A SU
E
o (6th cen.) SM
Black Sea TS
Cannes
Narbonne Marseilles .
SPAIN Sinope
Toledo Corsica THRACE
Tarragona Nursia ARMENIA
Chalcedon
Rome Constantinople
Córdoba Naples Nicaea
Sardinia ASIA MINOR
Caesarea Ephesus
T ig
Sicily Corinth Athens
ri s
Hippo Regius Antioch
Carthage Syracuse Euph
rate Ctesiphon
s
VANDALS M Crete Rhodes SYRIA
(409–429) edi Cyprus Seleucia
terra Damascus
nean Sea
ARABS
Cyrene Jerusalem
Alexandria
Memphis
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EGYPT
Ni
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0 250 500 Mi. NORTH AFRICA Sea
MAP 7.1 The Spread of Christianity to 600 C.E. During the first six centuries C.E., Christianity spread
throughout the Roman world, with the greatest acceptance of Christianity coming after Constantine
began making it into a favored religion after 312 C.E. Christians and Zoroastrians interacted in the New
Persian Empire.
their religion, sporadic attempts were made to convert vate, communal, and ceremonial elements. Christians
them to Christianity. Roman emperors attempted to also rethought their role in the Roman world. Now
pressure Jews to convert by issuing legislation that that Christianity was becoming a favored religion,
prohibited them from holding government posts, Christians began to treat non-Christians in a more
from making wills, from receiving inheritances, and disparaging manner. They described the believers in
from testifying in court. In 425, the Jewish patriarchate the traditional gods as pagans, a word meaning
was abolished. Few Jews, however, abandoned their “country dwellers”.
faith, and there continued to be a Jewish presence in Eventually nearly everyone in the Roman world,
virtually all the cities of the Roman world. except for the Jews, converted to Christianity. Certain
kinds of behavior were expected of them. Attendance
The Christian Life at Sunday church services was considered an out-
ward demonstration of a Christian’s internal devo-
The imperial acceptance of Christianity brought an tion, and the presence of a church in a city, town, or
end to the old distinction between personal and state
religion. Regardless of whether one was worshiping pagans (from Latin paganus, “country dweller”) Term
privately at home or publicly in church, the same used by Christians to describe participants in tradi-
scriptures were used and the same God was being tional religious practices.
worshiped. Christian worship included personal, pri-
186 CHAPTER 7 Late Antiquity, 284–527
village demonstrated the existence of an active Chris- of the death of Christian martyrs and other holy men
tian community. The simplest kind of church could be and women. Social life increasingly revolved around
a converted house. Churches in cities, on the other the church, with people visiting with one another be-
hand, could be very large. Some were built in the fore and after the service. In these ways, Christianity
shape of a cross, but most were constructed in the differed greatly from paganism, which had no con-
basilica style that in the past had been used for large cept of regular attendance at religious services.
public audience halls. Chapels often were attached to Christians also were expected to live a virtuous pri-
the sides of larger churches and dedicated to particu- vate life. In addition to the three Christian virtues of
lar saints. Churches could be elaborately decorated, faith, hope, and charity (Christian love), Christians
with fine mosaics or frescoes on the walls and marble adopted the Greek and Roman cardinal virtues of
columns. The holiest section, or chancel, was on the temperance, prudence, courage, and justice. Private
east end. The chancel housed the altar and was acces- worship involved prayer and fasting, and Christians
sible only to the clergy and choir. A screen divided the also were expected to perform good works. Christians
chancel from the remainder of the church, or nave, were taught to distribute their wealth to the poor and
where the congregation of men and women stood to to make offerings to the church. Christians also be-
worship. The main entrance was on the west end, lieved that the only acceptable sexual relations were
where a baptismal font, or baptistery, for the perfor- those sanctified by the marriage bond and undertaken
mance of baptisms often was located. Many churches for the procreation of children. Senior Christian clerics,
also had an underground crypt, usually below the
chancel, for burials and the preservation of relics.
Christian church services in Late Antiquity in- chapel Small building or room used for Christian
cluded prayers; readings from scripture; the singing worship, often in association with a larger church.
and chanting of hymns and biblical psalms by both chancel Part of a church containing the altar.
choir and congregation; and sermons by bishops and nave Main part of a church, especially the long, narrow
priests, who often were trained speakers. The church central section.
calendar included saints’ days that marked the date
The Christian Empire, 312–415 187
such as bishops and priests, were expected to give up Christians practiced ascetism, or physical self-denial.
sexual relations even if they were married. Christian ascetics rejected earthly pleasures, such as
Christians continued to live in constant expectation comfortable living quarters, fine food and clothing,
of the Second Coming of Christ. Apocalyptic literature, and sexual relations. The greater self-deprivation one
such as the biblical book of Revelation, attempted to suffered, the greater the degree of holiness and spiri-
predict when the end would come. Some Christians tual authority one was thought to have gained. As
combined the creation of the world in seven days with early as the third century, some Egyptian ascetics gave
the scriptural passage that “every day is like a thou- up all contact with the ordinary world and lived as
sand years” to predict that the Apocalypse would oc- hermits in isolated huts and desert caves, becoming
cur around 400 or 500 c.e. Others thought that sinister the first monks. Other monks soon began living com-
signs would predict the approach of the Apocalypse. munally in monasteries. Male monasteries were di-
For example, Bishop Cyprian of Carthage wrote, “Wars rected by abbots and female monasteries by abbesses.
continue to prevail, death and famine accumulate, the Ascetic and monastic practices soon were adopted in
human race is wasted by the desolation of pestilence. the west by persons such as Martin of Tours, who
The Day of Judgment is now drawing near, the censure in the fourth century abandoned a military career
of an indignant God.” and became a hermit. Some monastic communities
To prepare themselves for the Last Judgment, many attempted to re-create the isolation of the desert,
Christians experienced a second conversion, after whereas others concentrated on performing charita-
which they devoted their lives completely to religion. ble services. Monasticism created an alternate world,
One of these was Augustine, a North African who separated from urban life. Monks also attempted to
was raised as an unbaptized Christian and also re- distance themselves from the authority of bishops,
ceived a classical education based on the traditional who resided in cities, and in this way contributed to a
Greek and Latin authors. Augustine became a suc- decentralization of church authority.
cessful teacher and public speaker but felt there was Famous Christian ascetics, known as holy men
something lacking in his life. In the midst of a spiritual and women, gained great moral and spiritual author-
crisis, he heard a child chanting “Tolle, lege” (“Take ity. Because they distanced themselves from earthly
up and read”). He therefore picked a random spot in concerns and were thought to be in close touch with
the Bible and read, in Paul’s letter to the Romans, God, they were seen as impartial arbitrators, advisers,
“Arm yourself with the lord Jesus Christ; spend no and judges. As a result, women, who were excluded
more thought on nature’s appetites.” Taking this pas- from holding church offices, and unprivileged men
sage as a sign, he committed himself to religion and could have great authority outside the normal channels
was baptized on Easter Day, 387, by Bishop Ambrose of church or government jurisdiction. For example,
of Milan. Augustine’s later account of his conversion, the holy man Simeon, the son of a shepherd, sat ex-
known as the Confessions, is the most important auto- posed to the weather atop a column in northern Syria
biography to survive from antiquity. Augustine later for thirty years and was consulted by rich and poor
was named bishop of Hippo in North Africa and alike on account of his reputation for holiness. And
wrote a great many letters, sermons, theological tracts, Matrona of Constantinople, to escape her abusive
and interpretations of scripture. One of his most im-
portant teachings was that, because humanity was
polluted by the original sin of Adam and Eve, people Augustine Bishop of Hippo in North Africa from 396
could not receive eternal life through their own efforts to 430; one of the most important Christian writers and
but only by receiving God’s gift of grace. Many of Au- thinkers, author of the “City of God”.
gustine’s teachings on the church’s authority, the Ambrose of Milan Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397;
one of the leading teachers of the Christian church;
Christian view of history, and Christian doctrine be-
established Christian authority over Theodosius
came the standard views of the Christian church and the Great.
continue to influence Christian thought. ascetism A life of physical deprivation.
monks (from Greek for “solitary”) Christians who
withdrew from society to live together in monasteries.
Christian Asceticism abbot Head of a male monastery; abbesses were the
and Monasticism heads of female monasteries.
Martin of Tours (ca. 316–397) Soldier who converted
Some Christians believed that to reach a higher level to Christianity, became a monk, and later served as
of spirituality and become closer to God, they had to bishop of Tours.
separate themselves from the everyday world. These
188 CHAPTER 7 Late Antiquity, 284–527
husband, disguised herself as a man and entered a pered among barbarians. But Theodosius angered
male monastery. She later became abbess of a female Ambrose by ordering Christians who had destroyed
monastery and had such great spiritual power that a Jewish synagogue to restore it. Subsequently, Am-
she instructed the emperor on church teaching. brose blamed Theodosius when Roman soldiers in
Greece massacred seven thousand rioting citizens.
The Expansion of Ambrose excommunicated the emperor, and Theodo-
Christian Authority sius was not readmitted to Christian Communion un-
til he had publicly and humbly begged forgiveness
The impact of Christian beliefs and practices was felt from God. The sight of this powerful and determined
everywhere. Christians even asserted that the Roman emperor’s humiliation by an equally powerful and
Empire itself had arisen by the will of God. According determined bishop demonstrated the high status of
to Augustine, “He who is the one true God gave a Christian clerics and the degree to which the church
kingdom to the Romans when He wished. He who was able to act independently of imperial control.
gave power to Augustus gave it also to Nero.” As the Theodosius then issued pro-Christian legislation
Roman Empire became a Christian empire, Christian that culminated in 392 with a law definitively pro-
ideologies made their way into public life. The church hibiting all pagan practices. As a result, Theodosius
used church councils assembled under imperial au- was surnamed the Great by the Christian community,
thority to establish official positions on matters of au- and Christianity became the only legal religion, except
thority, belief, and proper behavior. The canons, or for Judaism, in the Roman Empire. Zealous Chris-
rulings, issued by church councils were collected into tians now persecuted non-Christians, and in 415,
an increasing body of church law known as canon law. Hypatia, the first female head of the school of Neo-
After much debate, an official list of books to be in- platonic philosophy at Alexandria, was assaulted and
cluded in the Christian Bible was agreed on. Some torn limb from limb by a band of fanatical Christians.
books that were excluded, such as the Gospels of Peter Pagan statues were either smashed or “converted” by
and Thomas and the Revelation of Peter, continued to having crosses carved on their foreheads. Many pa-
be used, however, by heretical Christian sects. Around gan temples were demolished, sometimes against
400, the Old and New Testaments were translated violent opposition. Others, such as the Parthenon in
from the original Hebrew and Greek into Latin by the Athens and the Pantheon in Rome, were converted
priest Jerome of Bethlehem in a definitive form known into Christian churches.
as the Vulgate, which gradually replaced earlier ver-
sions of the Latin Bible used by different churches.
What went on in the Roman world came to be
viewed not from a Roman imperial perspective but Late Romans and Their World
from a Christian perspective. Powerful Christian
➜
clerics such as Ambrose of Milan exercised great in- How did late Romans find security and new
opportunities?
fluence even over Roman emperors. Ambrose repre-
➜
Antiquity tended to identify themselves as Gauls, Ital- senators now resided in the provinces, where they
ians, Egyptians, and so on. The empire no longer uni- kept their distance from the emperor. Especially in
fied people as effectively as it once had. Nor did the the west, senators expanded their landholdings, con-
empire protect people as well as before. The govern- solidated their local authority, and pursued a life of
ment issued laws attempting to strengthen the em- leisure in the security of their self-sufficient country
pire and to protect everyone’s interests, but the laws villas. They did their best to avoid paying taxes and
were full of loopholes and exceptions and were regu- often defied the law. Some recruited bands of armed
larly disregarded. Powerful persons often operated retainers who were little better than hired thugs.
outside the law. The loss of imperial legal protection Most senators preferred being big men at home to
made it important for everyone, privileged or not, to being under the thumb of the emperor. As a result,
look for a more powerful protector. Increasing num- the central government had less authority in the
bers of the poor became dependents of the rich and provinces, and the empire became less unified.
powerful. But the changing times also brought new Lower on the social scale were the decurions,
opportunities. Ambitious individuals from all seg- whose primary responsibility continued to be tax col-
ments of society could better themselves if they had lection. Because many senators refused to pay their
enough initiative, good luck, and the right friends. taxes, decurions had to squeeze what they could out
The Christian church in particular provided new of the rest of the population, and for this they were
prospects for personal expression and social advance- hated. In addition, the imperial government forced
ment to men and women, rich and poor alike. more responsibilities for local administration onto
them, such as carrying out expensive road repairs.
The Pursuit of Personal Security Municipal offices, once an honor, now became a bur-
den. Many decurions attempted to escape their du-
By the fourth century, everyone living in the Roman ties. Some claimed to be senators or became Christian
Empire was looking for physical, spiritual, and eco- clerics, groups exempted from serving as decurions.
nomic security that the Roman government was less Others simply ran away. As a result, city services suf-
able to provide. Powerful persons such as senators fered, and many cities fell into decline.
could be threatened by government demands or by ri- As more and more wealth, in particular landed
vals willing to take the law into their own hands. The property, was concentrated in the hands of the
less privileged were threatened by influential individu- wealthy, the gap between the rich and poor became
als who would take advantage of them in any number even greater. Less privileged people faced increasing
of ways. Declining trade reduced economic prosperity. economic hardship. The gold standard was conven-
Everyone was threatened by barbarian attacks. ient for the wealthy but did nothing to benefit the
The most influential people in the empire were still poor, for whom a single solidus represented four
the senators, but there now were many more of them, months’ wages. The value of the copper coinage, the
both male and female, and many ways to become only form of small change, continued to decline. By
one. The easiest ways to become a senator were to be the late fourth century, it took 450,000 tiny copper
the child of a senator or for a woman to marry a sen- coins to purchase one solidus. People whose busi-
ator. In addition, holding a high imperial office or be- nesses used small change found it difficult to make a
ing a Christian bishop automatically made a man a living. For merchants, opportunities shrank. The
senator. Anyone with enough money could purchase trend toward local self-sufficiency brought a decline
senatorial rank from the emperor. Eventually an em- in long-distance commerce. When troops were pulled
pirewide aristocracy of thousands of senators arose back from the borders, government subsidies for
that stood in stark contrast to the elite six-hundred- trade to frontier areas were lost. And the construction
member senate of the early principate. Senators still of imperial factories for supplying the army meant an
possessed great economic influence: the wealthiest end to military contracts.
had incomes of over two thousand pounds of gold a Small peasant farmers who owned their own land
year. But because the Senates of Rome and Constan- often fell into debt, transferred their property to land-
tinople had no real power, senators were less commit- hungry aristocrats, and became coloni (tenant farm-
ted to making the empire work. They continued to ers) on land they once had owned. Coloni were legally
hold high government offices, which emperors granted
to secure their support, but senators often saw these
offices as a way to pursue their own self-interest villa A largely self-sufficient country estate of a
rather than the good of the empire as a whole. wealthy aristocrat.
Instead of living in Rome or Constantinople, most
190 CHAPTER 7 Late Antiquity, 284–527
tied to the land unless they could repay what their Because of this, not all slaves wish to be set free.” In
patrons had invested in them, and in this regard they fact, however, it was quite common for slaves to be
anticipated the serfs of the Middle Ages. But re- set free, especially on the death of their owners.
straints on their freedom were usually outweighed
by the security they gained from having a regular New Opportunities
livelihood and being under the protection of a power-
ful aristocrat. They had few other options, except to The rise of the Christian church brought new social
become migrant laborers traveling from job to job. and economic opportunities for men and women.
Some slaves, on the other hand, experienced an Less privileged persons could find work in churches
improvement in their living conditions. Now that as doorkeepers, readers, and gravediggers. Some even
tenant farming was the preferred method for cultivat- became deacons, who oversaw church finances, or
ing large estates, some landlords promoted slaves to priests, who provided spiritual guidance. But the great-
coloni so they would not have to feed, clothe, and est honor was the office of bishop. As the most impor-
shelter them. Among the most valued and privileged tant institution in the Roman world, the church became
slaves were castrated males known as eunuchs. Be- increasingly wealthy as a result of offerings and be-
cause castration was illegal in the empire, most eu- quests made by emperors, aristocrats, and the general
nuchs had to be imported, usually from Persia and the public. The person who controlled that wealth—the
east. Eunuchs were used by the wealthy, mainly in the bishop—thus had great economic and political au-
eastern empire, in positions of trust, and they could thority as well as spiritual authority. Bishops served
rise to have great authority. In the imperial palace the for life, and episcopal office became increasingly at-
“Keeper of the Sacred Bedchamber” had to be a eu-
nuch; he had the ear of the emperor and empress and
often had great influence. In general, slave owners Middle Ages The broad historical period between the
liked to believe that slaves were happy: in a fifth- ancient and modern periods.
century comedy, a slave stated, “For us, there are daily episcopal Relating to a bishop.
parties, and merrymaking with the maid-servants.
Late Romans and Their World 191
tractive to talented and ambitious individuals, such the daughter of the consul Marcellus, but now I am the
as Ambrose and Augustine, as an alternative to state servant of Christ. I can dress any way I choose. You
office. Indeed, a prominent pagan senator reportedly can’t threaten me or take my money without getting
said, “Elect me bishop of Rome and I’ll become a into real trouble.” The governor apologized and or-
Christian, too.” Bishops were elected by the people, dered that she be allowed to carry out her charitable
and intense, sometimes violent, politicking could go works. Melania then established two monasteries, one
on before an election as the supporters of different for men and one for women. Around 400, she returned
candidates lobbied for support. to Rome and converted her granddaughter, Melania
Episcopal office allowed bishops not only to display the Younger, to the ascetic life. After the deaths of her
their Christian piety but also to demonstrate their pub- two children, the younger Melania convinced her hus-
lic spirit and to enhance the local authority they cher- band to live chastely with her. They sold most of their
ished. Bishops supervised the care of the poor, elderly, property and used their wealth for charitable works in
and sick for which the church now was responsible. Italy, Sicily, and North Africa, where they met Augus-
They intervened on behalf of those accused or even tine and established men’s and women’s monasteries.
convicted of crimes. They ransomed captives. They Seven years later, they moved to the Holy Land, met
were permitted to judge some kinds of civil and crimi- with Jerome, and remained. Melania built a monastery
nal cases. They also could influence public opinion by for herself, virgins, and ex-prostitutes. In the 430s, she
speaking out during church services, in contrast to the went to Constantinople, where she converted her un-
days of the principate, when public assemblies had cle, a devoted pagan, to Christianity.
been regulated carefully by the government. These ac-
tivities gained bishops status and supporters. Literary Culture
Women, whose activities continued to center on
the family, also found new opportunities in Chris- Late antiquity was an age of great literary creativity.
tianity. It often was the women in the family, for Some of it was due to the efforts of senators who took
example, who converted male pagan senators to pride in participating in and supporting intellectual
Christianity. Moreover, women who devoted them- endeavors. The senators of Rome, for example, spon-
selves to the Christian life were able to escape tradi- sored the work of the last great historian of antiquity,
tional subordination to males. Spending their money Ammianus Marcellinus, whose history went up to
on charitable works gave single women and widows the year 378 and painted a glowing picture of the pa-
greater control over their property than they would gan emperor Julian. With their own hands, senators
have had if they were married. Imperial women pro- made manuscript copies of the literature of the past.
vided role models for female piety. One was Helena, But the greatest expansion of literary creativity took
the mother of Constantine, who rose from humble be- place in the Christian church, to which many of the
ginnings as a stable girl to become the concubine of brightest minds were attracted. Christian writers such
Constantine’s father, Constantius. After Constantine as Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome wrote sermons,
adopted Christianity, Helena also took up the Chris- letters, theological treatises, commentaries on scrip-
tian life. She decorated churches, gained freedom for ture, and even Christian versions of Roman history
prisoners, and supported the poor. While on a pil- that had an immense effect on Christian belief and
grimage to the Holy Land, she believed that she had practice. Christian intellectuals debated the role pagan
discovered the True Cross on which Jesus had been literature should have in the Christian world, some
crucified. The Cross then became one of the most sa-
cred relics of the Christian church. Part of it was
placed in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jeru-
pilgrimage Journey made to a holy place for religious
salem, which Helena had built on the site of Christ’s
devotion.
tomb; the rest was taken to Constantinople.
Holy Land Areas around Jerusalem and Bethlehem
Other rich and influential women also demon- mentioned in the Bible.
strated Christian piety. Some built churches; others Church of the Holy Sepulcher Church built by He-
cared for the poor. For example, the Roman aristocrat lena in Jerusalem on the site of Christ’s tomb.
Melania the Elder, daughter of a consul, made a pil- Melania the Elder (d. 410) and the Younger (d. 439),
grimage to the Holy Land after the deaths of her hus- grandmother and granddaughter; famous for leading
band and two of her three children. To minister more lives of Christian asceticism and good works.
freely to the poor, she dressed in slave clothing. When manuscript (from Latin for “written by hand”) Hand-
she was arrested by a provincial governor who did not written document or book.
know who she was, she boldly addressed him: “I am
192 CHAPTER 7 Late Antiquity, 284–527
the walls. Earlier public monuments that fell into dis- fee. Men eligible for military service sometimes cut
repair were quarried for materials to be used in off fingers or thumbs in an attempt to avoid it. In ad-
church building. Thus the old urban centers decayed dition, in distributing resources, the government
at the same time that Christian centers, often located sometimes favored the eastern part of the empire at
outside the old city limits, prospered. Some cities the expense of the west. This made sense, because the
even reoriented around the churches, and the old city east was more defensible, more economically pros-
center was just abandoned. perous, more populous, and even more cultured, but
the west suffered as a consequence. In addition, con-
flicts of interest could arise between the imperial
administrations at Rome and Constantinople. Some-
The Fall of the Western times, one half of the empire adopted policies that
Roman Empire, 364–476 were detrimental to the interests of the other half.
There, thus, was an accelerating tendency for the two
➜
How did Romans and barbarians interact during Late halves of the empire to go their own ways.
Antiquity?
➜
Nor th
a
0 200 400 Km.
Se
IRELAND Sea
ti
c
l
Ba
0 200 400 Mi.
BRITAIN
ANGLO– SAXONS
SAXONS
ATLANTIC English Channel
Elb
FRANKS Dn
Od ie pe
e
er
Rh
OCEAN r ALANS
ine
BRETONS
Loire Paris
ALAMANNI LOMBARDS MOLDAVIA
Chalons 451
GAUL
Clermont
BURGUNDIANS GEPIDS
VISIGOTHS HUNS
ES Milan Dan
EV ube
SU Toulouse OSTROGOTHS
Ravenna
Black Sea
A
ITALY
dr
at
i
Ephesus
Hippo SICILY Antioch
Carthage SYRIA
VANDALS
AFRICA Me CRETE
dit
BERBERS erra
nean Sea Jerusalem
Alexandria Bethlehem
ARABS
Western Roman Empire Vandals
Eastern Roman Empire Visigoths
Empire of the Huns Major battle EGYPT
MAP 7.2 The Barbarians and Rome By the middle of the fifth century C.E., the occupation of the
western Roman Empire by various barbarian peoples was well underway. The Anglo-Saxons, Franks,
Visigoths, Burgundians, Sueves, and Vandals already had established independent kingdoms on Roman
territory. At the same time, the entire Roman world was threatened by the Huns.
people who had been forced westward out of Mongo- Cultural interchange between barbarians and
lia centuries earlier. As the Huns continued to move Romans continued. As already discussed, several
west, they created a barbarian empire and came ever Germanic peoples picked up the Arian form of Chris-
closer to Roman territory. tianity from the Romans. And Romans adopted as-
pects of barbarian culture. Barbarian long hair and
dress, such as trousers, fur coats, and boots, became
all the rage in Rome. The Roman army even adopted
Table 7.2 the barbarian custom of raising a newly acclaimed
ruler on a shield.
Barbarian Peoples
The primary point of contact between Rome and
West East Steppe its barbarian neighbors was the Roman army. When
Germans Germans Nomads barbarians were not fighting against the Roman
Alamanni Visigoths Huns army, they were serving in it. Faced with profound
(west Goths) recruitment difficulties, late Roman emperors em-
Franks Ostrogoths ployed barbarian mercenaries. Bands of Franks and
(east Goths) Alamanni, for example, would be hired for a cam-
Angles Burgundians paign and then return home, bringing back Roman
Saxons Vandals coinage, commodities, and culture, along with tales
of the riches, prosperity, and opportunity that lay
The Fall of the Western Roman Empire, 364–476 195
after Roman troops had been withdrawn from the Africa, depriving Italy of its best grain supply. The
north to defend Italy, a horde of barbarians, including Huns continued to move west. In 451, they invaded
the Vandals and Burgundians, walked across the Gaul, led by their ferocious king Attila. The Roman
frozen Rhine River. They traveled south, looting and master of soldiers Aëtius, sometimes called “the last
burning as they went. The Vandals made their way of the Romans,” patched together a shaky alliance of
into the fertile, undefended provinces of Spain. In Romans, Visigoths, and Franks. At the Battle of
410, Alaric and the Visigoths captured and sacked Chalons, the previously undefeated Huns were put
Rome. The pillaging lasted only three days, and the to flight, but they returned the next year to invade
churches were left untouched, but the point had been Italy. An embassy led by Leo the Great, the powerful
made. “Unconquered Rome,” as it had been called, bishop of Rome, convinced the Huns to withdraw—
was no longer unconquered. The psychological dam- Leo may have paid Attila off.
age was even greater than the material destruction.
The emperor Honorius, who had retreated to the
safety of Ravenna in the swamps of northeastern
Attila (r. 435–453) King of the Huns who terrorized the
Italy, eventually got the Visigoths out of Italy by al-
eastern Roman empire and was defeated at the Battle
lowing them to settle in Aquitaine in southwestern of Chalons.
France. They soon established an independent king- Chalons Battle in 451 in north-central France in which
dom on Roman soil, the first of several barbarian the Romans under the master of soldiers Aëtius de-
peoples to do so. feated the Huns.
The disintegration of the western empire continued Leo the Great Bishop of Rome from 441 to 460, who
during the reign of the emperor Valentinian III (r. 425– persuaded Attila the Hun to withdraw from Italy.
455). The Vandals left Spain and occupied North
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Ammianus Describes the Huns
The Romans’ fear of the barbarians often led them to portray barbarians as un-
couth savages who represented the opposite of everything a civilized Roman or
Greek stood for. For Romans of the late fourth century, the Huns, who had only
recently appeared on the Roman frontiers, were the most savage barbarians of all,
hardly better than animals. In the following selection from his Histories, the late
Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus, a former army officer who personally
observed all kinds of barbarians, describes the Huns as they appeared to the Ro-
mans in the 390s. His account is full of stereotypes and would have made the Ro-
mans feel justified in the repugnance that they felt toward the Huns.
The people of the Huns exceed every degree of savagery. Because the cheeks of
the children are deeply furrowed with steel from their very birth, in order that the
growth of hair may be checked by the wrinkled scars, they grow old without
beards and without any beauty, like eunuchs. ➜ They all have compact, strong
➜ Why are the Huns com- limbs and thick necks, and are so monstrously ugly and misshapen that one might
pared to beasts? take them for two-legged beasts. They are so hardy that they have no need of fire
nor of savory food, but eat the roots of wild plants and the half-raw flesh of any
kind of animal whatever, which they put between their thighs and the backs of
their horses, and thus warm it a little.
They are never protected by any buildings, but they avoid these like tombs.
Roaming at large amid the mountains and woods, they learn from the cradle to
endure cold, hunger, and thirst. They dress in the skins of field mice sewn
The Fall of the Western Roman Empire, 364–476 197
together. When they have once put on a faded tunic, it is not taken off until by
➜ What role did horses play long wear it has been taken from them bit by bit. ➜ They are almost glued to
in the life of the Huns? their horses, and sometimes they sit on them woman-fashion and thus perform
ordinary tasks. From their horses every one of that nation buys and sells, eats and
drinks, and bowed over the narrow neck of the animal relaxes into sleep. ➜ And
➜ How does Ammianus when deliberation is called for, they all consult as a common body on horseback.
portray Hun government? They are subject to no royal restraint, but they are content with the disorderly
government of their important men.
➜ You would not hesitate to call them the most terrible of all warriors, be-
➜ Does does Ammianus’s cause they fight from a distance with missiles having sharp bone, instead of the
description of Hun fighting usual metal points. Then they gallop over the intervening spaces and fight hand-
tactics compare to Roman to-hand with swords, regardless of their own lives; and they throw nooses over
tacticsy? their opponents and so entangle them that they fetter their limbs.
➜ No one in their country ever plows a field or touches a plow-handle. They
are all without fixed abode, without hearth, or law, or settled mode of life, and
➜ How does Ammianus keep roaming from place to place, accompanied by the wagons in which their
portray the life of the Huns as wives weave their hideous garments, cohabit with their husbands, bear children,
being different from Roman and rear them to the age of puberty. None of their offspring, when asked, can tell
life? Why does he do so? you where he comes from, because he was conceived in one place, born far from
there, and brought up still farther away.
➜ In truces they are faithless and unreliable. Like unreasoning beasts, they are ut-
➜ Why might you decide not terly ignorant of the difference between right and wrong; they are deceitful and
to believe all of what Ammi- ambiguous in speech, never bound by any reverence for religion or for superstition.
anus says about the Huns?
Source: Reprinted by permission of the publishers and the Trustees of the Loeb Classical Library from Ammi-
anus Marcelinus: Volume III, Loeb Classical Library Volume 331, translated by J. C. Rolfe, pp. 380–381, Cam-
bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1939 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
The Loeb Classical Library® is a registered trademark of the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
But avoiding conquest by the Huns was the west’s were common. Pagans argued that Rome fell because
last victory. After Valentinian III’s death in 455, the the Romans had abandoned their old gods. Some
western throne was occupied by nine emperors known Christians suggested that the fall of Rome was God’s
as the puppet emperors because they often were ma- punishment of Christians for their immoral lives.
nipulated by their barbarian masters of soldiers. What Augustine proposed in his City of God that what hap-
remained of the western empire was occupied by bar- pened on earth was God’s will and had to be ac-
barians. In 476, the boy emperor Romulus, nick- cepted by Christians; what was really important was
named “Augustulus” (“little Augustus”), was deposed what took place in God’s “heavenly city.”
by the barbarian general Odovacar, who called him- In the late eighteenth century, the British historian
self King of Italy and notified the eastern emperor Edward Gibbon wrote The Decline and Fall of the Roman
Zeno that the west no longer needed its own em-
peror. Romulus was the last emperor to rule in Rome,
and the year 476 generally is said to mark the fall of puppet emperors Western Roman emperors between
the western empire, even though some areas still re- 455 and 476 who were manipulated by barbarian
sisted. Britain, for example, continued to fight the An- generals; a puppet ruler also is any ruler manipulated
by another person.
gle and Saxon invaders. Led by warlords such as
Arthur, the Britons held out until about the year 500, Romulus (r. 475–476) Last emperor of the western
empire; deposed in 476; nicknamed “Augustulus”
when they became the last of the western Romans to (“little Augustus”).
fall to the barbarians. Odovacar (r. 476–493) Barbarian chieftain who de-
posed Romulus, the last western emperor, in 476 and
Interpretations of the Fall became king of Italy.
of the West Arthur A sixth-century ruler in Britain; stories of his
exploits and companions were popular in the Middle
The question of why Rome fell has been debated ever Ages and into modern times.
since it happened. In antiquity, religious explanations
198 CHAPTER 7 Late Antiquity, 284–527
Empire, which described the fall of the western em- Saxons settled in Britain, the Franks on the lower
pire as the “triumph of Christianity and barbarians.” Rhine, the Alamanni on the upper Rhine, the Burgun-
He suggested that Christianity had weakened the dians in central Gaul, and the Ostrogoths in Italy.
will of the Romans to resist, opening the way for in- During the sixth and seventh centuries, the western
vasions by more warlike barbarians. This explanation European world evolved into what we now call the
now is seen as overly simplistic. After all, most bar- Middle Ages. But the eastern half of the Roman Em-
barians were Christians themselves. And as for the pire, the Byzantine Empire, continued and even flour-
invasions, the emperors had dealt effectively with ished, adapting to changing times as it had in the past.
barbarian threats for centuries. Aside from the Battle
of Adrianople, the barbarians did not win many sig-
nificant military victories. The west was occupied Romans and Barbarians
more by means of infiltration, peaceful settlement, in the Post-Roman West
and persistence than by military conquest. The real
question, it seems, is what made it possible for bar- By the end of the fifth century, the government of the
barians to succeed in the fifth century when in the western Roman Empire was gone, but the west re-
past they had been unable to occupy virtually any mained populated by Romans who had to respond to
Roman territory. the barbarian presence. Some fled, some were killed,
More recently, historians have proposed many in- and others faced captivity or enslavement. Most sim-
terrelated causes. Some suggestions, ranging from ply became free citizens of the kingdoms in which
drastic climatic change to ethnic mixing to lead poi- they resided and made whatever private peace they
soning, can easily be dismissed. More plausible sug- could with their new rulers. In most respects, life
gestions include the withdrawal of senatorial support went on as before, but now with barbarians not only
for the emperors, increased administrative decen- as rulers but also as neighbors, social acquaintances,
tralization, too many barbarians in the army, eco- and marriage partners. For many Romans, barbarian
nomic collapse, excessive taxation, corruption, military kings provided new sources of rewards, patronage,
recruitment shortages, excessive bureaucracy, poor and career opportunities. Some powerful senators
leadership, lack of organized resistance, and just plain may even have preferred a local barbarian ruler who
bad luck. In addition, any explanation for the politi- respected their property rights to a distant, yet intru-
cal decline of the west also must explain why the east sive, Roman emperor.
did not fall. In this regard, it is clear that the east had The barbarian peoples adopted Roman ways as
more secure geographical frontiers, a stronger econ- they created their own nations on Roman soil. Bar-
omy, a larger population, and a more dependable Ro- barian kings realized the necessity of maintaining the
man military recruitment base. In view of the east’s goodwill of their Roman subjects, for there were
advantages, it may be that the once the empire split in many more Romans than barbarians. If they lost the
two, the downfall of the west was inevitable. support of the Roman population, in particular of the
Roman senators, they risked provoking uprisings in
which they might be overwhelmed. Thus, except in
Britain, all the barbarian rulers used the Roman Em-
The Post-Roman World, pire as a model, adopting Roman administrative
400–527 practices. Barbarian kings also accepted the Roman
concept of the rule of law: they issued laws in their
➜
How did Roman and barbarian populations and customs own names but also recognized the validity of Ro-
become integrated?
man law. Romans continued to serve as city adminis-
➜
some barbarians involved religion. Barbarians such any sense of ethnic or cultural identity separating
as the Visigoths, Burgundians, and Vandals were Ar- Romans and barbarians became meaningless. The
ian Christians, whereas the Romans followed the peoples of western Europe created a hybrid culture
Nicene Creed. In practice, however, Arian and Nicene that both preserved and reinterpreted classical culture.
Christians were generally tolerant of one another and
even attended each other’s services. Eventually all Ar-
The Barbarian Kingdoms
ian barbarians eventually converted to Nicene Chris-
tianity. In addition, unlike Roman emperors, barbarian The kingdom of the Visigoths included Aquitaine
kings usually stayed out of theological disputes, leav- and Spain. As the first barbarians to settle on Roman
ing those to churchmen, although they sometimes in- soil, the Visgoths readily adapted themselves to Ro-
terfered in the election of bishops. man practices. They issued a law code that contained
Another possible source of conflict concerned selections from existing Roman law; thus Roman law
property. Incoming barbarians were primarily seek- became Visigothic law. Visigothic kings also issued
ing land on which to settle, and barbarian kings pro- new laws in their own names, which likewise applied
vided land for them in several ways. Sometimes, in a to all of the people in their kingdom. Visigoths and
process called hospitality, barbarians received one- Romans created a culture so integrated that it is virtu-
third of the land of a large Roman landowner. The Ro- ally impossible to distinguish Visigoths from Romans
man then was confirmed in the ownership of the rest. in archaeological remains.
Barbarian kings also granted to their supporters prop- The Franks originated as several independent
erty that had been abandoned by Romans who had groups located on both sides of the lower Rhine. They
fled or land that had fallen behind on its taxes. Barbar- were united by King Clovis, a member of the Merovin-
ian governments also controlled the Roman tax collec- gian family, which gave its name to the first dynasty
tion structure and could use tax money collected from of Frankish kings. Clovis lived in an age of strong men,
Romans to purchase land. Only rarely, as in North and he was ruthless in his quest to unify the Franks,
Africa or Britain, did barbarians forcibly evict Roman murdering several relatives who ruled their own
landowners. As a result, the barbarian settlement was Frankish subgroups. Clovis’s reputation for brutality
much more peaceful than it might have been. was enhanced when he split the skull of a Frankish
With the exception of Britain, Roman culture con- warrior who objected to returning a stolen silver vase
tinued as before in the barbarian kingdoms. Latin to a church. But Clovis also was politically savvy and
remained the predominant language, eventually evolv- knew how to use diplomacy when diplomacy suited
ing into modern Romance languages such as Italian, his purpose. Advised by his wife, Clotilde, around
French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. Classical 496 Clovis shrewdly adopted the Nicene Christian
literature was appreciated and preserved by the edu- faith. According to the historian Gregory of Tours,
cated elite, both Roman and barbarian. It was once “Clovis proceeded to the baptismal font like a new
thought that the creation of the barbarian kingdoms Constantine. Having confessed omnipotent God in
resulted in a period of cultural barrenness known as the trinity, he was baptized in the name of the Father,
the Dark Ages, but this attitude arose largely from a the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” As a consequence of be-
failure to appreciate the importance of the new Chris- coming a Nicene Christian, Clovis gained support
tian literature of the early Middle Ages. It is more accu- from the Roman population. In 507, he defeated the
rate to speak of the transformation of the Roman Visigoths at the Battle of Vouillé, and the Franks oc-
world, not its decline and fall, terminology that refers cupied most of Gaul. Like Germanic kings, Clovis
only to politics. Western Europe undeniably went into
a period of reorganization during the barbarian settle-
ment. But in many ways it was the Roman Empire it-
self, not its aftermath, that was the anomaly. Rome had
Romance languages Modern European languages
brought to western Europe an artificially high degree that derive from Latin.
of administrative and economic complexity that was
Clovis (r. 481–511) King of the Franks who converted
designed to suit the needs of the empire. When the to Christianity in 496 and defeated the Visigoths in 507.
western Roman Empire collapsed, it took its adminis- Merovingian Family name of the Frankish kings,
trative and economic superstructure with it. Western named after a fifth-century king Merovech.
Europe returned to a condition that was more suited to Gregory of Tours (538–594) Bishop of Tours who
western European needs. European culture during the wrote ten books of histories of his times and many
early Middle Ages was not necessarily worse than accounts of saints.
classical culture, but it was different. As time went on,
200 CHAPTER 7 Late Antiquity, 284–527
used mainly by administrators and lawyers. In 437, erally content with the Nicene faith, eastern Chris-
Theodosius issued the Theodosian Code, a com- tians continued to dispute the nature of Christ, and
prehensive compilation of the legislation of Roman the emperors often were compelled to intervene. The
emperors going back to the time of Constantine. A Nestorians, named after Nestorius, bishop of Con-
treasure trove of information on administration, soci- stantinople, argued that while on earth Christ was
ety, and the economy, it provides insights into what just a man and was not divine until after the Crucifix-
the emperors thought were the most important issues ion. This viewpoint angered Nicene Christians, who
of their day. believed that the divine and human natures of Christ
The east, like the west, was threatened by barbarian were mixed and who viewed Mary as the Theotokos,
attacks. In 400, the people of Constantinople re- or “mother of God.” In 431, at the third ecumenical
sponded to the barbarian menace by massacring council, summoned by Theodosius II at Ephesus on
several thousand Visigothic mercenaries. Theodosius the Anatolian coast, Nestorianism was condemned.
then strengthened Constantinople’s defenses by Many Nestorians then chose to go into exile in the
building massive walls on the city’s landward side, New Persian Empire; some eventually even made
doubling the size of the city. The greatest pressure their way to China, where eight hundred years later
came from the Huns, whose king, Attila, was kept the Italian traveler Marco Polo claimed to have met
from attacking with bribes of thousands of pounds of their descendants.
gold. After Theodosius’s death in 450, the Byzantines Discussions about the nature of Christ were re-
stopped the tribute payments. The Huns then turned vived by the Monophysites, who denied that Christ
to the west, where, as already discussed, they were had any human nature at all. In 451, a fourth ecu-
defeated in 451. In 453, Attila died, mysteriously, on menical council, held at Chalcedon, just east of Con-
his wedding night. The power of the Huns was bro- stantinople, confirmed the belief that the divine and
ken forever when their subjects revolted and defeated human natures of Christ were intermixed and de-
them the next year. For the time being, the barbarian clared Monophysite teachings to be heresy. But the
threat to the Byzantine Empire was reduced. Monophysites refused to surrender their beliefs and
During the fifth century, Byzantine relations with continued to have a wide following in Egypt (where
the New Persian Empire improved. The New Per- they survive as the modern Copts), in Syria (where a
sians also were menaced by the Huns, and therefore few thousand survive as the Jacobites), and in the
the two empires made peace so each could concen- New Persian Empire. The Council of Chalcedon also
trate on the more serious threat. The New Persians, granted the bishop of Constantinople a status equal
who were Zoroastrians, also ceased persecuting their to that of the bishop of Rome. Bishop Leo the Great of
Christians subjects. By the early fifth century, Chris- Rome and his successors refused to accept the bishop
tians had become a tolerated minority in the New of Constantinople as an equal, creating dissension be-
Persian Empire. Some Jews and dissident Christians tween the eastern and western Christian churches.
even fled Byzantine religious oppression and took By 527, when the emperor Justinian came to the
refuge with the New Persians. throne, the Byzantine Empire seemed secure. Eco-
Economic prosperity returned to the Byzantine nomic prosperity had been restored, the barbarian
world at the end of the fifth century. The introduction threat had been contained, and religious dissent had
of a copper coinage that was interchangeable with the been suppressed if not completely eliminated. It
gold coinage restored confidence in the small-change seemed that the empire in the east had avoided the
currency that facilitated exchange at the local level. misfortunes that caused the fall of the west, and its in-
Revitalized trade brought increased tax revenues. Po- habitants could look to the future with optimism.
litical problems, however, surfaced in the early sixth
century with the growth of mob politics. Chariot-
racing fan clubs known as the Blues and the Greens Nestorians Christians who believed that the divine
(from the colors that the racing teams wore) became and human natures of Christ were completely sepa-
rate; the belief was condemned at the Council of Eph-
thinly veiled political activist groups. They met in the
esus in 431; named after Nestorius, bishop of
Hippodrome and often used violence to support their Constantinople.
views on matters ranging from theology to imperial Monophysites (from Greek for “single nature”) Chris-
appointments. During one riot, an emperor presented tians who believed that Christ had a single, divine
himself bareheaded and offered to resign. The mob, nature; the belief was condemned at the Council of
impressed by his bravery, declined the offer. Chalcedon in 451.
In contrast to the west, where Christians were gen-
202 CHAPTER 7 Late Antiquity, 284–527
How did the official acceptance of Christianity self-denial, personal spirituality, and community ser-
change the Roman Empire?
vice. For many, the church now provided a place to
➜
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Sunday Blue Laws
Beginning with Constantine, Roman emperors issued laws intended to make Sunday a day of worship on
which commercial activities, legal processes, and entertainments were prohibited. A law of 372 declared,
“On the Lord’s day, which is the first day of the week, the pleasures of the theaters and games are to be
kept from the people in all cities, and all the thoughts of Christians and believers are to be occupied with
the worship of God.” Fourteen years later, another law decreed, “Let all law suits and all business cease on
Sunday, and let no one try to collect either a public or a private debt, and let there be no hearing of dis-
putes by any judges.” But even Constantine made exceptions to his law—for example, he permitted legal
business on Sunday for the purpose of freeing slaves.
Websites 203
The idea of Sunday as a day of worship persisted in the Middle Ages, when agricultural work was prohib-
ited by church councils and kings. Subsequently, some Christian sects were more rigorous than others in
their observance of Sunday. One of the strictest was the English Puritans, who brought their beliefs to North
America in the seventeenth century. The Puritans issued so-called blue laws (perhaps named after the blue
paper on which they were printed) that specified what could and could not be done on Sunday. The blue
laws prohibited trade, commerce, public entertainment, travel (except to go to church services), hair cut-
ting, and drunkenness on Sunday, and some of the laws were incorporated into state law codes in the early
years of the United States.
Many blue laws remained on the books into the twentieth century. As recently as the 1920s, for example,
sporting events and movies were forbidden on Sunday in some parts of the United States. Even more re-
cently, most stores had to remain closed. Over the past fifty years, however, most blue laws have been
repealed. All forms of entertainment are now regularly scheduled on Sunday, although complaints still arise,
especially in regard to youth events. Stores now are permitted to open on Sunday nearly everywhere. One
of the most deeply entrenched of the blue laws was the prohibition of sales of alcoholic beverages on Sun-
day, and even now many states prohibit Sunday liquor sales. The only remaining universal blue law, how-
ever, a direct descendant of Constantine’s Sunday legislation, is the closing of nearly all government offices
on Sunday.
Suggested Readings
Barnes, Timothy D. The New Empire of Diocletian and Con- Clark, Gillian. Women in Late Antiquity: Pagan and Christian
stantine. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982. A Life-Styles. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. On the
detailed discussion of the ways in which Diocletian and Con- importance of women in late antique society.
stantine created the Late Roman Empire. MacMullen, Ramsay. Corruption and the Decline of Rome.
Bowersock, Glen W., Peter Brown, and Oleg Grabar, eds. Late New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1988. A comprehen-
Antiquity: A Guide to the PostClassical World. Cambridge, sive argument for the role played by official corruption in the
Mass.: Harvard University Press / Belknap Press, 1999. A mas- decline of the western Roman Empire.
sive compilation of information about the late antique world, in- Wolfram, Herwig, The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peo-
cluding both long essays and short dictionary-style discussions. ples. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press,
Brown, Peter R. L. The World of Late Antiquity: A.D. 150–750. 1997 A survey of barbarian peoples and their relations with the
New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974. The standard Roman world.
book on Late Antiquity, which established Late Antiquity as a
major historical period.
Cameron, Averil. The Later Roman Empir, A.D. 284–430. Cam-
bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993. A balanced sur-
vey of the history of the later Roman Empire up to 430.
Websites
Artwork, architecture, and political significance of the Arch of Detailed biographies of all the Roman emperors, including
Constantine, The Arch of Constantine, at http://sights.seindal maps and battle summaries, De Imperatoribus Romanis (On
.dk/sight/299_Arch_of_Constantine-2.html the Rulers of Rome), at www.roman-emperors.org
Texts of the writings of many early Christian writers, including
Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, and Leo the Great, The Early
Church Fathers, at www.ccel.org/fathers2
204
CHAPTER
The Eastern
Mediterranean, 500–1000
CHAPTER OUTLINE
empire, the people spoke Greek. To the south, the Muslims Burgundian Kingdom
introduced Arabic to North Africa, Syria, and Palestine. Was Ostrogothic Kingdom
peaceful coexistence henceforth
PICT
S
possible? Vandal Kingdom
IRISH Other peoples, ca. 500
Islam, 661
North Baltic
H
IS
DANES Sea
Sea
IR
XO -
SA GLO
NS
S
LT
London
AN
CE
Tournai
S THURINGENS
N Rouen Mainz
ATLANTIC TO Rheims SLAVS
E Paris
BR I Caspian
M ANN
ALE Sea
OCEAN LOMBARDS
Autun
Lyons
Milan GEPIDS
ES
BAS
EV
QUE
S Toulouse Black Sea
SU
Ravenna
Narbonne Marseilles Salerno
Tarragona Corsica
Rome Constantinople
Nicaea
Naples Salonica Ankara
Córdoba Sardinia
Seville
Cartagena
Athens Ephesus
Hippo Antioch
Regius Sicily
Carthage
BERBERS Cyprus
Damascus
Me
dite Crete
rrane
an Sea
Jerusalem
Alexandria
ARABS
Red
0 200 400 Km. Sea
205
206 CHAPTER 8 The Eastern Mediterranean, 500–1000
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Empress Theodora Changes Emperor
Justinian’s Mind
In January 532, rioting throughout the city of Constantinople shook the
imperial court to the core. Crowds attacked and burnt down the great
church of Hagia Sophia, rebuilt by Constantine II in the 350s. Emperor
Justinian I and the empress Theodora had barricaded themselves, with
their supporters, in the royal palace, fearful of what would happen next.
In the preceding days, Justinian’s soldiers had tried to stop the violence
that had broken out between the Greens and the Blues—the rival fans
of chariot-racing teams who also held competing political and religious
views. The emperor and empress preferred the Blues, but no one really
knows what this uprising, which came to be called the Nika Riot, was
about. The only person to write about the riot was the historian Pro-
copius, who simply condemned the passions of all who confused their
enthusiasm for sports and entertainments with politics and religion.
Nevertheless, the crowd was now contemplating an overthrow of
Theodora
the political order. The rioters forced two nephews of a previous emperor to join
Empress Theodora served as in their plans, which were to attack the imperial palace and kill the imperial cou-
one of the closest advisers to ple. The danger to Justinian and Theodora increased by the hour. When the em-
her husband, Emperor Justin- peror and his advisers were told that the army could not guarantee his safety,
ian. Though her enemies Justinian decided to evacuate the city and try to regroup on the opposite side of
deplored her humble origins the Bosporus.
and her Monophysite beliefs, But at this moment, according to Procopius, the empress Theodora made a
she won the loyalty of ordi- courageous decision that Justinian was unable to make on his own: she urged her
nary subjects, many of husband and his advisers to remain and fight. With great dignity, the empress
whom shared her religious reasoned:
tendencies and received her
If now it is your wish to save yourself, O Emperor, there is no difficulty. For
protection. In hindsight,
we have much money, and there is the sea, here the boats. However, con-
Byzantine observers believed
sider whether it will not come about after you have been saved that you
she had exerted a moderat-
would gladly exchange that safety for death. For as for myself, I approve a
ing influence over Justinian,
certain ancient saying that royal purple is fitting for a burial shroud.
who, after her death in
548, grew increasingly intol- With Theodora’s support, Justinian resolved to stay in his palace. Summoning
erant of religious doctrine his general Belisarius, he ordered that the rioters be put down. Belisarius
deemed heretical. (Scala/Art succeeded, but only by killing tens of thousands of the people of Constantinople.
Resource, NY) When the slaughter ended and peace returned to the capital, Justinian undertook
the rebuilding of Hagia Sophia, this time on an unprecedented scale. The emperor
and the empress entered the newly restored church five years after the Nika Riot.
Thanks in part to Theodora’s cool head and brave heart, the people of Constan-
tinople once again accustomed themselves to the rule of this imperial couple.
It may seem surprising that Theodora should have been the one to give her
husband courage, because nothing in her background suggested she would suc-
ceed in any endeavor other than the popular theater. Her father reputedly worked
in a circus, an atmosphere associated with prostitution and rough customers. Be-
Justinian and the Revival of Empire in the East, 500–650 207
fore she married Justinian, many people in Constantinople knew of her from her
circus performances and as the lover of powerful men. Justinian, too, came from a
humble family, but his military service under his uncle, an emperor who had first
risen through the ranks of the Byzantine army, gave him the experience in com-
manding others that the office of emperor required. The young actress and cour-
tesan Theodora, in contrast, must have possessed an exceptional intelligence and
aptitude for politics that marriage to the ambitious soldier and future emperor
released. Her influence over her husband aroused the envy of less powerful mem-
bers of the imperial court, who spread rumors about her past to undermine her
reputation. Whether the stories in circulation about her lewd behavior were true
or false, never had a woman from as humble a background as Theodora’s attained
the rank of empress.
Chronology
527 Justinian becomes emperor 632 Muhammad dies in Medina
532 Justinian’s forces kills tens of thousands in the Nika 656 Election of Ali as caliph
Riot in Constantinople
658 Defeat of Ali’s army at Basra
533–563 Body of Civil Law is issued
661 Death of the caliph Ali and beginning of Umayyad
534 Vandal kingdom of North Africa falls to dynasty, based in Damascus
Byzantine forces
711–714 Muslims conquer Spain
542 Bubonic plague devastates Constantinople.
730 Leo III forbids use of icons in liturgical services
552 Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy falls to
Byzantine forces 732 Franks halt Muslim advance at Tours
ca. 570 Birth of Muhammad 750 Umayyad dynasty is overthrown; Abbasid dynasty
begins, based in Baghdad
610 Heraclius becomes emperor
787 Second Council of Nicaea reinstates veneration
613 Persians capture Jerusalem, destroy Church of the of icons
Holy Sepulcher
802 Removal of the empress Irene from power
622 Muhammad flees to Medina in the Hejira;
beginning of the Muslim calendar 803 Death of the empress Irene
628 Heraclius defeats Persians 988 Kievan Rus officially accept Christianity
630 Heraclius returns relic of the True Cross to Jeru- 1071 Turks defeat Byzantine army at Manzikert
salem; Muhammad returns to Mecca
Balkan region in the western provinces who had risen Italy, Spain, Gaul, Britain, and the provinces of North
through the ranks of the army and been acclaimed Africa. The western provinces had not had an em-
emperor for lack of any legitimate heirs or stronger peror for nearly half a century, while many eastern
candidates. The co-emperors ruled together for only provinces had fallen into the control of the Persians.
one year before Justin died. From then on, Justinian’s When Justinian I, a common soldier from the Bal-
most trusted adviser was his wife, Theodora, and to- kans, succeeded to the imperial throne, he would
gether they set out to restore lost territory to imperial have seen restoring the empire as his mission.
rule and to unify the people under their rule in one Reconquering territory was accomplished in ardu-
church. Recovered territory, glorious new monu- ous stages. After his first target, the Crimea, succumbed
ments adorning the largest city in the empire, and the easily, Justinian turned his attention to the Vandal
codification of ancient imperial law all represented a kingdom of North Africa, which fell to the forces of
level of achievement not experienced within living his brilliant general Belisarius in 534. The conquest of
memory. That Justinian managed to stay in power for
nearly half a century and die of old age should by it-
self be considered an accomplishment, given the fate
Justinian I (r. 527–565) Byzantine emperor noted for
of many Roman emperors before him. his reconquest of lost territory, building program, and
comprehensive law code.
Justinian’s Ambitions Belisarius (505–565) Sixth-century general who led the
Byzantine army to successes in Persia, North Africa,
From an imperial perspective, the old Roman Empire and the Italian peninsula.
was gone. Barbarians had established kingdoms in
Justinian and the Revival of Empire in the East, 500–650 209
Do
n
Vo
RUS lg a
Bu
Kiev
ATLANTIC Dnie
g
pe r
Sou
OCEAN Paris
th
Dni ern B Ca
es
FRANKISH u sp
SLAVS ia
ter
g
KINGDOM n
LOMBARDS Se
AVARS a
CAUCA
BULGARS SUS
Danu b e
Black Sea
OSTROGOTHIC
KINGDOM A d r
VISIGOTHIC Corsica 552 ia
ARMENIA
KINGDOM ti Constantinople
Rome c Adrianople NEW
Se Ankara
Naples a Salonica Nicaea PERSIAN
Sardinia
551 Aegean EMPIRE
Cartagena Sea
Ti
Ephesus
gr
Hippo s
Euphra
i
Regius Sicily Athens Antioch t
es
535 SYRIA
VANDAL Carthage Syracuse Rhodes Cyprus
Ctesiphon
Damascus
KINGDOM Crete
534
AF R IC A Mediterranean Sea Caesarea PALESTINE
Jerusalem
Byzantine Empire Alexandria
At Justinian’s accession, 527 Cairo
Memphis (Founded 969)
Territories added by 565
535 Date of conquest EGYPT
Ni
R
0 250 500 Km.
e
ed
l
Boundary, ca. 750
Se
0 250 500 Mi. Thebes
MAP 8.1 Justinian’s Empire Out of the old Roman world emerged three civilizations. In western a
Europe, the barbarian kingdoms adapted the Latin language. In Constantinople, the new center of the
old empire, the people spoke Greek. To the south, the Muslims introduced Arabic to North Africa, Syria
and Palestine. Was peaceful coexistence henceforth possible?
Italy, now in the hands of the Ostrogoths, proved increased rigidity in court ceremonies, designed to
much more difficult. Belisarius arrived in 535; it took instill an unquestioning obedience to the emperor,
seventeen years to end Ostrogothic rule. Though Italy may have been Justinian’s way of asserting his legiti-
once again came under Byzantine rule in 552, the tri- macy to rule. In every aspect of his person—from his
umph was costly. Not only were Italy’s cities and appearance to his role in church policy—Justinian
countryside devastated, but the Byzantine army and projected his belief that he ruled with God’s sanction.
treasury were also much weakened. Even his daily life was orchestrated to impress on
Justinian’s insistence on recapturing Italy put an those around him the measure of his authority. While
enormous strain on the empire’s resources. He some- visitors waited in the large rectangular audience hall
times had to cancel the salaries of his own troops for in Constantinople to see him, he and the empress
lack of funds—and then put down their rebellions. Theodora, dressed in sumptuous robes of royal pur-
With his attention focused on the western provinces, ple bordered in gold, entered an area behind a cur-
he was compelled to pay off the Persians in the east to tain. On the other side of the curtain, the hushed, the
discourage them from invading. By building costly
fortifications along the border, he managed to keep
the Slavs on the far side of the northern frontier. But Slavs A loose confederation of peoples originating in
his treasury’s resources were stretched to their limits. eastern Europe who pressed into the empire at various
As the old Romans knew, maintaining an empire times, becoming a serious threat in the seventh century.
never came cheaply. Theodora (497–548) Emperor Justinian I’s wife and
Maintaining the emperor’s dignity was also diffi- empress, who had much influence on her husband’s
cult, especially since this emperor did not come from political and religious policies.
an aristocratic family. Unprecedented grandeur and
210 CHAPTER 8 The Eastern Mediterranean, 500–1000
expectant crowd would have had time to examine the the Mass or administer the sacraments, the emperor
imposing mosaics that covered the walls and floor. was the only layman to witness the Eucharist cere-
Behind the curtain, after the royal couple took their mony behind the curtain that separated the people
places on their thrones, attendants placed crowns on from the altar area, and he was allowed to preach in
their heads that were studded with precious gems. church. For this reason, the Byzantine emperors saw
Then, when all was ready and the royal attendants themselves as on a par with the patriarch of Constan-
sensed the heightened expectations of the visitors, tinople and thus equal to all other patriarchs and
they drew back the curtain to reveal Justinian and archbishops, including (most controversially from a
Theodora in all their awesome splendor. Instantly the western point of view) the pope, who saw himself as
supplicants prostrated themselves. the spiritual head of all Christendom. Justinian, then,
For all the majesty the imperial couple projected, it wielded religious authority that enhanced his impe-
annoyed some visitors, especially the aristocrats, that rial authority, although no one at the time would
they had to bend down and touch their foreheads to have perceived or much less understood a distinction
the floor and then kiss the knees of first the emperor between the two.
and then the empress. Being forced to grovel was Theology was one area in which this royal husband
bad enough. Acting like a cowering slave before two and wife diverged in their outlooks. Although the
people from humble origins made it that much worse. Council of Chalcedon in 451 had formally condemned
Never before, some believed, had two people of such the Monophysites, many people in the eastern empire
base origins demanded such extravagant displays of continued to believe that Christ had only one nature—
submission to imperial authority. a divine, not a human nature. The empress Theodora
Their insistence on excessive homage notwith- was one of them. Justinian, a staunch supporter of the
standing, Justinian and Theodora had reason to be Nicene Creed, disliked all viewpoints that disagreed
proud of themselves. It had been a long time since the with the church, but he believed that persecuting Mono-
empire’s fortunes had looked as good as they did in physites would diminish the chances of reconciling
the first half of the sixth century, thanks to Justinian’s them with the church. His tolerant approach early in
energy and Theodora’s mostly beneficial influence on his reign was also influenced by his Monophysite-
her husband. leaning wife. Theodora protected Monophysite monks,
nuns, and clergy who faced persecution from local ec-
The Search for Christian Unity clesiastical authorities, harboring them in isolated
monasteries and nunneries where there were sym-
Long before Justinian came to the throne, leaders of pathizers. It was the empress who made it possible
the church had taken notice of imperial court cere- for Monophysites to form churches in Armenia, Egypt,
mony. Recognizing the power of presentation, they and Syria.
designed churches to resemble the emperor’s audi- Nonetheless, Justinian had to enforce the church’s
ence hall, placing the altar at one end of a long rectan- condemnation of Monophysites. When his attempts
gular room, screened from public view by a curtain. to bring prominent Monophysites into line with
By staging most important elements of the Commu- church teachings failed, he sent them into exile. In re-
nion ceremony behind the curtain, out of sight of the gard to other religious and philosophical systems, he
congregants, they heightened the mystery of the Mass. showed a strong inclination to stamp out those who
Once the priest had consecrated the bread and wine did not adhere to church teachings or to the church it-
and given Communion to the clergy around the altar, self. On his orders, Jews and followers of pre-Christian
he passed through the curtain to dispense Commu- religions suffered persecution. Although earlier Chris-
nion to the laity waiting on the other side. Imperial tian thinkers had produced valuable theological works
pomp and ceremony had provided a model to the
clergy seeking to enhance the central mystery of the
Christian religion. And Justinian fully supported Mass Christian liturgical ceremony in which the offici-
whatever strengthened the church. ating priest symbolically reenacts Jesus’s Last Supper
The respect commanded by the emperor—no mat- with his disciples.
ter how low his social origins—bore a close resem- laity (adj. lay) Collective term used to refer to everyone
blance to the authority owed a bishop or priest. except the clergy.
Justinian, as a successor of Constantine the Great, nun Woman who has entered a monastic order for
claimed the right to convene and preside over church women to lead a life of prayer and contemplation.
councils—something no barbarian king in the west ecclesiastical Pertaining to a church.
had the right to do. Although he could not celebrate
Justinian and the Revival of Empire in the East, 500–650 211
that employed Platonic philosophy, Justinian forbade riage, although their husbands had the authority to
the study of any pre-Christian philosophy. He closed manage their investments.
Plato’s Academy in Athens at the same time that the By regulating the relationship between people and
clergy in the west were disparaging what little they property, Roman law also had a deep and lasting ef-
knew about Plato. In an intellectual environment that fect on commerce. By the sixth century, the head of a
discouraged critical examination of non-Christian family who wanted to transfer property in a way that
texts, Christian thinkers placed those ancient works ensured that enforcement of the agreed-on terms
on their library shelves and forgot about them. (such as price or length of possession) would resort to
a contract. Contracts, most of which were verbal but
The Codification of Roman Law just as binding as written ones, invoked the power of
the law in case one party did not abide by the terms.
Early in his reign, Justinian commissioned legal Traders made the greatest use of them, but contracts
scholars to gather into one work the legislation of were also used in the transmission of property within
previous Roman emperors and the canon law of all and between families. In his lifetime, a father would
the church councils as well as the legal opinions of hand over property to children by means of a contract
Roman jurists. The project, which sought to extend but resort to the laws relating to succession and in-
the great Theodosian Code of the early fifth century, heritance to direct the distribution of his property
lasted decades, from the issuance of the first volume after death. Marriage amounted to little more than a
in 533 to the publication of the most recent laws in contract to sanction the legal union of members of
565. This Body of Civil Law provided a systematic two families so that the couple’s children would have
approach to law that had as its underlying principle: a legal right to inherit both families’ property. Because
“Justice is the constant and perpetual wish to render it provides instruments to manage relationships be-
to every one his due.” The Civil Law remained the tween people and between people and property, Ro-
law of the Byzantine Empire until the fifteenth cen- man law remains the foundation of legal systems
tury and became the foundation of every modern- throughout western Europe and the United States.
day legal system in continental Europe.
One basic distinction laid down by Justinian’s law Constantinople: The New Rome
was that between a free person and a slave. A free
person was someone endowed with the right to con- Standing under the immense dome of Hagia Sophia
duct affairs in civil society. A slave was the opposite: in Constantinople, a subject of Justinian might be for-
not quite a “thing,” but not a person either, endowed given for thinking that this was the center of the
with freedom by nature but deprived of civil rights world. Under severe financial constraints when he re-
by human society. Roman law proceeded on the con- built the basilica following its destruction in the Nika
voluted logical grounds that a slave could not own Riot of 532 (see Choice), Justinian hired two amateur
property because he was property. A free man could builders whose daring must have horrified profes-
not be property because he could own property. In sional architects of the time. Indeed, that immense
this way, when Justinian’s commissioners began to dome, 180 feet above the stone pavement, would col-
work out which ancient laws fit into their framework lapse in 558, only to be rebuilt even more steeply
of legal principles, they provided the institution of within a few years.
slavery—already long in existence—with a rationale To the ordinary person, the effect of standing un-
that governments would also rely on for more than a der the dome in the immense central nave must have
thousand years.
Family life also profoundly felt the impact of Ro-
man law. At the heart of this legal system was the
patria potestas, the legal head of household. In Jus- Body of Civil Law Justinian’s three-volume codifica-
tinian’s day, the head of the household was the tion issued between 533 and 563, containing the laws
and jurist opinions of the Roman Empire and the
guardian of everyone in his household, all of whom canons issued by church councils.
were legally subordinated to his will, including not
patria potestas (in Latin, “paternal authority”) Legal
only his family but also his servants and slaves. A authority of a head of household, usually a father, over
husband governed his wife, his children, his servants, the members of his household, including his family,
and his slaves in the same way a ruler governed his servants, and slaves.
people. In contrast to women in western Europe, contract Framework of rules and legal remedies for an
however, Byzantine women enjoyed property rights agreement.
and retained ownership over their dowries after mar-
212 CHAPTER 8 The Eastern Mediterranean, 500–1000
Hagia Sophia’s immense dome was meant to instill in the Justinian’s Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) stands out in the
visitor a sense of awe. When the Ottoman Turks converted the skyline of modern Istanbul just as it did in the sixth century.
church into a mosque in the fifteenth century, they replaced (Vanni/Art Resource, NY)
many of the mosaics of Christian imagery with Quranic quo-
tations. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY)
galleys moored in its harbor. But its very density his equal in energy, administrative ability, and shrewd-
made it vulnerable to natural disasters. In 542, the ness, ruling the empire was not an enviable task. The
same year in which an earthquake flattened parts of Lombards, a people from northern Europe, began
the city, a horrifying epidemic of bubonic plague their gradual conquest of the Italian peninsula after
devastated the population. It killed indiscriminately, Justinian’s death. By the end of the eighth century,
ceased, and then flared up again somewhere else. By they had taken most of northern Italy. Large bands of
some accounts, nearly half the population living people living beyond the borders of the empire
around the Mediterranean died during the follow- pressed harder and harder on the frontiers. Epidemics
ing thirty years. Once-bustling cities seemed empty of plague continued to weaken the empire’s economy
of residents. In the Syrian city of Antioch, a man by and reduce its population. Tensions among Chris-
the name of Evagrius left an account that reveals an tians with divergent views of Christ’s nature increased
elementary idea of contagion. and became entrenched along regional lines. The
long decline of the Byzantine Empire had begun.
Some perished by merely living with the infected,
By the time of Heraclius, in the seventh century,
others by only touching them, others by having en-
the empire was in sore need of a strong military
tered their chamber, others by frequenting public
leader. What began as a migration of Slavs into the
places. Some, having fled from the infected cities, es-
empire looked more and more like an invasion when
caped themselves, but imparted the disease to the
they resisted efforts to hold back their advances. The
healthy. . . . Some, too, who were desirous of death,
Avars, a people related to the Huns, also tried to force
on account of the utter loss of their children and
their way over the frontier. They pushed into the
friends, and with this view placed themselves as
Balkans and, by 617, had reached the outskirts of
much as possible in contact with the diseased, were
Constantinople. At the same time, the Persians on the
nevertheless not infected; as if the pestilence strug-
eastern flank chipped off pieces of Mesopotamia,
gled against their purpose.
Syria, and Armenia. In 613, the capture of Jerusalem
The high mortality rate led to hardship throughout by the Persians stung the Christian empire, particu-
the empire. Landowners took possession of lands left larly when Persian soldiers looted and destroyed the
vacant by the epidemic and ruthlessly pushed peas- Church of the Holy Sepulcher, founded by Helena,
ants off their small plots of land and into poverty. Constantine the Great’s mother, in the fourth century.
Heavy taxation forced many others to give up farm- The Persians took away with them what the faithful
ing. The landless peasants moved to urban centers in believed to be a piece of the True Cross on which Jesus
the hope of finding work or at least charity. Once had been crucified. The problem for Heraclius, then,
there, they found soaring prices and rents, but also was to stop further erosion of the empire’s territory
higher wages, because labor had become scarce. In and to reclaim land already lost, especially Jerusalem.
544, the emperor attempted to halt the rise in the cost With an almost empty treasury, Heraclius devised
of living by issuing an edict prohibiting wage and ways to generate the revenue he needed to maintain
price increases: “In the future no businessman, work- an army in the field. These methods did not make
man, or artisan in any occupation, trade, or agricul- him popular, but they helped him achieve his goals.
tural pursuit shall dare to charge a higher price or He confiscated church furnishings made of precious
wage than that of the custom prevalent from antiq- metals to melt them into much-needed coinage. He
uity.” Such stern measures in hard times barely kept a reformed the tax system, making it harsher but more
bad economic situation from becoming much worse. efficient. Extensive as these and other measures were,
Justinian, who lived until his seventies, brought
back into the empire territory it had lost; he con-
structed some of the most beautiful churches and bubonic plague Disease caused by the bacillus Yersina
pestis that attacks the lymph glands and is nearly al-
public monuments his subjects had ever seen; and he
ways fatal if not treated with antibiotics.
and his wife had averted their overthrow by mobs.
Lombards A northern German people who crossed the
Plagues and earthquakes, however, disrupted his Alps and in 572 established a kingdom based in north-
ability to lay down a solid basis for the empire’s con- ern Italy.
tinued geographical expansion and military defense. Heraclius (r. 610–641) Emperor who recovered the
Byzantine Empire’s eastern provinces and defeated the
Persian Empire.
The Empire After Justinian
Avars A people originally from western Asia who
The pressures on the empire only increased after Jus- settled in eastern Europe in the sixth century.
tinian’s death in 565. Even if his successors had been
214 CHAPTER 8 The Eastern Mediterranean, 500–1000
they were barely enough. It took Heraclius more than pilgrims. It was, and is, a harsh, forbidding desert
fifteen years to recapture all the lands lost to the Per- land. The western coastline of the Red Sea contains
sians. The situation looked grim when the Avars to the peninsula’s only fertile soil, and in the seventh
the north allied with the Persians to the east and at- century even that land was sparsely cultivated. The
tacked Constantinople. After bribing the Avars to area’s chief value was that it lay on the route from the
cease their attack, Heraclius turned his attention to Syrian and Persian market centers in the north and
the Persians. He pushed them so far back into their east to the markets across the Red Sea in Egypt and
own territory that their utter defeat in 628 took place Libya. Few cities enlivened the barren landscape.
close to their own capital of Ctesiphon. Instead of relying on agriculture, the Arabian
Humiliated, the Persians returned the relic of the peoples were nomads who depended for their food
True Cross, which Heraclius himself carried back to largely on date palms and goats. Left pretty much to
Jerusalem. In 630, the emperor entered the holy city, themselves, the people of the coastal plain, including
reportedly dressed as a humble pilgrim, walking communities of Jews, lived and worked in places
barefoot into the old, ruined Church of the Holy Sep- where caravans stopped to sell their wares. Unlike
ulcher. There he prostrated himself on the floor before the cities of Asia Minor, which were teeming with
placing the relic, now sealed in a protective container, visitors, merchants, traders, and pilgrims, Arabian
back in its original place. towns saw only traders on their way to the ferries
Neither the relic, nor the church, nor Jerusalem re- that crossed the Red Sea or pilgrims coming to wor-
mained in Christian hands for long. No sooner had ship at local shrines dedicated to gods believed to re-
Heraclius achieved his goal of regaining the territory side in sacred rocks and trees. The region seemed so
lost to the Persians than he had to face a surprising uninviting that even would-be conquerors, like the
and even more formidable threat from the south: a Romans, did not spend much time there. Indeed,
new religion called Islam. Arabian towns benefited from the disruptive warfare
to the north between the Byzantine and Persian armies,
which compelled traders to find safer southern routes
to the distant markets of Africa.
The Rise of Islam, 600–700 At the center of the town of Mecca, located about
fifty miles inland from the Red Sea, stands a fifty-
➜➜
What did Muhammad view as necessary to a worthy life? foot-high cube-shaped building called the Kaaba. It
In which ways did Muslims view the world similarly to has only one door, seven feet above the ground on its
the way Christians and Jews viewed it, and in which ways
did they view it differently? northeastern side, which leads into a room containing
only hanging lamps and inscriptions on the wall. Em-
In the late sixth century, few people in the Byzantine bedded in the outside wall of the building’s eastern
Empire remembered the ties they had once had with corner is a black rock—perhaps made of lava, or even
the people in the western half of the old Roman Em- meteoric—that today is held together by a band of sil-
pire. Not even a shared faith kept alive the bond that ver. No building is holier to Muslims than this cube,
had once existed. The demise of the western empire surrounded by a broad plaza and a covered walkway.
reoriented the Byzantines toward Syria and Palestine, It stands at the heart of Islamic ritual and at the heart
where Christianity began and where the empire’s fron- of Islam itself. Tradition has it that it was built by
tiers needed protection. In the markets of Jerusalem, Abraham, whom Muslims call “the first submitter,”
merchants from Byzantium encountered traders from the first human to submit to the will of God. Having
the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, and even as far away long served as a shrine for the local gods, the Kaaba
as India. The mix of people of many faiths and from
many cultures created an atmosphere of religious and
cultural exchange whose influence could be felt across
caravan Group of merchants traveling with their wares
the entire region. In this spiritually fertile environ- to distant markets.
ment, a new religion took root and flourished. Mecca City of Muhammad’s birth, located in the west-
ern part of the Arabian Peninsula, toward which Mus-
The Arabian Peninsula lims pray.
Kaaba Shrine in the form of a large cube—its name
Located between Africa to the west and the Persian derived from the Arabic word for cube—located in
Empire to the east, the Arabian Peninsula had long Mecca (today, in Saudi Arabia).
been accustomed to seasonal caravans of traders and
The Rise of Islam, 600–700 215
almost certainly predates the city of Mecca itself, the Quraysh tribe. Orphaned early at an early age,
which grew up around the shrine. By the end of the Muhammad had the good fortune to marry a mer-
sixth century, one large tribe or clan, the Quraysh, chant’s widow, Khadidja, for whom he was working.
dominated the town’s economy. Among the wealthi- By taking over the management of Khadidja’s trad-
est merchants in Mecca, the Quraysh also served as ing business, he improved his social standing. Occa-
political leaders. Given their role as guardians of sionally, he traveled to Palestine and Syria, where he
Mecca’s pilgrimage and caravan trade, the Quraysh encountered Christians and Jews, whose sacred writ-
elders would not have approved of anyone who ings impressed him greatly.
threatened to undermine their economic dominance, After he turned forty, Muhammad’s conception of
even if the threat came from one of their own. the world and of humanity’s duties toward God be-
gan to take clearer shape. He often withdrew to a re-
The Life of Muhammad mote place on the outskirts of Mecca to meditate. One
day, he believed he had a vision of the archangel
About five years after the death of Justinian in Con- Gabriel standing astride the horizon in the distance.
stantinople, the life of a man who would found one of
the great monotheistic religions of the world began in
this town of Mecca, far from the centers of cosmo- Muhammad (570–632) Founder of Islam; Muslims
politan living in the Byzantine Empire. Around the believe he was the last prophet in a line of biblical
year 570, Muhammad, whom Muslims call the Last prophets stretching back to Abraham.
Prophet, was born into a humble family belonging to
216 CHAPTER 8 The Eastern Mediterranean, 500–1000
Muslims include Jerusalem among the holy cities of Islam. They believe that Muhammad as-
cended to heaven from the rock covered by the dome of this mosque. (Scala /Art Resource, NY)
remained distinct from political institutions even the Muslims returned to Mecca, the Jews of Medina
where it assumed political responsibility in cities faced the choice of converting or emigrating, and
with weak governments. Consequently, a Christian most chose to emigrate. Although the first Muslims
in living somewhere in western Europe looked to the did not encounter many Christians before their con-
king for protection and justice, while a Muslim in quests took them north to Palestine and Syria, they
Damascus looked to religious leaders. Regardless of maintained a stance toward them similar to the one
these differences, both Muslims and Christians they held toward Jews.
thought of themselves in the first place as sons or This half-respectful, half-critical attitude toward
daughters of the city or province in which they were Judaism and Christianity meant that Muslims much
born. Within the Muslim and Christian worlds, local preferred Jews and Christians to adherents of poly-
culture and language distinguished people from one theistic religions yet considered Judaism and Chris-
another more than religion united them. But when tianity to be inferior to Islam. In practice, although
Muslims and Christians met, they would have re- Jews and Christians living under Islamic rule paid
garded each other first in terms of their Muslim and more taxes than Muslims, they were allowed to wor-
Christian identities. ship as they pleased as long as they did not prosely-
At first, Muslim relations with Jews and Christians tize. Labeled dhimmi, they were thus able to survive,
were friendly. The Quran suggests that Muhammad
tried to accommodate the beliefs and rituals of Ju-
daism early in his residency in Medina. But the pe- dhimmi Arabic word for people of the book—that is,
riod of tolerance did not last, since the Jews refused to Jews and Christians.
recognize Muhammad’s religious leadership. Before
The Rise of Islam, 600–700 219
and at times prosper, within Muslim society. Some ing multiple wives existed prior to Islam, but only
even became wealthy and politically influential. wealthier men with the financial resources to support
Quranic prohibitions against Muslims lending money a large household could avail themselves of the right.
at interest to fellow Muslims presented opportunities In Muhammad’s lifetime and thereafter, the Mus-
to Jewish and Christian moneylenders to offer credit lim family became an even more private realm than
to Muslim merchants. And members of both groups before. The word harem has come to mean in the
entered the employment of city governments as ad- west a group of women, including wives, concubines,
ministrators and financial managers. On the whole, and slaves, segregated in quarters closed to the out-
more Jews and Christians prospered under Muslim side world. In Arabic, however, harem means “pro-
rule than Jews or Muslims did in Christian lands. tected” or “forbidden” and refers to any space deemed
a sanctuary or refuge and closed to certain groups
Muslim Families thought to be potential threats or polluters of holy
ground. Thus, the region around Mecca and Medina
Muslim families lived according to certain rules that is “harem” to non-Muslims in the same way that
placed them within the Judeo-Christian tradition. women’s quarters in private homes are “harem” to
Like Jews, Muslims both prohibited the eating of pork men who are not closely related to the women living
and required their sons to be circumcised. Unlike there. What appears to non-Muslims as constraints
Jews, however, they banned alcohol. Sharing a fear of on women’s behavior and mobility Muslims them-
idolatry with Christians and Jews, Muslims prohib- selves perceive as protection of women.
ited images of living creatures partly on the grounds Undoubtedly, such protection felt like a burden to
that such depictions competed with God the Creator. many women. After Muhammad’s lifetime, Muslim
And like the Byzantine Christian women, Muslim laws pertaining to women grew increasingly harsh.
women wore veils in the presence of men who were Stoning became the punishment for a woman’s adul-
not their kin and were confined to sections of their tery. Women now prayed in a segregated area of the
homes where male guests were not permitted. mosque screened from the sight of men. Divorce be-
But Muslims set themselves apart from the tradi- came an option that only men could initiate. Women
tions of those older religions by allowing polygamy, had to veil themselves whenever they moved outside
the practice of multiple spouses. Muhammad set a the harem of their homes—in theory, to diminish
limit of four wives for every Muslim man, but he him- the sexual temptation they posed to men. The seclu-
self did not take more than one wife until after the sion and veiling of women had existed in certain cir-
death of his first wife, Khadidja. Islam accords a place cles prior to Muhammad’s lifetime, and the Quran
of honor to Khadidja, a capable woman who had been indicates that Muhammad’s wives followed these
married to a prosperous merchant before marrying practices. But sequestration and veiling became wide-
Muhammad. After her death, Muhammad took other spread in Islamic territory only in the period following
wives in part as a way to cement alliances with the Muhammad’s death. In the view of many Muslims,
heads of other powerful families in areas of the Ara- men and women, the veil stood for a woman’s sobri-
bian Peninsula. To mark a tribe’s acceptance of Mu- ety, modesty, and virtue. It constituted her protection
hammad’s religious and political leadership, the tribal and her badge of honor.
head would offer him a female relative in marriage. Despite the restrictions placed on them, Muslim
Muhammad’s last wife, Aisha, played a significant women played an active role in the management of
role in the power struggles among Muhammad’s suc- their family’s property. Occasionally, women even
cessors, even leading an army into battle. appeared in court to defend their own rights, al-
Before Muhammad revolutionized Arabian society though their testimony counted less than men’s. Be-
with his new code of living, women occupied a low cause men considered the proper place of women to
rung on the social ladder. They could not own prop- be in the home, many women succeeded in wielding
erty outright, and their legal rights amounted to little considerable moral authority within that sphere,
more than those of children. In this respect, they were
not much worse off than women in Christian lands,
who likewise had limited property rights and lived polygamy Practice of taking multiple spouses.
perpetually under the guardianship of a father, hus- harem (in Arabic, “sacrosanct”) A protected and invio-
band, or other male relative. As in Judaism, divorce late area, often women’s quarters in a Muslim home,
was an option in Arabian society for both men and but also the area around Mecca and Medina, forbidden
women, although men more easily initiated an end to to non-Muslims.
their marriages than women did. The practice of hav-
220 CHAPTER 8 The Eastern Mediterranean, 500–1000
particularly if they had sons whose choices in life munity. In his and his supporters’ view, the first three
they could influence. caliphs had been illegitimately chosen. Others, how-
ever, wished to reserve the office for senior members
of the Quraysh tribe. Ali’s election as caliph in 656 did
not end the disagreement. A civil war ensued be-
The Expansion of Islam, tween the supporters of Ali (the Shiites) and the
700–800 Quraysh-led majority sect of Islam (the Sunni) that
led to the defeat and murder of Ali and the beginning
➜
Identify some of the causes and consequences of Mus- of the Umayyad dynasty of caliphs in 661.
lim expansion.
The schism between the Shiites and the Sunnis
➜
Ca
Ad
nu b e Talas 751
ria
spi
CAUCA
ti c
Rome S SU S Kashgar
an S
Corsica e MOUN KHWARAZM
a TAI N S
SPAIN Constantinople FERGHANA
NIA
ea
Sardinia Aegean ME
ANDALUSIA BY Sea AR Bukhara Samarkand
ZAN AZERBAIJAN
Seville Córdoba Sicily TINE EMPIRE Oxu
s
Tunis Me Antioch Ti
Gibraltar 711 dite Crete Qum
gr
Cyprus
rranean SYRIA KHORASAN
is
Sea Damascus 635
Tripoli Yarmuch R. 632 Euph Ctesiphon Isfahan Kabul
rat
PALESTINE es 637
Jerusalem
Alexandria Cairo Kufah Lahore
Basra
(founded 969 C.E.) Kandahar
Pe
us
EGYPT Ind
rs
n Hormuz
ia
HE
AFRICA Gu SIND
lf
JA
Gu
OM lf of O m a n
Z
Medina
AN
Badr 624
ARABIAN
Re
Mecca
e
dS
PENINSULA
Arabian
l
Ni
ea
INDIAN OCEAN
MAP 8.2 The Spread of Islam After the death of Muhammad in 632, Muslim forces brought the
Arabian Peninsula, Syria, Palestine, all of northern Africa, and the Iberian peninsula under Muslim rule
within one hundred years. How much of this vast territory had once formed part of the Roman Empire?
Under Muslim rule, Monophysite Christians no longer tinople itself. Twice, from 674 to 678 and from 717 to
had to worry about persecution. The rebuilt Church of 718, Muslim armies under Umayyad caliphs laid
the Holy Sepulcher remained Christian. siege to the city. Both times they failed. The fall of
When the Muslims brought new territory under Christian Constantinople to a Muslim army was still
their rule, they continued local political bodies but seven hundred years in the future. For now, Muslim
placed them under the supervision of a small number leaders focused on extending Islam westward.
of Muslim military administrators. As a result, the Quickly Muslim armies moved west across the
newly created provinces of the Islamic empire en- North African coast, which had been under Byzan-
joyed a degree of autonomy that lessened the humili- tine rule since Justinian’s army brought down the
ation of being conquered. At the height of its power, Vandal kingdom in the mid-sixth century. The Mus-
during the relatively short period of political and reli- lims’ advance succeeded in part because of the lead-
gious unity from the death of Muhammad to the ers’ ability to recruit new soldiers along the way, and
early eighth century, the Muslim world embraced the Berber people in North Africa were willing con-
distinct cultural units whose people all turned in verts. In 711, Muslim forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad, a
prayer toward Mecca.
Berbers An indigenous people of North Africa in
modern Algeria and Tunis.
Across Africa and into Spain
Tariq ibn Ziyad (d. 720) Muslim general who led the
Having conquered the eastern provinces of the Byzan- invasion and conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.
tine Empire, the Muslims set out to capture Constan-
222 CHAPTER 8 The Eastern Mediterranean, 500–1000
general of Berber origins, crossed the narrow straits away caliphates encouraged the development of local
from Africa to Spain, seizing the mountain that even- cultural traditions. Islamic religious unity had ended
tually bore his name, Gibraltar (Gibr al-Tariq, Arabic shortly after Muhammad’s death. Now the political
for “Mountain of Tariq”). Basing his army there, Tariq unity of Islam was at an end.
advanced to conquer Spain, under the rule of Visi-
gothic kings since the beginning of the sixth century. Islamic Civilization
His first conquest was Toledo, the capital of the Visi-
goths’ kingdom. By 714, he had conquered all of Spain. From Persia in the east, through Mesopotamia and
To the Christians in neighboring Gaul, the Muslims Arabia, north to Palestine and Syria, west through
appeared unstoppable, but in 732 the Franks stopped Egypt, arcing across North Africa and penetrating
them at Tours. Spain to the Pyrenees, Muslims ruled a vast portion of
When news of the conquest of Spain reached Da- the old Roman Empire—more, in fact, than Justinian
mascus, the Umayyad caliph placed the territory under had in his control when the Byzantine Empire was at
the command of the governor of North Africa and or- its greatest extent. As the Muslims came into contact
dered that land be distributed to supporters. The first with older civilizations, they absorbed aspects of these
allotments went to Muslim military leaders, but Ber- cultures that enriched Islamic thought, art, and society.
bers from North Africa and Arabs from the Arabian Muslim philosophers translated many philosophical
Peninsula, including members of the Quraysh tribe, and medical works of ancient Greek writers, which
also migrated to Spain to claim land for themselves. A had survived in Syrian monasteries. Astronomers pro-
fifth of all revenue from Spain belonged to the caliph in vided maritime traders with the elements of celestial
Damascus, and his portion passed through the hands navigation. Mathematicians studied Euclid’s geom-
of the governor of North Africa, an arrangement that etry and developed trigonometry and calculus. The
did much to increase the governor’s wealth. In time, Arabic origin of the word algebra demonstrates how
the provinces of Spain and North Africa became sepa- much western mathematics owes to Muslim scientists.
rate administrative districts, and governors of Spain The very concept of zero, unknown in the Roman sys-
were allowed to keep most of the revenue that once tem of numerals, was developed by these thinkers.
had gone to North Africa and Damascus. Later, in the fourteenth century, when Arabic numerals
Resistance to the Muslims in Spain was minimal in were adopted in the west, all kinds of new mathemat-
the first centuries of their rule. As long as Christians ical calculations became possible.
paid a poll tax and did not proselytize or in any other Through intellectual pursuits and law, Islamic
way undermine the Muslim faith, they could keep society achieved a cultural unity that was visually ap-
their property and practice their faith. Muslim au- parent in its distinctive style. Rejecting representa-
thorities offered the same condition to the Jews, who tions of human figures, Islamic art favored a highly
had suffered from periodic persecutions under the ornamental form of decoration that used brilliant col-
Visigoths and may have aided the Muslims during ors, images of lush foliage, and elaborate curved lines
their conquests. to display calligraphic Quranic quotations on manu-
From the mid-eighth century on, the empire cre- script pages, ceramics, metalwork, and the walls of
ated by the caliphs proved very difficult to rule from buildings. The architecture and decoration of mosques
one center. The same techniques of conquest that al- and public and private structures in Islamic Spain at
lowed for a degree of local autonomy also weakened
a centralized Islamic empire, with the caliph ruling
Gibraltar (from Jabal Tariq, “mountain of Tariq”)
from a capital. Problems in long-distance communi- Mountain at the southern tip of Spain.
cations and regular tax collection plagued the caliphs Tours Battle in 732 in which the Franks defeated Mus-
just as they had the Roman emperors. When the lims advancing north from Spain.
Umayyads were overthrown in 750 and the new Ab- Abbasid dynasty Second line of hereditary caliphs,
basid dynasty moved its capital to Baghdad, Muslim who came to power in 750 and moved the political
leaders in Spain took advantage of the political chaos center of Islam to Baghdad.
in Syria to establish a caliphate of their own in the caliphate Muslim state ruled by a caliph.
Iberian city of Cordoba. For the first time since its in- Iberia Peninsula in southwest Europe today compris-
ception, Islam had no political center or single caliph. ing Spain and Portugal.
The Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad looked to expand Pyrenees Mountain chain separating France from the
eastward. The caliphs of Spain aspired to crossing the Iberian Peninsula.
Pyrenees into the Frankish kingdoms. These break-
The Expansion of Islam, 700–800 223
one end of the Mediterranean displayed features sim- Central Asian traders had brought from China to Bagh-
ilar to those found in Syria at the other end. dad the technique of papermaking, whose inexpensive
The greatest masterpieces of Muslim literature— manufacture made manuscripts and notebooks avail-
lyrical and passionate love poems, biting political able more cheaply to literate people.
satire, and profound religious enquiry—were written Though centralized control was lax, the one fea-
during the Abbasid dynasty, after 750, when a high ture all Muslim provinces shared was a new language
standard of composition in the Arabic language was of religion, learning, and administration. When the
attained. The poetry of Abu Nuwas, considered the peoples around the southern rim of the Mediter-
best in that period, reflected the urban culture that ranean accepted the Muslim religion of their new
flourished in Baghdad. The popularity of this poet’s rulers, they had to learn Arabic, the language of the
drinking songs makes it clear that, prohibitions against Quran. Because Muslim leaders had decreed that the
drinking alcohol notwithstanding, life in Muslim word of God as revealed in the Quran must remain
cities had much in common with cities in the west. untranslated, Arabic was the only language of wor-
Following its start in the town of Mecca, Muslim civ- ship and study. Those who did not convert had incen-
ilization continued to be urban and commercial. In fact, tives to learn Arabic, too, since the Muslims used it in
commercial prosperity underlay much of the wealth their political administration. Thus, the Muslim ad-
and power of Muslim society. The Abbasid caliphs pro- vances of the seventh and eighth centuries brought
moted trade and intellectual pursuits in all regions
regardless of religion. Muslim prosperity drew mer-
chants from western Europe, particularly from the Ital- Abu Nuwas (ca. 747–813) Poet of Persian descent who
ian port cities, to the ports and markets of Egypt, lived in Abbasid Baghdad, considered one of the great-
Palestine, and Syria. The traders from far away brought est poets in the Arabic language.
ideas and skills as well as products. By 793, for instance,
224 CHAPTER 8 The Eastern Mediterranean, 500–1000
about an Arabization of conquered lands that was lin- became, and would remain, in religious, political,
guistic as well as religious. Arabic, once spoken only and cultural terms, a Muslim land.
in the Arabian Peninsula, became the dominant lan- The Byzantine emperors relied on three methods
guage wherever Islam made itself the law. In the to hold off the threats to the empire’s borders. First, to
eighth and ninth centuries, however, with political maintain the Byzantine army in the face of diminish-
unity increasingly fragmented, the Arabic language ing revenues, lost when Egypt, Syria, and eastern
took on local characteristics, each region developing Anatolia fell to Muslim forces, Heraclius’s grandson,
a dialect of its own. Constans II, divided the empire into administrative
units called themes and placed each theme under a
military governor who commanded a battalion gar-
risoned there. As each battalion had to provision it-
Middle Byzantine Period, self from the revenue of the theme in which it was
600–1071 stationed, the burden of maintaining an army of three
hundred thousand was distributed across the empire.
➜➜
In what ways did the Byzantine Empire decline? The system also partially relieved the imperial gov-
How did debate at the highest levels of political and ernment in Constantinople from having to adminis-
church authority over the use of icons in worship touch
ordinary people? ter such far-flung provinces.
Second, Constans’s successors extended his efforts
The Muslim conquest of the southern and eastern re- to strengthen Byzantine defenses by building a navy
gions of the Byzantine Empire brought far-reaching and reorganizing the cavalry. Muslim Arabs were
and permanent changes. With the loss of Syria, Pales- now raiding the Anatolian coast, coming uncomfort-
tine, and Egypt, three of the most important cities of ably close to Constantinople by way of the Darda-
Christianity—Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria— nelles Strait. In response, the imperial navy made
no longer had Christian rulers. In losing them, the effective use of Greek fire, which had been invented
Byzantine Empire also lost important revenue. Despite by a Christian refugee from Syria. Believed to be made
territorial decline, the Byzantine Empire had energetic of petroleum-based substances that water could not
emperors in the seventh and eighth centuries. Sending extinguish, Greek fire launched from Byzantine ships
missionaries north to convert the people living along forced the Muslim Arabs to withdraw. Though Greek
the Volga River, they spread Byzantine culture. Some fire was dangerous to launch and used sparingly, its
emperors attempted to shore up their defenses along lethal reputation constrained Byzantium’s enemies
the frontiers and to strengthen the imperial army. But for the time being. Beginning in the seventh century,
societies need more than missionaries and military heavy cavalry, known as cataphracts and recruited
might to prosper. As Muslim raids from the south and mainly from the more affluent levels of the peasantry,
Slavic harassment from the north continued, sheer sur- played an important part in the Byzantine land forces.
vival became the emperors’ most pressing priority. Together, the Byzantine fleet and cavalry gained for
These external pressures, in addition to more outbreaks
of plague, had economic, military, and cultural reper-
cussions that made life precarious and strained the em-
pire itself, in what is known as its middle period. Constans II (630–668) Emperor responsible for exten-
sive administrative and military reforms of the Byzan-
tine Empire.
Losses and Reforms themes Administrative units of the Byzantine Empire
A mere four years after the death of the founder of Is- corresponding to the dispersal of military battalions
lam, in 632, the caliph Umar led Muslim forces to con- throughout the empire.
front the emperor Heraclius’s army at the river of Dardanelles Strait The water passage connecting the
northern Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmora and
Yarmuck in Syria. Muslim chroniclers of the time es-
Constantinople.
timated that tens of thousands of Arabian combatants
Greek fire Petroleum-based substance that ignited
faced hundreds of thousands Byzantine, Armenian, on contact with water; used by the Byzantine army
Mesopotamian, and Syrian soldiers in a showdown in warfare.
for possession of the Byzantine province. Despite cataphracts Units of heavy cavalry that dominated
the daunting odds against them, the Muslim forces Byzantine military tactics on land by the seventh
smashed their opponents, and Heraclius had no choice century.
but to retreat to the safety of Constantinople. Syria
Middle Byzantine Period, 600–1071 225
Invented in the seventh century by Callimachus, a Syrian engineer, Greek fire was a mixture formed from petro-
leum, sulfur, saltpeter, and lime that ignited on contact with water. (Institut Amatller d’Art Hispanic)
the empire a reputation as a formidable military state. and Muslim lands continued in the eastern Mediter-
The Byzantine Empire also became known for its ranean, while commercial traffic toward western Eu-
third method of protecting itself: military intelligence rope had begun to decline even before the advent of
and subterfuge. Military leaders created dissension Muslim merchants. In contrast to the great number of
among Byzantium’s enemies through spying and cities in the Muslim world, however, the Byzantine
bribing one foe to attack another. Empire had very few urban centers apart from the
The administrative reforms and strengthening of capital city. Rarely did Byzantine traders venture
the military in the empire gave the impression to Mus- with their merchandise very far from Constantinople.
lim and western Christian observers of a large super- Instead, traders came to them.
power with unlimited resources. In reality, by the end But when the Middle Byzantine period is compared
of the eighth century, the Byzantine Empire had been to the fifth and sixth centuries, a decline in almost all
reduced in size and population. If there was more re- aspects of society can be seen. Most catastrophically,
ligious unity, it was only because the loss of Syria, periodic outbreaks of the plague reduced population
Palestine, and Egypt had removed the major dissenters everywhere. By the ninth century, Constantinople’s
from the orthodoxy of the eastern church. What re- population had dropped from nearly 500,000 to
mained of the old Roman Empire was scarcely recog- around 100,000. Nearly every other city in the empire
nizable to its inhabitants or to its enemies. similarly shrank in size and population. Some disap-
peared altogether. Athens no longer resembled at all
The Waning of Byzantine Society the classical city-state that had produced the philoso-
phers Socrates and Plato and graceful temples like
Though its territory was shrinking, the Byzantine Em- the Parthenon. Only the city of Thessalonica pros-
pire from the seventh to the eleventh centuries had a pered a little in hard times. Most people resided in
stronger economy than did western Europe, and its small villages out in the countryside, where liveli-
subjects had a higher standard of living. The city of hoods and diets were restricted. Villagers ate bread
Constantinople, the center of urban life, retained its from local grain as well as beans, honey, and olives.
awe-inspiring powers. Long-distance trade in luxury For meat and dairy products, they relied on sheep and
goods and agricultural products between Christian goats. Imported spices, dried fruits, and other products
226 CHAPTER 8 The Eastern Mediterranean, 500–1000
were rarely available outside of Constantinople, so religion, could count for so much, given that gender,
the difference in the quality of life between Constanti- birthplace, language, and social rank sometimes made
nopolitans and provincial peasants was stark. more of a difference in daily life than did prayers and
The high level of cultural and intellectual expres- devotions. Nevertheless, religion became the stan-
sion attained during the Roman Peace was no longer dard that Christians and Muslims carried into battle
possible. Higher education had mostly disappeared against each other over the succeeding centuries.
by the seventh century, after Justinian I closed Plato’s
Academy in Athens, but few people had access to ed- The Controversy over Icons
ucation at any level. The primary and secondary
schools that remained offered practical vocational The extraordinary variety of sights, colors, and sounds
training. But from then on, education, which had al- common today make it difficult to imagine the spec-
ways been private, declined. By the seventh century, tacular impact a church interior could have had on an
it would have been very unusual to meet a man of ordinary person in the Byzantine Empire. A woman
great learning anywhere outside of a small social cir- coming to pray for her sick child, for example, would
cle in Constantinople. Even church intellectuals did have paused at the entrance to let her eyes adjust to
not exhibit the mastery of texts and theological think- the darkness. There were few windows, and the only
ing that earlier Christian thinkers had. light came from candles, whose smoke stains had
As fewer people could read and write, the quality made the interior even darker over time. But then, il-
of literature declined. Byzantine writers produced no luminated by candlelight, she might have stopped to
works of enduring fame or merit. Even the copying of study the stern faces of the early church fathers, de-
ancient manuscripts to preserve classical works fell picted on the walls in frescoes. If the church had
behind, and many writings of the ancient Athenians wealthy patrons, she could have gazed up at scenes
thus disappeared. Knowledge of Latin became scarce. from the life of Christ, portrayed in richly decorated
Byzantine lawyers read Justinian I’s great Body of mosaics against a background of gold. Above her,
Civil Law not in the language in which it was writ- embedded into the surface of the central dome, there
ten—Latin—but in a simplified Greek version. The might be a huge mosaic of a forbidding rather than a
Christians of the east read the Bible in Greek, the lan- compassionate Christ, in keeping with the Byzantine
guage in which most of the books of the New Testa- emphasis of Christ as ruler rather than as dispenser
ment had been written. But very few could read at all, of mercy. At eye level, she would have seen icons,
and those who could were most often clergy. To a paintings made on panels of wood showing Christ;
merchant from Baghdad—a city famous for its writ- his mother, the Virgin Mary; or the saints—all close
ers, physicians, astronomers, and artists—Byzantine enough to touch or to kiss in the fervency of prayer.
culture would have seemed unsophisticated and, if The flickering candlelight would animate the gold
he was a snob, lacking in taste. and multicolored pigments in these portraits. It is lit-
Increasingly over the sixth, seventh, and eighth cen- tle wonder that, for many, these icons made visible
turies, the Mediterranean populations of the old Ro- the presence of the holy figures they represented. In
man Empire made distinctions between themselves her devotions, the mother of the sick child may have
and others. How people defined themselves depended prayed to the Virgin in the icon, taking comfort in the
on whom they were defining themselves in relation to. Virgin’s closeness even as the church interior evoked
A fisherman living in the eighth century in the port city in her a deep sense of awe and humility.
of Antioch, situated on the coastline where Asia Minor By the middle of the eighth century, however,
meets Syria, might have thought of himself as a Chris- people’s attachment to icons had made some high-
tian when he was dealing with the tax collectors of his ranking members of Byzantine society uneasy. Most
Muslim rulers. But as a Monophysite, he knew he prominently, Emperor Leo III was preoccupied with
would not be welcomed in lands ruled by Christians. the biblical commandment against the worship of
He spoke to his Muslim and Jewish neighbors in Ara-
maic or Arabic, but he did not know Greek well
enough to talk to visiting Christian and Jewish traders church fathers Early Christian writers, such as Augus-
from the empire or farther west. All the new political tine, Ambrose, Jerome, and Leo the Great.
and religious divisions apparent in the world made life icon A representation of sacred figures on wood pan-
very complicated and confusing. It was difficult to els, mosaics, or wall paintings.
know where people’s allegiances lay. Leo III (r. 717–741) Byzantine emperor who took the
In either the Christian or Muslim worlds, the won- first steps toward the prohibition of icons.
der was that any one facet of a person’s identity, like
Middle Byzantine Period, 600–1071 227
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Church Councils Condemn and Restore the Use
of Icons
Although the iconoclastic movement lasted one hundred years, it had an impact
that can be partially measured by how very few icons made prior to 730 survived
past the ninth century. Thousands of icons cherished by men and women
throughout the empire were destroyed when Leo III forbade the use of icons in
liturgical services. Painters closed their workshops. Families risked hiding their
beloved icons or surrendered them to authorities to be destroyed. Imperial
troops cleared monasteries of the icons that people had traveled great distances
on pilgrimage to visit. Few icons, mostly those housed in remote monasteries,
such as St. Catherine’s in the Sinai peninsula or in Russia, escaped destruction.
The first selection here, from the Council of Constantinople’s condemnation of
icons in 754, sets out the rationale for the banning of icons. The second selection,
from the Council of Nicaea in 787, explains the council’s reasons for restoring the
veneration of icons.
➜ Who are meant by “crea-
ture” and “Creator”? From the Council of Constantinople in 754
➜ Satan misguided men, so that they worshipped the creature instead of
the Creator. ➜ The Mosaic law and the prophets cooperated to undo this ruin;
➜ What is the basis of the but in order to save mankind thoroughly, God sent his own Son, who turned us
argument against icons?
away from error and the worshipping of idols, and taught us the worshipping
of God in spirit and in truth. As messengers of his saving doctrine, he left us his
➜ If demiurgos means Apostles and disciples, and these adorned the church, his Bride, with his glorious
doctrines. This ornament of the church the holy Fathers and the six Ecumenical
“maker,” who does the term
refer to in the document? Councils have preserved inviolate. ➜ But the before-mentioned demiurgos of
wickedness could not endure the sight of this adornment, and gradually brought
back idolatry under the appearance of Christianity. ➜ As then Christ armed his
➜ Who are the “faithful Apostles against the ancient idolatry with the power of the Holy Spirit, and sent
Emperors”? them out into all the world, so has he awakened against the new idolatry his ser-
vants our faithful Emperors, and endowed them with the same wisdom of the
Holy Spirit. . . .
➜ What sinful gain does the ➜ What avails, then, the folly of the painter, who from sinful love of gain
painter derive from icons? depicts that which should not be depicted—that is, with his polluted hands he
tries to fashion that which should only be believed in the heart and confessed with
the mouth? He makes an image and calls it Christ. The name Christ signifies God
and man. Consequently it is an image of God and man, and consequently he has in
his foolish mind, in his representation of the created flesh, depicted the Godhead
which cannot be represented, and thus mingled what should not be mingled. Thus
he is guilty of a double blasphemy—the one in making an image of the Godhead,
and the other by mingling the Godhead and manhood.
church of God. . . , as well as the image of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus
Christ, of our undefiled Lady the Holy Mother of God, of the angels worthy of
honour, and of all the holy and pious men. For the more frequently they are
seen by means of pictorial representation the more those who behold them are
aroused to remember and desire the prototypes and to give them greeting and
worship of honour—but not the true worship of our faith which befits only the
divine nature—but to offer them both incense and candles, in the same way as to
the form of the venerable and life-giving Cross and to the holy gospel books and
to the other sacred objects, as was the custom even of the Ancients.
controversy was at an end. Symbolically, Irene re- paneled with slabs of purple marble where he was
placed the Christ icon at the Chalke Gate, but very born. In 788, his mother sent a commission of judges
few other icons had survived. Irene’s popularity rose, throughout the empire to find him a wife from among
in large part because the people of the empire viewed his subjects. With a list of ideal standards in hand, the
her as responsible for restoring their beloved icons. judges measured the physical and moral qualities of
young aristocratic women presented to them for in-
The Empress Irene spection. These bride shows produced about thirteen
possible candidates, from which Irene chose Maria, a
When, in 769, Emperor Constantine V had chosen young woman from the province of Armenia, to be
Irene to marry his son Leo, designated heir to the im- her son’s wife. The marriage turned out badly, in part
perial throne, the young woman from a provincial because Constantine saw his wife as his mother’s ally.
family in Athens must have been terrified. Life in the After having two daughters but no son to succeed him,
great palace complex in Constantinople, a labyrinth Constantine divorced Maria and married Theodote,
of reception rooms, galleries, gardens, churches, sta- his mistress, actions that church leaders strongly con-
bles, and military barracks, would mean an unending demned but were unable to prevent.
series of exhausting ceremonies. From now on her In 790, with the support of military regiments un-
days would be filled with prescribed movements and happy with Irene’s rule, Constantine took control of
rituals, with coronations, judicial sessions, receptions the government, alienating key sectors of Byzantine
for dignitaries, commemorative Masses, holy feast society. By 792, Irene had managed to rally enough
days, and other occasions that created a mystical aura support for her return to the position of empress
around the emperor’s person. So elaborate had the mother. Constantine had no choice but to allow his
public and private court rituals become that specially mother a place in his court. Within a few years, sup-
trained courtiers oversaw their performance and in- port for Constantine had once again eroded. Rela-
structed the imperial family in their proper roles. tions between mother and son became so tense in 797
The court specialists who trained Irene were likely that Constantine fled, was captured, and, on the or-
tall, long-limbed, blond, and beardless eunuchs. Since der of his mother, blinded, a common punishment for
they were unable to procreate, the eunuchs were conspirators and political rivals. He did not die, but
trusted with access to the women’s quarters, acting Irene ruled the empire alone for five more years.
as servants and advisers to the female members of However, important segments of the army were still
the imperial family. Irene would spend much of her opposed to being ruled by a woman, and Irene’s own
life largely in the company of these court servants, connivances contributed to the growing instability
many of whom she appointed to key positions in her of the throne and the empire. A group of military
government.
The empress Irene, once regent, enjoyed the power
she wielded while her son was underage. Unlike pre- feast day Holiday marking a religious date, like the
vious imperial mothers who promoted their sons’ in- birth of Jesus or the birthday of a saint.
terests, she had no intention of letting her son assume bride shows Presentation of prospective brides to im-
his role as senior emperor. Although of age to assume perial representatives charged with finding a bride for
full control of the state, Constantine lived under a an unmarried emperor or heir to the throne.
form of house arrest in Porphyra, the imperial palace
230 CHAPTER 8 The Eastern Mediterranean, 500–1000
commanders deposed her and installed one of their Although the Rus supplied a relatively reliable source
own as emperor. Exiled to an island in the Aegean Sea, of troops and once, in 989, even rescued the emperor
Irene died eight months after her deposition in 802. The from a plot, they also (much like the barbarian contin-
son she had had blinded outlived her by a few years. gents of the Roman army in earlier centuries) were
Irene’s reign was an experiment that was not re- increasingly attracted to Byzantine salaries and
peated. For the rest of the Middle Ages, no other Byzantine culture—and were an increasing menace.
woman in the Byzantine Empire or in western Eu- Conversion to Christianity seemed the best way to
rope came as close as she had to exercising the full deal with the peoples north of the border. When the
power of a monarch. Byzantines sent missionaries, Christianity took root
in Kiev. The brothers Cyril and Methodius are cred-
A Reorientation to the North ited with introducing Christian worship in Slavonic,
the language of the people they missionized, and
Even as Byzantine authority and control were declin- providing the Slavs with an alphabet derived from
ing, Byzantine culture was expanding in response to the Greek, called Cyrillic. In 988, after missionaries
continued threats on its northern border. Over the brought Christianity to neighboring peoples, Kiev
tenth century, the Kievan Rus, a Scandinavian-Slavic also became a Christian land when its rulers and
people, pushed deep into the Byzantine Empire to people converted, and Byzantine culture now pene-
raid, trade, and settle. On trading expeditions, they trated beyond the Volga River. Ancient customs were
brought timber, furs, and slaves from the north and prohibited; like Christians elsewhere, the Rus buried
took back with them silver in the form of coin and their dead in the ground, in hopes of bodily resurrec-
vessels. When raiding, they carried their terror far- tion. But as much as the Byzantine emperor and the
ther and farther into Byzantium. They continued patriarch of Constantinople would have liked to
their ancestors’ tradition of taking captives to sell in bring the Rus completely under the control of the
the ports where they found customers. Their attempts eastern church, the new Kievan church instead devel-
to settle in the interior caused the displacement of oped its own liturgical customs and language, Old
people and chaos in the empire. Church Slavonic.
Whether the Rus traded or raided, all observers, Meanwhile, in the south, the Muslim threat
Muslims and Christians alike, reported the harsh con- strengthened. By the beginning of the ninth century,
ditions in which they lived. Groups of ten or twenty, the Byzantine Empire encompassed little more than
crammed into small wooden structures along the Anatolia and the mainland of what is today Greece.
Volga River, engaged in sexual behavior that greatly Then Seljuk Turks, newcomers from the steppes of
shocked Christian and Muslim visitors. Women wore Asia, threatened even Anatolia. When they soundly
pendants from their neck that indicated the social rank defeated the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert in
of the husbands. From childhood, their breasts were 1071, the Byzantine Empire lost its core territory. With
bound to discourage their growth. Equally shocking only the Greek peninsula south of the Danube River
was the Rus custom of cremating their dead in boats. under its control, plus the islands of Crete and Cyprus,
A wealthy man could count on sailing into the after- the emperor decided to seek assistance from the west.
life with his horse, dog, and one of his slave women,
who would be slain and laid beside him. When all
was ready, the boat with all its contents was set on fire
and shoved into the sea. The advent of Christianity, Rus Scandinavian-Slavic people who established them-
with its emphasis on bodily resurrection, slowly selves in Novgorod and Kiev by the late ninth century.
changed these customs. Cyril (ca. 827–869) and Methodius (ca. 825–885) Mis-
To confront the problem of the Rus pressing against sionaries and brothers sent to the Kievan Rus to over-
see their conversion; they created the Cyrillic alphabet.
their border, the Byzantine emperors devised a three-
pronged strategy: diplomacy, military recruitment, Cyrillic alphabet System of letters, named for the
ninth-century missionary Cyril, used to write Ukrain-
and conversion. Diplomacy seemed the wisest course ian, Russian, Bulgarian, and other Slavic languages.
to all observers at the time and, in fact, did prevent Seljuk Turkic people from the steppes of Central Asia
the Rus from engulfing the empire. In the face of at- who migrated westward into Byzantine territory and
tacks and threats of siege, the emperors continued eventually converted to Islam.
granting trading privileges, but these only stimulated Manzikert Battle in 1071, in which Seljuk Turkic forces
the Rus to seek new advantages. Ultimately, the Rus defeated the Byzantine army and extended their con-
extended their dominion over territory along the trol into Anatolia.
Volga and in Bulgaria. Military recruitment also failed.
Summary 231
How would a Christian traveler know he or she was in also shared in the acquisition of a new language of wor-
a Muslim city? ship, Arabic, that allowed them all, no matter where
➜
How did Byzantine and Muslim authorities each deal they lived, to read the same holy text. A religion that re-
with religious diversity? lied on one language stood in strong contrast to Chris-
➜
When the memory of the Roman past receded, what tianity, whose sacred texts and commentaries existed in
cultures emerged and spread beyond the old empire’s
borders?
both Greek and Latin. Fewer and fewer Christians
could read both. While Christians unsuccessfully
sought unity of belief and practice, Muslims also
The people of the eastern empire still thought of them- fought unsuccessfully to maintain the unity they began
selves as Roman in the ninth century, but so much had with. The division between the Sunnis and Shiites and
changed in the preceding three centuries that a Latin- the breakaway caliphates in the eighth century sig-
speaking resident of the city of Rome would not have naled the end of religious and political unity in Islam.
understood the Greek-speaking inhabitants of Con- By the eleventh century, only the most educated
stantinople, “the New Rome.” Rumors of barbarian clergy members would have remembered that the
kingdoms to the west and the north circulated among empire had once been united under one Christian
the sophisticated members of Byzantine society, but emperor. Nearly everyone had forgotten the imperial
no one knew much about them. They were too far past. For a time, the eastern and western halves of the
away for anyone to care deeply. More important to old empire could not agree on whether to allow icons
them were local issues—taxes, trade goods, and the in liturgical services. The empress Irene gained last-
precious icons that they once again prayed before. ing praise for ending the official ban on their use, but
Disagreements over the nature of Christ had not she herself alienated the traditional military elements
diminished. The Christians of sixth-century Constan- of Byzantine society, who forced her off the throne in
tinople had very strong and conflicting opinions 801. The Greek alphabet and the rites of the eastern
about Jesus’s humanity and divinity, which Emperor church traveled with missionaries to the land of the
Justinian and Empress Theodora at first tried to ig- Slavs and the Kievan Rus in the tenth century.
nore. Eventually, after the Nika Riot disrupted the Increasingly, sacred languages, practices, and lead-
capital in 532, the emperor suppressed those who dis- ers divided the people of the old Roman Empire. Re-
agreed with church doctrine, as threatening to Chris- ligion was now a matter of loyalty as much as it was
tian unity. Ironically, the regions where the majority of belief.
of Christians did not follow church teachings about
Christ’s nature gained freedom of belief only when
they came under the rule of people of another faith al-
together, the Muslims. ➜
Thinking Back, Thinking Ahead ➜
Founded by Muhammad, who recited what he be-
lieved to be God’s word to humanity, Islam drew on Given their political strengths and weaknesses,
Jewish and Christian traditions, but the new religion how do you think the three civilizations—west-
had from its start a firmer political and cultural foun- ern European, Byzantine, and Islamic—will ne-
dation in the Arabian Peninsula than Christianity had gotiate access to Mediterranean trade and
enjoyed in the Roman Empire. After an initial period engage in cultural and religious exchange after
of conflict between believers and nonbelievers, the the year 1000?
founder of Islam united the people of the Arabian
232 CHAPTER 8 The Eastern Mediterranean, 500–1000
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Sunnis and Shiites
In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, distinctions between the Sunni and the Shiite sects of
Islam achieved a higher level of visibility in the west than ever before. Unfortunately, it has taken war and
acts of terrorism in the United States and abroad to spark interest in the history of Islam, despite the mil-
lions of U.S. citizens who are Muslim. The revolution in Iran in 1979; the wars conducted by Iraq’s leader,
Saddam Hussein, on neighboring Iran and his own nation’s Shiite population in the 1980s; and conflicts
between Iraq’s Sunni and Shiite populations in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion in 2003 have shown that
what began as a dispute over the caliphate in the seventh century has evolved over the centuries into diver-
gent traditions of spiritual authority.
The majority of the world’s Muslims—900 million, by some estimates—belong to the Sunni sect, which
traditionally favored choosing its leaders from among Mecca’s Quraysh elite. Today, in contrast to Shiite
Muslims, who believe their leaders (imams) must be direct descendants of Muhammad through Ali and his
sons, Sunni Muslims in nations with secular rulers select their religious leaders through consensus. The
prosperity of Sunni Muslim nations ranges widely, from oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and
Qatar to countries with great disparities of wealth, such as Morocco, Algeria, and Malaysia. Shiites have
faced discrimination in many Sunni countries where they are the minority, most notably in Saddam Hus-
sein’s Iraq, where they made up the majority of the population.
The 60 or 70 million Shiites around the world represent approximately 10 percent of the world’s Muslims.
They constitute a minority in most Islamic countries, where Sunnis form the majority. The first modern Shiite
state, established in Iran in 1979 after the overthrow of the U.S.-supported shah (an ancient Persian word
meaning “king”), is considered by most western observers to be governed by Shiite imams, who have the
power to overrule the country’s constitutionally elected president and parliament. Within Islam, the Shiites’
reputation for protecting the poor and the weak contributed to the sect’s growth among poor and op-
pressed populations, while the Sunni sect remained dominant among ruling elites.
Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Shiites have dominated the newly constituted government there. By
2007, tensions between the country’s Shiite majority and Sunni minority had led many observers to consider
Iraq to be in a state of civil war.
Suggested Readings
Ahmed, Leila. Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots cessible introductory overview to the women rulers of the
of a Modern Debate. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, Middle Byzantine period by a scholar of great erudition.
1993. An examination of the position of women in Muslim so- Lings, Martin. Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest
cieties, past and present, by a prominent scholar of Islam. Sources. Rev. ed. Inner Traditions, 2006. An engrossing narra-
Browning, Robert. The Byzantine Empire. Washington, D.C.: tive of Muhammad’s life that relies on the Quran and other an-
Catholic University of America Press, 1992. A combined politi- cient Muslim sources.
cal and cultural history of Byzantium by one of the finest schol- Moorehead, John. Justinian. New York: Longman, 1994. The best
ars of the Byzantine Empire. starting point for an introduction to the emperor and his reign.
Evans, James A. S. The Empress Theodora: Partner of Justinian. Peters, Francis E. The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca
Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002. A good overview of and the Holy Places. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Theodora’s life and political influence in the reign of Justinian I. Press, 1996. Fascinating descriptions and photographs of the
Herrin, Judith. Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzan- rituals enacted during the pilgrimage, past and present.
tium. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2004. An ac-
Websites 233
Websites
Primary documents for the Byzantine Empire, Internet Internet Medieval Sourcebook, Islam, at www.fordham.edu/
Medieval Sourcebook, Byzantium, at: www.fordham.edu/ halsall/sbook1d.html
halsall/sbook1c.html Links to art history sites that offer excellent illustrations of
Accessible and useful primary sources for the history and reli- Byzantine and Muslim civilizations, Art History Resources on
gion of Islam, the Web, at http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html
234
CHAPTER
The Kingdoms of
Western Europe,
500–1000
CHAPTER OUTLINE
ES
FINNS
kingdom among themselves. They continued the Frankish S I B E R I A
ED
E
S
R
SW
inheritance custom of dividing kingdoms equally among male
O
SCOTLAND N Frankish Kingdom, 768
heirs. Looking at the map, what
North
do you think were the disad-
Sea
vantages of dividing Charlemagne’s empire? Novgorod Areas conquered by Charlemagne, by 814
IRELAND Whitby Tributary peoples
DANISH Baltic
ES
S
MARCH Byzantine Empire, 814
T
AL
ENGLAND Sea
L
W
A T L A NT I C
A
London KIEVAN VOLGA Muslim territory, ca. 850
B
BULGARS
OCEAN Canterbury
DE
RS
SAXONY
804
PRUS
Vis
RUS
Kievan Rus, ca. 888
N
F LA tu
E lb
Rouen Aachen
la
Paris AUSTRASIA
ES
IBU
NEUSTRIA
POL
e
KHAZAR KHANATE
in
Kiev Syrda
T AR
Tours Dn
Rh
ALEMANNIA i ep rya
AQUITAINE er Do
YS
Lyons
BURGUNDY BAVARIA
788
SLAVS n Aral
LA
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AR
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ne
Po
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ISTRIA
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AG
LOMBARDY Samarkand
P L ES
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MARCH
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Marseilles KHANATE
AL
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811 Ravenna
r
Am
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STATES A
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CALIPHATE
Black Sea
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Córdoba Rome
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BENEVENTO
Tyrrhenian
TS
Medi
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Ceuta Constantinople ARMENIA
ter Sea
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Palermo Ionian
ne Sea
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n
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Se Eu
a phra
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B Damascus
A
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P E N I N S U L A Ara b ia n
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INDIAN
0 400 800 Mi.
Aden OCEAN
235 235
236 CHAPTER 9 The Kingdoms of Western Europe, 500–1000
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
The Pope Crowns Charlemagne Emperor
Pope Leo III stood waiting, off to the side in front of the altar in the
ancient Church of Saint Peter’s in Rome. The priests assisting him at the
Christmas Mass in the year 800 were helping Charles, king of the Franks
and king of the Lombards, don once again the robes and symbols of his
royal authority. Earlier in the Mass, the king had divested himself and
prostrated himself before the altar as a humble gesture of an ordinary
man—which he most definitely was not. The king was as proud a man as
they come.
All his life, Charles exhausted everyone he came into contact with. Tall
for his time (a little more than six feet) and burly, this new emperor in
the west wore out officials, armies, horses, clergy, and family. From the
time he became king in 768 until he died as emperor in January 814,
Charles spent every year of his reign except the last four conducting war
and conquering territory. His empire stretched from the Pyrenees Moun-
tains in the southwest of Gaul to the river Elbe in eastern Europe. He
Charlemagne and conquered the Aquitainians, Lombards, Romans, Friulians, Saxons, Bretons, Ben-
His Wife eventans, Bavarians, Slavs, Avars, Bohemians, Linonians, Abodrites, Alamannians,
Charlemagne, seen here in Gascons, Catalans, Pannonians, Dacians, Dalmatians, and others too many to
this manuscript page with his name. Wherever he conquered, he forced his new subjects to convert to Chris-
wife, was the first ruler in the tianity. The king seemed never to rest. The Byzantines, nervously pondering where
West to bear the title of lay the limits of Charles’s ambitions, had a proverb: “Have a Frank as a friend,
emperor in over three hun- never as a neighbor.”
dred years. (Erich Lessing/Art Now, his prayers finished, the time had come for Charles to reassume his mantle
Resource, NY) and crown. Pope Leo took the crown from the altar and prepared to set it again
on the king’s head. He had done the same at Christmas Mass in years past, when
Charles had come to Rome in the winter after safeguarding the pope’s lands and
position in central Italy. But this time, the pope deviated from past practice. Set-
ting the crown on the king’s head, Leo declared that Charles was now emperor
of the Roman Empire, the first to bear that title in the west since the end of the
fifth century.
When the news that the pope had crowned Charles emperor reached Con-
stantinople, it made the Byzantines especially uneasy, for their ruler at the
time was the empress Irene, and to some—in both the east and the west—
rule by a woman meant that the throne in Constantinople might as well have
been vacant. To call Charles emperor was at least presumptuous; at the worst,
it could be threatening. There was little, however, the Byzantines could do
about it, under pressure as they were from invaders on their southern
borders.
The monk Einhard, Charles’s biographer, claimed much later that Charles reluc-
tantly accepted the title of emperor, “which at first he disliked so much that he
stated that, if he had known in advance of the pope’s plan, he would not have
entered the church that day, even though it was a great feast day.” As unlikely
as it was that Charles did not know in advance what the pope intended to do,
Regional Rule, Local Views, 500–750 237
Charles had good reason to dislike the pope’s action, or at least to feel ambivalent
about it. Symbolically, the pope’s crowning of the emperor suggested that the
emperor received his authority from the pope and, therefore, owed the pope
the respect due a superior. Was the emperor actually beholden to the pope? Or
was the pope merely the conduit of God’s approval? The question took centuries
to resolve.
kings came to feel they had obligations to a higher or- What caused the fragmentation of political power in the
west?
der, but they also resisted these obligations.
➜
Chronology
507 Franks defeat the Visigoths, who then migrate 774 Charlemagne proclaims himself king of the
to Spain Lombards
525 Saint Benedict founds monastery late 700s Viking raids begin
552 Byzantine forces conquer Ostrogothic Italy 800 Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne emperor
ca. 563 Columba founds monasteries off Scotland and 813 Charlemagne has son Louis crown himself
in northern Britain co-emperor
572 Lombards establish their capital in Pavia, Italy 816 Pope Stephen V recrowns Louis emperor
ca. 590s Columbanus begins missions to 843 Treaty of Verdun divides Charlemagne’s empire
Germanic tribes among his grandsons
597 Pope Gregory I sends Augustine to establish Chris- 878 King Alfred of Wessex defeats Danes in Britain
tianity in British Isles
899 Magyars cross Alps and enter Italy
718 Muslim armies end Visigothic rule of Spain
c. 924 The title of emperor falls into disuse in the West
732 Charles Martel defeats Muslim forces at Tours.
936 Otto become king of eastern Franks
751 Pepin consecrates himself as king of the Franks
962 Pope John XII crowns Otto I emperor
ca. 750s Donation of Constantine supposedly puts pope
in charge of western empire
give direction. Europe underwent a long, difficult the Romans withdrew from northern Europe. The
transformation as Rome slipped further back into Frankish kings and their warrior supporters were not
memory and new, smaller political units emerged. interested in ruling or in overseeing the welfare of or-
Western Europe was turning inward. dinary people. They sought only to increase their
These new political units were often violent and own land and wealth. The disorder that ensued actu-
unstable. In Gaul, the Merovingians managed to ally suited them, because becoming a powerful war-
build the longest-lived kingdom in the political vac- lord depended on the absence of order. Thus it took
uum created by the collapse of the western empire. In centuries for order and security to return to western
contrast, the Visigoths in Spain and the Lombards in Europe. From the sixth to the seventh centuries, the
Italy lasted for little more than a century. Franks repeatedly expanded into new regions and
then withdrew, but out of the ensuing chaos the soci-
ety and culture of the Middle Ages was born.
Kingship and Rule in Today a kingdom calls to mind a tract of territory
Merovingian Gaul over which one king or queen rules the people who
live in it, as the monarch of Great Britain (a territory)
Unlike the Ostrogoths, whose adoption of Roman reigns over the people living in Great Britain today.
methods of rule, nonetheless, did not protect them Such was not the case in Merovingian Gaul. A king
from conquest by the Byzantines in 552, the Frankish viewed the territory in which his subjects lived as his
kings seemed unable to adopt a consistent Roman personal estate, which he would bequeath to his
model of rule. The order maintained by the Roman heirs. This Merovingian attitude came into clearest
frontier garrisons and the municipal services admin- focus at the death of a king. When Clovis, king of the
istered by provincial governors disappeared when Franks, died in 511, each of his sons inherited—and
Regional Rule, Local Views, 500–750 239
will between bishops and kings went both ways, as the enthusiasm for travel and trade around the Mediter-
Lombard kings rejected the church’s claims to author- ranean. Up to that point, the axis of long-distance
ity within the cities. Whereas the Visigoth kings saw trade routes ran on sea and land from northwestern
cooperating with the bishops as a means for gaining Europe in a southeasterly direction toward Constan-
power, the Lombard kings viewed bishops as impedi- tinople. Now the dangers of long-distance trade
ments to their rule. The pope, in particular, became caused a shift in the principal trade routes to an axis
their target. As bishop of Rome, he ruled most of cen- running north-south within western Europe, from
tral Italy. Good relations between the Lombard kings the Baltic Sea to the shore of the Mediterranean.
and the church seemed impossible while the pope had These economic and political changes in the old Ro-
the central portion of the peninsula in his control. man world had three effects on western Europe: a de-
This threat to the pope, however, drew the atten- crease in the quantity of luxury goods that reached the
tion of the Frankish kings in Gaul, who did not wel- royal and aristocratic courts of eighth-century Gaul, a
come the Lombards’ attempts to take possession of change from gold to silver coins, and a heightened
the entire Italian peninsula. Just as it took Muslim self-sufficiency in the population of western Europe as
invaders to bring down the Visigothic kingdom, it a whole. Merchants still brought wares from the east to
would take an invader from the north to put an end markets near the residences of nobles and bishops, but
to the Lombard kingdom in Italy at the end of the in smaller quantities and less often. Spices, gold, silk
eighth century. cloth, and ceramics became extremely difficult to find
in the markets of the west. Trade became increasingly
The Decline of Trade local and regional as western Europe increasingly
came to rely on its own resources.
Merovingian warfare and political instability through- By the eighth century, people in Europe had little
out the region contributed to a decline in trade be- access to or use for gold coinage. What little there was
tween western Europe and the Mediterranean. What entered Europe from Byzantine and Muslim lands,
is more, as commercial contact between east and west since Europe’s only gold mines had been depleted by
dwindled, the Frankish kings had less cause to main- the eighth century. Moreover, because trading oc-
tain cultural and political contacts with Greek Byzan- curred most frequently on a local level, ordinary
tium. The arrival of Muslim raiders in Mediterranean people found it more convenient to use a silver coin,
waters in the early eighth century further dampened the solidus, for their purchases. Gold coins were sim-
Regional Rule, Local Views, 500–750 241
ply impractical for the small purchases people typi- plenty or of famine, people produced most of their
cally made. The switch to silver coins from gold own food and clothing.
reveals much about the kinds of commercial transac-
tions taking place in early medieval Europe. The Decline of Cities
The use of silver coins does not mean that these
transactions always involved coinage. Often coinage The decline in trade contributed to a decline in both
only supplemented exchanges of goods. For example, the number and size of cities in western Europe. This
a peasant woman might want to purchase a pig from decline began in the fifth century and lasted until the
a neighbor. She had only three hens and some rough end of the tenth century. Under Roman rule, cities
woolen cloth she wove herself to give for the pig, but had been seats of provincial governments and mili-
those items did not come close to what a pig was tary garrisons, with markets drawing merchants from
worth. Pigs were valuable, and therefore expensive, far away. Residents of cities in the Roman world saw
not only for their meat but also for their low mainte- themselves as cosmopolitan and distinguished them-
nance, since they wandered freely and could feed selves from the humbler, less cultivated folk who
themselves off the growth in pastures and forests. toiled in the countryside. Living in a city meant, for
The peasant woman did have some silver coins, those more sophisticated men and women, access to
which she could use to make up the difference be- a wider range of goods in the market, better clothing,
tween the value of her goods and the value of the better housing, and the benefits of the services mu-
pig. Barter, or exchange in kind, predominated in nicipal governments provided, like courts of justice.
very isolated areas where coins were rarest and per- Lyons, located in central Gaul where the Saône and
sisted throughout the early Middle Ages, particularly Rhône Rivers converged, became an important mar-
among people of humble status. ket city connecting the Mediterranean with the
In general, people had less need of markets than north.
they had had in the past. Markets had become places When warfare among the Merovingian kings made
where peasants made purchases or bartered to sup- life insecure and trade with the eastern Mediter-
plement the foods they grew. There they encountered ranean declined, city dwellers gradually dispersed to
neighbors, and perhaps a few traders displaying lo- the relative safety of the countryside, where, even if
cally or regionally produced goods. But there were no their quality of life diminished, they at least could
traders hawking wares from distant lands. And the avoid marauding armies and grow their own food. In
peasants did not purchase much. Whether in times of the countryside they would also be more likely to
242 CHAPTER 9 The Kingdoms of Western Europe, 500–1000
avoid epidemics like those that had devastated the via the North Sea. The cities of Italy that managed to
Byzantine Empire in the sixth and seventh centuries. survive the decline in trade had to wait until the tenth
The cities of Britain started to shrink and then disap- century for better times, when the port cities took up
pear as early as the late fifth century, once the Ro- trading with Muslim countries on distant shores of
mans withdrew from the island. On the continent, the the Mediterranean. Not until the warfare among
contraction of city size and population began in the Frankish kings died down could rulers in the old Ro-
sixth and continued into the seventh century. With no man province of Gaul turn their attention to protect-
one needing services—few merchants and even fewer ing and regulating trade in cities.
bureaucrats and royal officials—the service economy
underlying the basis of most cities dried up. Public
authority shifted away from cities to the countryside,
where the lords resided. Bandits in the forest or sim-
The Western Church,
ply a more powerful stranger encountered on a path 500–800
could prey on the defenseless without much fear that
➜
any public authority would pursue them. Troops fol- How did the church provide continuity between the old
Roman world and the new Frankish one?
lowing ambitious leaders in search of loot and land ➜
What role did monasteries play in the preservation of
posed as great a danger as did the bandits and ordi- learning?
nary thieves.
The cities that survived the economic shifts in
western Europe shared certain features. In northern At first, in the aftermath of the empire’s collapse in the
Italy, those cities whose bishops had assumed munic- west, no one seemed to be in charge. Public authority
ipal authority and those that served as capitals of the had dwindled to nothing. The Germanic tribes hacked
Lombard kingdom made the transition to the me- away at one another’s territories in bids to increase
dieval period. Roman buildings and monuments were their own holdings, thereby aggravating the violence
put to new uses or were torn down for the stone, and insecurity that marked the lives of all who lived
which was then used for new structures. Italian cities in the western lands once ruled by Rome. Only in the
maintained portions of the gridlike street plans the northern Italian peninsula and southern Gaul could
Romans imposed on the cities they founded. Even people feel a sense of continuity and a little security
some of the old city sewer systems built by the Romans between the old world and the new. There, leaders of
lasted into the seventh century. North of the Alps, the church stepped into the breach created by the dis-
however, fewer Roman cities survived the end of the appearance of municipal institutions and adminis-
empire, for the Frankish rulers lacked the resources to trators. In northern Europe, the Roman past quickly
maintain the city walls, streets, drainage systems, and receded and, along with it, the church, which had
roads provided by Roman imperial rule. barely been established there. It would take an inva-
Even to call the places where a few hundred or sion of missionaries to resuscitate Christianity in the
thousands of people lived in this era cities seems an extreme reaches of the old Roman Empire.
exaggeration. Certainly to a visitor from far to the
east—rare enough in the Merovingian period—the The Christianization of
muddy settlements would not have qualified as cities. Northern Europe
Jewish merchants, practically the only traders who
still occasionally came from the Byzantine world to Across the channel from the Frankish kingdom, the
the Frankish kingdoms, would have thought them newly arrived Angles and Saxons pushed the Celts
primitive. To the people of Constantinople, the west and descendants of the Roman population to the
had little appeal. Its rude living conditions, limited margins of the island or off it altogether. Those who
diet, and lack of personal hygiene were in strong con- remained vied to dominate Britain. By the late sixth
trast to the urban centers of Islam, with their learning century, the region was divided among numerous
and lively markets. kings whose fortunes rose and fell. A Saxon kingdom
Urban life in the west ultimately began to revive, took shape in Wessex in the southwest and another in
but at different times in different places. Britain, one Northumbria in the north. In the southeast, King
of the first places where cities declined, experienced Aethelbert of Kent established his capital in the town
the earliest revival. In the seventh century, even as
Frankish cities were beginning to contract, London Aethelbert (r. ca. 593–ca. 617) King of Kent, a region in
and other urban settlements showed signs of in- southeastern Britain bordering on the English Channel.
creased activity, especially with an upsurge in trading
The Western Church, 500–800 243
took the first step toward becoming the dominant his exalted status. Boniface set out to make converts
form in England. out of the Frisians, Hessians, and Thuringians in what
Columba, an Irish monk, crossed the Irish Sea is today northern Germany. His efforts complemented
around 563 to establish monastic communities, first the efforts of the Franks to submit the non-Christian
on islands off the coast of Scotland and later in north- German peoples to their rule. Christianizing the peo-
ern Britain, that became important centers of learn- ple of the north made it easier to integrate them into
ing. In the 590s, another Irish monk, Columbanus, the Christian Frankish kingdom.
with a group of assistants from his homeland, traveled
through the Frankish kingdom, founding monaster-
ies wherever he went. One of them, Luxeuil, on the Columba (521–597) Irish monk who founded
monasteries off the coast of Scotland and in
site of a Roman town in eastern France that had been
northern England.
destroyed by Attila in 451, became renowned as a
Columbanus (543–615) Irish monk who founded
center of learning. Columbanus’s success depended monasteries in the Frankish kingdoms.
in large part on the financial support and encourage- Luxeuil Monastery founded by Columbanus in 590 in
ment of the Merovingian rulers and aristocracy. modern northeastern France that became a famous
Another monk from the British Isles, Boniface, be- center of learning.
gan the conversion of the northern Germanic peoples. Boniface (ca. 672–754) Missionary appointed by Pope
Born with the name Winfrid, this missionary received Gregory II to oversee the conversion of the northern
in 719 the title of bishop from Pope Gregory II, who Germanic peoples.
conferred on him the new name of Boniface to mark
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Pope Gregory Sends Instructions to
a Missionary
In the 720s, Boniface, an English-born bishop appointed by Pope Gregory II to
proselytize among the Germanic tribes, wrote to Rome to ask for advice. In spite
of some years in the north, Boniface still did not have a solid knowledge of the
practices of the church and its rituals. The pope’s letter is important evidence of
eighth-century religious practice. Gregory demonstrates, too, an understanding of
how to win the trust and confidence of people.
➜ Why does Gregory call
the people of Germany You ask first within what degrees of relationship marriage may take place. We
uncivilized? reply: strictly speaking, in so far as the parties know themselves to be related they
ought not to be joined together. ➜ But since moderation is better than strictness
of discipline, especially toward so uncivilized a people, they may contract marriage
➜ What does it mean to be after the fourth degree. ➜ As to your question, what a man is to do if his wife is
in “a state of continence”? unable on account of disease, to fulfill her wifely duty: it would be well if he could
remain in a state of continence. But, since this is a matter of great difficulty, it is
better for him who cannot refrain to take a wife. He may not, however, withdraw
his support from the one who was prevented by disease, provided she be not in-
volved in any grievous fault. . . .
In the celebration of the Mass, the form is to be observed which our Lord Jesus
Christ used with his disciples. He took the cup and gave it to them, saying: “This
cup is the new testament in my blood; this do ye as oft as ye take it.” Wherefore it
The Western Church, 500–800 245
is not fitting that two or three cups should be placed on the altar when the cere-
➜ What does this say about mony of the Mass is performed. . . .
the degree of authority par- You ask further, if a father or mother shall have placed a young son or daugh-
ents had over their children? ter in a cloister under the discipline of a rule, whether it is lawful for the child
after reaching the years of discretion to leave the cloister and enter into marriage.
This we absolutely forbid, since it is an impious thing that the restraints of desire
➜ How might Pope Gregory’s should be relaxed for children offered to God by their parents. . . . ➜
understanding of contagious
Lepers, if they are believing Christians, may receive the body and blood of the
disease differ from our own?
Lord, but they may not take food together with persons in health.
➜ You ask whether, in the case of a contagious disease or plague in a church
➜ What can you infer from or monastery, those who are not yet attacked may escape danger by flight. We
this letter about the stan- declare this to be the height of folly; for no one can escape from the hand of God.
dards of behavior imposed on ➜ Finally, your letter states that certain priests and bishops are so involved in
the clergy? vices of many sorts that their lives are a blot upon the priesthood and you ask
whether it is lawful for you to eat with or to speak with them, supposing them not
to be heretics. We answer, that you by apostolic authority are to admonish and
➜ How would you describe persuade them and so bring them back to the purity of church discipline. If they
the role of the priest and obey, you will save their souls and win reward for yourself. ➜ You are not to
bishop in a community of avoid conversation or eating at the same table with them. It often happens that
people not yet well those who are slow in coming to a perception of the truth under strict discipline
acquainted with the church may be led into the paths of righteousness by the influence of their table compan-
and Christianity? ions and by gentle admonition. You ought also to follow this same rule in dealing
with those chieftains who are helpful to you.
The Bishops city stood the cathedral, the principal church of a dio-
cese, and at the heart of the cathedral were preserved
Boniface’s elevation to the office of bishop of the Ger- the relics and tombs of local holy figures considered
man lands reflects the kind of work bishops under- saints by ordinary people. The cathedral of Tours at-
took in northern Europe, where there were not yet tracted pilgrims from all over Gaul who desired to
many practicing Christians. In these regions, bishops pray to Saint Martin, a Roman soldier-turned-monk
resembled missionaries more than they did ecclesias- whose remains and relics lay under the altar. The
tical administrators. In southern Gaul, Spain, and Ital- proximity of sacred relics to the bishop’s seat by the
ian cities, on the other hand, bishops became the altar was meant to instill pious obedience in the hearts
caretakers not only of the early medieval church but of the men and women living in the bishopric.
also of early medieval society. In addition to oversee- A bishop’s authority nevertheless rested on more
ing the spiritual care of the Christians living under than an aura of holiness. His spiritual authority de-
their jurisdiction, they became the effective rulers of rived as well from worldly wealth and political power,
many Italian and southern French cities. The bishops in the form of revenue from land belonging to the
of Milan and Lyons acquired reputations for their bishopric. Throughout the Middle Ages, the church
courts of justice. In northern Europe, bishops acted was the single largest landowner, if all the land be-
more as advisers to kings in the absence of other offi- longing to bishoprics and monasteries is counted.
cials. The bishops of a region met occasionally to dis- Other sources of income also contributed to a bishop’s
cuss and address problems in their areas. But their authority. When bishops allied themselves to the
primary role centered on their status as spiritual head
of an administrative unit called the bishopric or dio-
cese, which had authority over local churches, in bishopric/diocese Ecclesiastical administrative unit
smaller administrative units called parishes, within it. over which a bishop presides.
Parish priests assigned to local churches to perform parish Smaller ecclesiastical administrative unit, in
religious services answered to the bishop in whose which a parish priest serves a local church.
diocese their churches were located. The bishopric cathedral Official church of the bishop’s authority.
was centered on a city, and at the heart of the bishop’s
246 CHAPTER 9 The Kingdoms of Western Europe, 500–1000
year 750, a document came to light that gave the of- mine a community’s peace if those decisions were left
fice of the pope the legitimacy it needed to rule terri- to individual choice. All monks took vows of poverty,
tory. The Donation of Constantine purported to be a chastity, and obedience. The fewer decisions the
fourth-century agreement between the emperor Con- monks had to make about how to live together, so
stantine the Great and the bishop of Rome, Silvester, Benedict’s thinking went, the fewer disagreements
in which Constantine, departing for his new capital they would have. The Rule called for a regular rota-
in Constantinople, transferred to Silvester authority tion of religious services, called the Divine Office,
not only over the institution of the church but also di- that ensured the monks would recite the entire Bible
rectly over much of the territory of central Italy and at least once over the course of a year.
indirectly over the secular rulers of the west. The doc- In the early Middle Ages, monks engaged in man-
ument made it appear that Constantine was leaving ual labor, such as farming, to support themselves. But
Silvester in charge of the western half of the empire. as noble families donated more and more land to the
In the fifteenth century, the Italian scholar Lorenzo monks in exchange for prayers, they did less and less
Valla proved the document was a forgery, but even in manual labor. By the year 1000, monasteries had be-
the ninth century some doubted its authenticity. come self-sufficient, wealthy corporations engaged in
The Donation of Constantine reveals, however, the a variety of revenue-producing activities, such as
high ambitions of the popes in contrast to the limits of agriculture, milling, mining, and animal husbandry.
their practical power. Frankish kings, in emulation of In the two centuries following Benedict, a monastery’s
the eastern emperors, could still convene church reputation depended on its strict adherence to his
councils, a prerogative that the pope claimed in prin- Rule; in the ninth and tenth centuries, monasteries
ciple exclusively for himself. Also, there was little the became known instead for their wealth as well as
pope could do at this point to prevent kings from their holiness. As monasteries grew wealthy and the
appointing bishops or prevent lords from appoint- violence and chaos of western Europe subsided, the
ing priests on their lands. Although they viewed the monks secluded themselves in their cloisters to
pope as the head of the church, western secular rulers spend more time in prayer and study, leaving their
and even bishops and archbishops outside of Rome duty to perform manual labor to their servants and
felt no obligation to recognize, much less put into the peasants living on their lands.
practice, the pope’s laws. It would not be until the The monks’ obligatory study of Holy Scripture
end of the twelfth century that the papacy would be- had the effect of preserving some of Rome’s literary
gin to realize its claim to hold supreme authority in heritage. With the decline of education in the post-
spiritual and secular affairs. But the desire to do so Roman world, learning retreated with the monks be-
had long been apparent. hind monastery walls, where the only schools in the
early Middle Ages persisted. The necessity of reading
Monasticism and Learning scripture in services prompted monasteries to main-
tain at least a minimal level of literacy among monks,
In 525, in the vicinity of Monte Cassino, south of who read and copied ancient works by Christian and
Rome, Benedict of Nursia, an educated man from a non-Christian writers. In addition to the works of
noble Roman family who had become a hermit,
founded a small community of men who dedicated
their lives to constant prayer. Benedict adapted and Donation of Constantine A forged mid-eighth-
expanded on the rules of earlier monastic communi- century document purporting to be a transfer of land
ties in Egypt and Syria to suit the conditions in which and power in the western empire from Emperor Con-
he and his fellow monks lived. The rules he put to- stantine to Pope Silvester.
gether—emphasizing poverty, chastity, and obedi- Benedict of Nursia (ca. 480–543) Founder of the Bene-
dictine Order of monks who devised a mode of monas-
ence and establishing a schedule of prayers, meals, tic living that proved successful and was widely
and sleep—attracted others, who established further adopted.
monasteries adhering to the Benedictine rule. Bene- rule Set of regulations followed by a religious commu-
dict made manual labor a daily obligation for the nity that established the schedule of worship and
monks in his community. Each monastery had an ab- manual labor.
bot, whose authority was absolute. Divine Office Daily cycle of prayers and services in a
The Rule of Saint Benedict gave structure to a monastery.
monk’s day. Benedict understood how the seemingly cloister Enclosed courtyard of a monastery; also the
insignificant decisions in a spiritual life, such as what entire monastery itself.
to eat, how to pray, and when to sleep, could under-
248 CHAPTER 9 The Kingdoms of Western Europe, 500–1000
Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, and other early church women even served as abbesses of both the men’s
fathers, monastic libraries contained the works of the and the women’s communities. But medieval society
great Roman authors, such as Cicero and Virgil. Some was always deeply suspicious of communities with
monastic scribes composed works of their own in ad- both male and female members, even though sharing
dition to reading, copying, and commenting on resources and providing mutual protection made
works from the past. The pages of the manuscripts sense in those violent and chaotic times. By the tenth
were made of either parchment or vellum—sheep century, conjoined religious establishments had been
and calf skins, respectively—that were treated to re- separated, and the religious women suffered materi-
move the hair and soften it. For a complete manu- ally. Unlike men’s monasteries, women’s communities
script of the Bible, the skins of nearly two hundred could not attract lucrative donations to say commem-
sheep were required; only the very wealthy could orative Masses. With some notable exceptions, poverty
afford such a luxury. In northern England, Bede, a burdened many women’s monasteries throughout
monk in the isolated monastery of Wearmouth, relied the Middle Ages.
on the ancient texts in his library to write a history of Women’s monasteries served a social function as
the English church. The monks of northern England well as a religious one. Royal and noble families un-
and Ireland became known for their beautiful and in- able to provide dowries commensurate with their sta-
tricate manuscript illuminations, decorations in gold tus often compelled their daughters to become nuns.
leaf and brightly colored inks. Still, the monks’ ten-
dency to neglect the non-Christian works led to the scribe Someone who serves as a secretary or copies
permanent loss of many classical works. manuscripts in a formal script.
Since women, too, had their own monastic com- Bede (ca. 673–735) Monk known as the Venerable Bede
munities, it was common prior to the tenth century for his great learning; author of The Ecclesiastical His-
for only a wall to separate women’s monasteries from tory of the English People.
those of men, allowing the priest monks to celebrate illuminations Colorful decorations in gold leaf and
the Mass in the women’s section, as women were not brightly colored inks on medieval manuscripts.
allowed to do so. At the monastery of Luxeuil, a few
Charlemagne and the Revival of Empire in the West, 700–900 249
The financial contribution required to place a woman decay of the office of king, as did pressure from pow-
in a monastery was more than most ordinary families erful noble families. The nobles benefited from their
could afford but less than the dowry expected of a no- position as the king’s chief supporters, as the estates
ble bride. With no choice in the matter, noble daugh- granted to them by the kings allowed them to create
ters spent their lives in seclusion from the secular strongholds where they exercised authority equal to
world. Widowed queens and noblewomen often chose and eventually surpassing that of the kings. In fact,
to retreat from the world. The History of the Franks, by the kings became so insignificant politically that the
Gregory of Tours, indicated that entering a monastery most powerful nobles of the moment chose the king
meant the end of a Merovingian queen’s political in- from the pool of Merovingian descendants.
fluence at court, but the start of a new life working for As early as 600, the Frankish kingdom had con-
the poor and surrounded by kinswomen and atten- sisted of three provinces—Neustria, Austrasia, and
dants. One queen, Radegund, wife of King Chlotar I, Burgundy. Each province had its own king, but a
left her husband to found a monastery in which she court official called the mayor of the palace, or major
acquired a reputation for great sanctity and sacrifice. domus, effectively ruled in the place of the king. In-
Some women undoubtedly resented confinement stead of the kings fighting among themselves, the
in a secluded community. Others found that monastic struggle for power shifted to the mayors, who fought
life offered them opportunities for spiritual and intel- for dominance over as much of one another’s provinces
lectual growth not easily available in the lay world. Al- as they could manage to acquire. The Merovingian
though women’s monasteries did not possess libraries kings had become little more than puppets for the
like those in men’s monasteries, a nun nevertheless ambitions of land-hungry mayors.
stood a better chance of learning to read and of having One family in particular rose to power from its
access to written texts than did a woman at the king’s base in Austrasia, the northeastern region of the
court. Since women’s monasteries outnumbered men’s Frankish kingdom. Charles Martel, the mayor of
in the early centuries of medieval Europe, the monas- Austrasia, waged war against his fellow mayors in
tic life clearly had an appeal for women. the adjacent regions and eventually brought the
heartland of Europe under his rule. Once he had set
up a puppet Merovingian king in Neustria, he turned
Charlemagne and the Revival his attention to east of the Rhine River. The pop-
ulations there had had little previous contact with
of Empire in the West, Frankish culture, nor had they yet converted to
700–900 Christianity. When Charles incorporated them by
force into his realm, he brought them into Christen-
➜
How did the pope view his authority in relation to dom at the same time.
Charlemagne’s?
Charles Martel also battled for Christianity in the
➜
It made little sense to most people at the time, for popes as mere messengers of God’s will. They may
Charlemagne was already king of the Franks. But it have had the model of the Byzantine emperor’s supe-
made sense to Charlemagne: as the king of a people rior relationship to the patriarch of Constantinople in
other than his own, he was just a step away from call- mind. But in neither the emperor’s nor the pope’s
ing himself an emperor of many. mind did government stand to one side and the
Three factors were working together to create this church to the other. Today, church and state constitute
possibility. First, Pepin’s taking of the title of king two distinct entities. For most of the early Middle
from the Merovingian family, which had held it for Ages, people made no such distinction.
two centuries, produced a different political under-
standing of kingship. After him, it was understood Imperial Rule in the West
that the title of king could be transferred from one
person or one family to another. Second, the dimin- Charlemagne’s reign represents a change in the ex-
ished splendor and the much-reduced military might pectations people in the Middle Ages had of their
of the eastern empire opened Charlemagne’s mind to rulers. In contrast to the Merovingian kings, who felt
the idea of restoring the old title of emperor in the little need to justify their possession of the title, Car-
west. So did the fact that ruler in Constantinople was olingian kings and emperors justified their rule by
a woman—Irene—and thus not regarded as legiti- ministering to Christian society. Conceiving them-
mate by rulers in the west or by many in the east. Fi- selves as lay ministers, Charlemagne and his succes-
nally, an ongoing relationship of mutual support sors considered it their duty to defend and extend the
between the Carolingian kings and the pope created church, bring justice to their subjects, punish their en-
the possibility that the king of the Franks might claim emies, and make their own lives a moral example to
to be the defender of the church, as Constantine the others. Ministerial kingship became the standard by
Great had done in the fourth century. which medieval rulers measured themselves and
Toward the end of 800, Charlemagne and his army were measured by others. Charlemagne viewed the
crossed the Alps to give aid to a pope, as he and his church as well as his subjects to be under his care.
father had already done several times before. In this Identifying himself as a Christian king and the source
instance, the noble Roman families had physically at- of social order, Charlemagne gained the loyalty of his
tacked and expelled the unpopular Pope Leo III from subjects to a degree his Merovingian predecessors
the city of Rome. To restore order, Charlemagne first had been unable to achieve. Whether the emperor
had to subdue the Romans. He then brought the un- was always able to live up to his own expectations of
lamented Leo back to Rome, restored him to his posi- his authority was different matter, but by overseeing
tion, and confirmed his possession of huge tracts of government and church affairs, Charlemagne im-
land stolen from him by the Lombards. posed a greater degree of order and peace in his king-
The situation in Rome now settled, the pope dom than any of the earlier Frankish kings had done.
crowned the king as emperor at a Christmas Mass Still, government in Charlemagne’s day amounted
(see Choice). It was not only the first time the pope to little more than maintaining peace and granting
had formally conferred the title of emperor on a king justice. No bureaucracy yet existed to prepare re-
but also the first time—in the west or the east—that a ports, no courts to hear pleas, and no services offered
member of the clergy had placed a crown on the head to towns and villages. In practice, government ac-
of a king. In crowning Charlemagne, Pope Leo sig- complished little more than organizing the leading
naled that the authority of a pope, as God’s represen- members of society for annual military campaigns,
tative, gave the king, or the emperor, his authority as rewarding them for their work, settling disputes
a secular ruler. Thus, for Charlemagne, to be crowned among them, and ensuring social order on a local
emperor by the pope was something of a mixed bless- level throughout the kingdom.
ing. He did not wish to be obligated to the pope for To these ends, Charlemagne delegated his author-
his imperial authority. On the contrary, Charlemagne ity to royal officials, or counts, whose wealth derived
felt the pope should be obliged to him. After all, the
pope owed his position to Charlemagne’s army. To
make this point clear, thirteen years later, Charle- ministerial kingship Concept of kingship introduced
magne stage-managed a coronation ceremony of his by Charlemagne in which the king assumes responsi-
own when he watched his son, Louis, crown himself bility for government and church affairs.
co-emperor with no help from the pope. counts Major landowners and supporters of Frankish
To resist the idea that popes were the source of kings; a count’s territory corresponded to a county.
their authority, emperors thereafter came to view
252 CHAPTER 9 The Kingdoms of Western Europe, 500–1000
from the large tracts of land the king had granted to of which was the one in his own court. To direct his
them as reward for their administrative and military palace school he chose the bishop Alcuin of York, re-
services. To ensure that the counts were doing their puted to be the greatest intellectual of the day. As
job properly, he sent out royal emissaries, called head of the school, Alcuin promoted cultural reform
missi dominici, to make inspections of his kingdom. that extended beyond the confines of Charlemagne’s
The problem with this system of government, even court. In addition to making the liturgy conform to
with the help of the missi, is that it took a strong, en- the rites of the Roman Mass, he also revived the study
ergetic king to prevent the counts from viewing the of the seven liberal arts (grammar, logic, rhetoric,
authority they exercised locally as their own. While arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy), which
Charlemagne was alive, there was no question of had fallen out of use centuries before. Then he turned
who was in charge of the kingdom. After his death, his attention to the Vulgate (the Latin Bible), eliminat-
power began to slip out of the hands of the kings and ing the scribal errors and mistakes that had corrupted
into the hands of the local counts. it over generations of copying and recopying since
Even before he was crowned emperor, Charle- Saint Jerome completed his translation in the third
magne wanted a cultural life around him that was century. Through this work and a program for copy-
reminiscent of the Roman Empire. Later in life, he no ing manuscripts of religious and classical literature,
longer felt the need to be always leading his army to Charlemagne and Alcuin helped ensure the transmis-
increase his conquests, and he spent more and more sion of late classical learning into medieval Europe’s
time in Aachen, a town in northern Europe once pop- cultural heritage.
ular among the Romans for its hot springs. In his new This program of preservation included a reform in
capital, Charlemagne created a court life that became script that increased legibility. Handwriting had dete-
known for its learning and sophistication, and he en- riorated considerably in the last centuries of the Ro-
couraged intellectual and religious studies as they had man Empire and in Merovingian Gaul. At the height
once existed in earlier centuries. Viewing his office as a of the empire, Romans had used relatively clear capi-
ministry, Charlemagne hoped to deepen understand- tal letters with punctuation and breaks between words.
ing of Christianity within the ruling ecclesiastic and By the beginning of the eighth century, not only had
lay circles of his realm. To achieve these goals, he handwriting come to resemble today’s cursive script,
worked to improve the standard of literacy among the with each letter connected to the next, but word
clergy and laypeople of high social status. breaks and punctuation had disappeared. Some Mero-
Even if government bureaucracy during Charle- vingian handwriting was as difficult for monastic
magne’s time was minimal, there was still a need for intellectuals of the early Carolingian empire to read
literate men who knew how to draw up documents. as it is today. To improve handwriting, Carolingian
Although the number of cartularies, or records of scribes emphasized clarity in letter forms and divi-
royal law, did not significantly increase until the thir- sions between words. They also modeled their letter
teenth century, people in the Carolingian period had a forms on the inscriptions on the decayed Roman struc-
growing appreciation for writing down important in-
formation. The more often people turned to the king
to settle their disputes, the greater the need for docu- missi dominici (in Latin, “emissaries of the lord”)
ments to preserve the outcome of those settlements. Inspectors appointed by Charlemagne to oversee how
Charlemagne and his advisers recognized that his au- counts used his authority.
thority could not be imposed, or order in society Aachen Charlemagne’s capital; today in northwest
brought about, without literate men. In an age when Germany and known to the French as Aix-la-Chapelle.
education had retreated to the monasteries, knowing cartularies A register of laws and varying kinds of
documents used in monasteries and secular courts.
how to read and, more rarely, to write became a skill
scarcely found among the laypeople of the Charle- Alcuin of York (ca.732–804) Important scholar and
cleric appointed by Charlemagne to oversee the school
magne’s empire. For this reason, Charlemagne relied established at his court in Aachen.
heavily on clergymen to carry out the bureaucratic
liturgy Collection of Christian rites, like the Mass,
tasks of government. Yet the clergy in the service of performed in church services.
the king found themselves in a potentially difficult seven liberal arts The classic course of study com-
position as the interests of the king increasingly di- prising the Trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic)
verged from the interests of the institutional church. and the Quadrivium (astronomy, geometry, music,
Charlemagne sponsored the establishment of and arithmetic).
schools throughout his kingdom, the most important
Charlemagne and the Revival of Empire in the West, 700–900 253
tures and buildings. Their imitation of Roman capital was divided up among succeeding Carolingian kings.
letters was so successful that the fifteenth-century hu- The political divisions of modern Europe can be seen
manist intellectuals of Italy believed that the old and in the first important division among Louis’ heirs. In
dusty manuscripts they were discovering in monastic the Treaty of Verdun in 843, his sons agreed to the
libraries around Europe dated back to Roman times. partition of the Frankish kingdom into three segments.
Charles claimed the western portion, corresponding
roughly to modern France; Lothar, the central portion
The Partition of that covered the Low Countries (today Belgium and
Charlemagne’s Empire the Netherlands), the French provinces of Burgundy
and Provence, and Italy. Louis’ eastern portion be-
Like the Merovingian kings before him, Charlemagne came the basis of what would later be called the Holy
submitted to custom regarding the inheritance of Roman Empire and still later, Germany. The political
property and planned for an equal division of his em- divisions reflected linguistic ones as well. In the west-
pire among his three sons after his death. But two sons ern kingdom, Latin mixed with local dialects gave rise
died before him, leaving only his third son, Louis, to to early dialects of French. German and Slavic lan-
inherit the empire. To ensure a smooth succession af- guages emerged as the dominant languages in the
ter his death, Charlemagne arranged in 813 for Louis, eastern Frankish kingdom. The dialects in the northern
known to his contemporaries as Louis the Pious, to Italian peninsula retained close relationships to Latin.
come to his capital at Aachen. There in the cathedral The treaty did not prevent further bloodshed. Each
Charlemagne had Louis place a crown on his own generation waged war against kinsmen to gain greater
head, making himself co-emperor with his father until territory and wealth. The title of emperor was stolen
his father’s death would leave him sole emperor. This from one branch of the family, passed from heir to
coronation without the pope would have set a lasting heir for a couple of generations, and stolen once again
precedent had it not been for Louis’ insecurity follow- by another branch of Charlemagne’s descendants. In
ing his father’s death in 814. Wishing to bolster his this maneuvering, the pope looked out for his own
claim to the title, Louis reverted to his father’s prece- interests. The constant and debilitating warfare at
dent. In 816, he had himself recrowned by Pope the imperial level was made worse by the infighting
Stephen V in the cathedral at Rheims. From that point among aristocratic families over their own acquisi-
on, the central role of the pope in the coronation of all tion of land and wealth. In the second half of the
western emperors was established. ninth century, the last vestige of the central authority
No doubt mindful of the premature deaths of his once wielded by Charlemagne disappeared. Once
brothers, Louis began early in his reign to plan for the again, kings were little more than military leaders
division of the empire after his own death. In 817, he constantly on campaign and minimally concerned with
allotted the bulk of the empire and the title of em- government. By 870, in another division of Charle-
peror to his oldest son, Lothar, who would hold a rank magne’s empire that also soon collapsed, the old
superior to that of his two younger brothers, Pepin and “Middle Kingdom” of Lothar was divided between
Louis. These last two were to receive smaller shares Charles and Louis. By 924, even the title of emperor
of their father’s domain, a distinct innovation for its had fallen into disuse.
time. In 823, Louis had Lothar crowned co-emperor
and king of Italy.
Thereafter, however, Lothar viewed his father and Louis the Pious (r. 814–840) Charlemagne’s only sur-
co-emperor as a rival, while the younger brothers re- viving son who had already assumed the title of em-
sented both their emperor-brother and their emperor- peror within his father’s lifetime.
father. When, after his first wife died, Louis had Charles the Bald (r. 840–877) The king of the western
Franks, a position inherited from his father, Emperor
another son, Charles the Bald, by a second wife, the
Louis the Pious.
three older sons perceived this new brother as a threat
Treaty of Verdun Division of the Frankish empire in
to their inheritance. In 833, Louis’ sons captured their 843 among Emperor Louis’ heirs into the three por-
father and placed him in a monastery. Louis gained tions that laid the basis for the future political divisions
his freedom and his authority in 835, but, in spite of of Europe.
the death of Pepin, the potential for warfare only in- Low Countries Modern Belgium and the Netherlands,
creased. Louis’ death in 840 signaled a new, violent so described because they are on a low plain along the
phase in the civil wars of the Carolingian dynasty. North Sea.
In the generations after Louis’ death, the empire
254 CHAPTER 9 The Kingdoms of Western Europe, 500–1000
Order and Disorder in the dation, as this secondary grant of fiefs is called, some-
times led to complications. Nobles who swore an
Ninth and Tenth Centuries oath of fealty to one lord in exchange for land could
then swear an oath to another lord to acquire even
➜
T
R
R
Jumiéges Rouen Echternach AUSTRASIA S
IB
BRITTANY St. Denis D n ie
Paris Mainz
UT
p er
ne
Prague
AR
hi
NEUSTRIA
Y
Orléans R S
Tours ALEMANNIA R
to
A
Reichenau BAVARIA Ba Y
Poitiers gh G
da
BURGUNDY Saint Gall d A
AQUITAINE
SL A V
Lyons M
IC
Bordeaux
VENETIA
ne
GASCONY Milan
Po Venice ISTRIA
Rhô
PE
Roncesvalles Pavia Danu
Aniane be
OP
LE
LOMBARDY
D
E Marseilles S
A
Ravenna Black Sea
br
SPANISH M
A
Lérins
o
UMAYYAD SPAIN MARCH PAPAL A
dr
TI
STATES A
i
CORSICA
at
Toledo Barcelona Spoleto
ic
Rome S
DUCHY e
OF a Constantinople
Ty
BENEVENTO
r r Monte Cassino
Córdoba SARDINIA he
ni Naples
BALEARIC IS. an Salerno
Se to Ba
a
Ae
ghda
d
BYZANTINE EMPIRE
gea
Ceuta
Mediter
ran Ionian
n S
ea Palermo
Sea
ea
n
SICILY
Tunis
Se
a CYPRUS
d
CRETE to Baghda Damascus
Monasteries
Charlemagne’s empire
Tributary peoples
A Tripoli
Muslim areas B to Arab World Alexandria
Byzantine Empire B
A Cairo (founded 969)
Slave trade S E
Nile
Venice
I D T
Major slave market H A
C A L I P
MAP 9.1 Trade in the Carolingian World Merchants in Europe never ceased to supply slaves to the
Byzantines and Muslim. Captives were sold in the major slave markets of Constantinople, Cordoba, Rome,
Order and Disorder in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries
and Alexandria. Where did captives sold in the markets of the Mediterranean come from?
255
256 CHAPTER 9 The Kingdoms of Western Europe, 500–1000
Greenland
coastline of North America. At first, monasteries were
their primary targets, and the Vikings seized their gold
d North America
ICELAND
874
and silver liturgical objects, provisions, and even tools
and implements. Many monasteries quickly moved
Faeroe Is.
800
Shetland Is.
Trondheim deeper into the forested interior of Europe.
700
Bergen
VIKINGS Well stocked with captured goods, Viking raiders
Oslo
ATLANTIC SCOTLAND
Iona North
Uppsala
Novgorod
820
Volga
became traders on their way home, selling their prizes
OCEAN Sea
when terrified Europeans were willing to deal with
S e a ic
B a lt
Lindisfarne RUSSIA
8 78
Jarrow 8 59– Lund
Durrow
Dublin them. Some of the “prizes” were slaves, captured men
84
IRELAND
–8
York
841
839
Humber
Estuary
Tham
Bremen
SAXONY
Hamburg and women who would be sold before their captors
es
Weser
Od Kiev
El
D ni
Rouen Echternach eper
Jumièges
Saint- 895
Scandinavia, however, where they were pressed into
ine
NORMANDY Denis
BAVARIA
Loir e
Rh
Sein
Bordeaux 899
Rhône
Ga
917
Santiago Po 895
ro
9 07
LO
Black Sea
nn
PROVENCE
raiding journeys.
e
Danube
M
Lérins
BA
Marseilles
8 66
RD
Tagu Barcelona
s
Eventually, and only gradually, the various groups
Y
Corsica
Lisbon
844 Rome Constantinople
Monte
844 859–861 Balearic Is. 846
Cassino
Sardinia
of northerners ceased returning to their homelands in
Ceuta Hippo
Regius
827
Sicily
the winter and instead settled near the areas where
96
–8
842
Carthage
40
MUSLIMS
8
Me
they regularly raided. For this reason, historians some-
dite
Monasteries
rranean Sea times refer to the Viking experience as a migration in-
Vikings
Magyars
0 200 400 Km.
Alexandria
stead of an invasion. Each time the Danes pushed
Muslims 0 200 400 Mi. their way into northeastern England, some managed
to settle, in spite of the efforts of Alfred, king of Wes-
sex, to prevent them. In 878, his army halted their ad-
MAP 9.2 The Migrations of the Vikings, Magyars, vance into his southwestern region of the island. The
and Muslims. In the ninth and tenth centuries, the Vikings,
Norwegians, or Norsemen, who settled on the north-
the Muslims, and the Magyars contributed to the disorder
created by the wars between Carolingian heirs. Peasants ern coast of modern-day France, became so much as-
received little protection from their lords. Monastic commu- sociated with the region that it came to be called
nities abandoned their cloisters and moved deeper into the Normandy. As Normans, they would continue ven-
Frankish kingdom. Which parts of the kingdom were most tures of conquest—of England and Sicily—in the
vulnerable to invasion? eleventh century.
By the time the Vikings began to settle down, both
literally and figuratively, at the end of the tenth cen-
them up rivers into Europe’s interior. Wherever they tury, poet-singers had made them famous. The sagas
went, they caused havoc, repeatedly sailing up the of their adventures describe their violence and heavy
Seine River, for example, to attack, loot, and burn set- drinking as well as their rough treatment of women.
tlements all the way to Paris. When the season of Yet Viking male society allowed women considerably
raiding was over, the Vikings returned home to har- more property rights and granted them more respon-
vest their crops. sibilities outside the domestic sphere than other soci-
Viking pillaging was widespread along the coasts eties at that time. An accurate reflection of Viking life
of northwestern Germany, the Low Countries, France, is found in the epic poem, Beowulf, written between
and Spain, and it occurred at a time when Carolin- 700 and 1000. It narrates the battles of a Germanic
gian warfare made organized defense impossible,
though some local kings paid the raiders to leave them Alfred (r. 871–899) King of Wessex in southwestern
alone. Viking raiders from what is now Sweden headed and south-central England who stopped the invasion
for Russia, where they followed the Volga River south of the Danes.
deep into the interior. There they settled and married Norsemen Raiders and traders from the region now
into the local population to become the Kievan Rus, known as Norway who settled on the northern coast of
who harassed the Byzantines. The Danes headed modern France.
west, raiding northern France and the eastern coast of sagas Poems relating ancient stories.
England, while Northmen, as they were called by the Beowulf Epic poem written between 700 and 1000 in
people they attacked, raided the western coast of Eng- Anglo-Saxon that tells the story of a hero from Scandi-
land and the eastern coast of Ireland. Some traveled navia who defeats the monster Grendel.
as far as Iceland and Greenland; a few explored the
258 CHAPTER 9 The Kingdoms of Western Europe, 500–1000
How did the emperor and the pope each view their turies for the barbarian armies to stabilize themselves
authority with respect to the other? in territory they constantly had to defend and fought so
hard to extend. As a result of the chaos, interregional
260 CHAPTER 9 The Kingdoms of Western Europe, 500–1000
trade declined and cities contracted. Some cities in granting land to supporters in exchange for their mil-
Italy survived, thanks to the energies of their bishops. itary aid. In principle, the distribution of fiefs to vas-
For the peasants in the countryside, there was no pro- sals was meant to furnish an army at little expense to
tection from public authorities. the king, but once in possession of their fiefs, vassals
Even the church could provide little protection. Too proved reluctant to leave their estates. Kings found it
often the pope himself called on the Frankish king and more convenient to accept cash payments from their
his army to save him from Lombard invaders. The vassals in lieu of military service. The western em-
communities of monks scattered throughout the king- peror, Otto I, turned to an even more convenient way
dom fell prey to raiders, invaders, and warring no- depending on his vassals. He appointed bishops—
bles. By the tenth century, they had moved deep into many of whom also happened to be his relatives—to
the interior, as far as possible from the paths of armies. the position of duke, the rulers of the provinces into
In spite of the danger, monasteries continued to grow which his empire was divided. In this way Otto en-
rich, since they still received the bounty of royal favor. sured that the bearer of the title would not produce an
No longer poor, the monks spent more and more time heir. Emperor Otto, the Carolingian kings of the Franks,
studying sacred texts. As the texts of old manuscripts and their vassals used their armies to fight among
were transferred to new parchment, new life was themselves and to confront incursions by Vikings,
given to old learning. For the most part, however, the Magyars, and Muslims into their territories. In the
learning stayed within the walls of monasteries. ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries, the ordinary
Charlemagne was the first Frankish king to seek people of western Europe could expect little protec-
that long-hidden knowledge. He succeeded in instill- tion from the invaders. No one—not the powerful
ing memories of the glorious past in the powerful armies nor the clergy—seemed capable of securing
families who supported his kingship. Once, they the peace necessary for developing trade, reliable
learned, an emperor had ruled in the west. The king’s harvests, and the prosperity of families.
revival of the title of emperor led to the revival of—or
at least the pretension to—imperial culture. Charle-
magne had little to work with. There were no mer- ➜
Thinking Back, Thinking Ahead ➜
chants to bring the gold and silver and expensive
cloth from the markets of the eastern Mediterranean. What potential conflicts of loyalty for the
But Charlemagne did ensure the survival of the clergy developed when kings and emperors
memory of the Roman Empire, though following his came to rely on them to carry out the tasks of
reign his empire was divided and warfare returned. government?
To carry out their wars, kings devised a system of
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
The Beginning of Time
How do we measure time? When do we say it begins? Civilizations and cultures often look to their own
founding to fix the beginning of time. The Romans set their calendar with the founding of Rome as year 1.
But to the medieval world, Rome was said to have been founded in 753 B.C. (“before Christ”), because
Christian Europe looked to a new event to mark the beginning of time—the birth of Jesus. Starting with
this event, Christians designated time as A.D. (anno domini, “in the year of Our Lord”). But the year of
Jesus’s birth is based on a calculation that is in error.
This year was calculated by Dionysius Exiguus (“Dennis the Little”), an early sixth-century abbot of a
monastery in Rome who was steeped in scripture and the Latin literature of old Rome. Dionysius received
assignments from the pope that very few others had the literary skills to do. He compiled the canons of all
the church councils prior to the sixth century, and he also calculated the date of Easter, the feast day com-
memorating Jesus’s resurrection. Because the date is tied to the lunar calendar—the phases of the moon—
Websites 261
Dionysius devised a method for calculating when it would fall each year. Not all groups of Christians ac-
cepted his method, but it served as an important starting point. The Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches
continued to follow the old method of calculating the date of Easter.
Dionysius replaced the Roman calendar with a calculation based on the year of Jesus’s birth, basing his
calculation on the year of King Herod’s death—753 years after the founding of Rome—the year the New
Testament indicates Jesus was born. Not since Julius Caesar sponsored the calendar reform that bore his
name (the Julian calendar) in 46 B.C. had such a radical recalculation taken place. In the sixteenth century,
however, Dionysius was shown to have miscalculated the year of King Herod’s birth by four years. So, ac-
cording to the Christian calendar, Jesus most likely was born about the year 4 B.C.
As an acknowledgment that not everyone in the world calculates time according to the Christian calendar,
a new set of designations has recently been adopted and is used in this textbook: B.C.E. (“before the com-
mon era”) to refer to dates prior to the traditional birthdate of Jesus Christ and C.E. (“common era”) to
refer to time thereafter.
Suggested Readings
Collins, Roger. Early Medieval Europe, 300–1000. New York: standard work on the growth of the church during the Carolin-
Palgrave, 1999. gian period.
A detailed narrative account of the transition from the Roman McKitterick, Rosamund, ed. The Early Middle Ages: Europe, 400–
Empire to a Frankish-dominated Europe. 1000. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. In this collec-
Dutton, Paul Edward, ed. Charlemagne’s Courtier: The Com- tion of essays, each author addresses presents an overview of
plete Einhard. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press, 1998. A the most recent scholarship on particular themes in early me-
collection of text and documents pertaining to Charlemagne’s dieval history.
biographer, the monk Einhard, that contains the biography as Smith, Julia M. H. Europe After Rome: A New Cultural History,
well as letters illustrative of the ecclesiastical concerns of 500–1000. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. An up-to-
Charlemagne and his son, Louis. the-minute overview of the cultural and social changes in the
Fichtenau, Heinrich. Living in the Tenth Century: Mentalities wake of the Roman Empire’s end in the west.
and Social Orders. Translated by Patrick J. Geary. Chicago: Uni- Wickham, Chris. Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and
versity of Chicago Press, 1993. An interesting exploration of the Mediterranean, 400–800. New York: Oxford University
daily life and the social customs of the late Carolingian period. Press, 2005. An authoritative and dense assessment of the evi-
McKitterick, Rosamund. The Frankish Church and the Carolin- dence for the changes in long-distance trade and the economy
gian Reforms, 789–895. London: Longmans, Green, 1977. The of the Frankish kingdoms; an invaluable reference work.
Websites
For medieval documents (including Einhard’s biography of An informative site that provides information about the major
Charlemagne), saints lives, law texts, and maps, Internet Me- Christian and Muslim pilgrimages today whose roots lie in the
dieval Sourcebook, at www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html early medieval period, including the Hajj to Mecca, Sacred
Entertaining and educational site relating to the archaeology Destinations, at http://www.sacred-destinations.com/index
and history of Viking York, Jorvik Viking Centre, at www .html.
.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk/
262
CHAPTER
The High Middle Ages,
1000–1300
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Choice: Thomas Becket Defends the The Holy Roman Empire and Frederick II
Liberties of the Church The Instruments of Rule
Introduction The Growth of Towns and Trade
Church Reform and Spiritual Renewal Expansion in Agriculture
Reform from Within Revival of Trade and Town
The Church and Secular Authority The Interests of Business
Innocent III and the Fourth Lateran Council The Trade in Slaves
Lay Leaders and Friars The Building of Cathedrals and the Spread
of Learning
The Crusades
The Great Cathedrals
A War to Renew the Church
From Cathedral Schools to Universities
Crusading Armies and Crusader States
New Learning, New Thinking
Voice: Anna Comnena Describes the
Crusaders Summary
962 1076
Otto I becomes Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Emperor Henry IV
emperor 1095
Pope Urban II’s sermon
provokes the crusading movement
960 980 1000 1020 1040 1060 1080 1100 1120 1140
Merchants, Pilgrims, and Migrants on
the Move, 1000–1300
By the end of the eleventh century, people at different ends
of the Mediterranean came once more into contact with one
another, mostly through trade, but sometimes through holy
war. Which cities under Byzantine and Muslim rule drew
traders and pilgrims from Europe to the east and why?
1160 1180 1200 1220 1240 1260 1280 1300 1320 1340
263
264 CHAPTER 10 The High Middle Ages, 1000–1300
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Thomas Becket Defends the
Liberties of the Church
On the evening of December 29, 1170, Thomas Becket,
archbishop of Canterbury, had unexpected visitors.
Four armed knights approached the archbishop in his
cathedral—and murdered him. They believed that they
were acting according to the wishes of their king,
Henry II of England. With this murder, a long-standing
quarrel between Thomas and his king over the church’s
freedom from secular interference came to an end. It
did not, however, put an end to the problem.
Thomas and Henry had not always been enemies. As
Henry’s chancellor, Thomas had administered Henry’s
The murder of Thomas government, assisting him in a variety of judicial, fiscal,
Becket, archbishop of Can- and military reforms. Thomas was one of the so-called new men—literate com-
terbury, in 1170 by knights in moners elevated to positions of power by virtue of their skills in the exercise of
the service of King Henry II government. Originally from London and of Norman descent, Thomas was a tall
outraged defenders of the man and fond of lavish display. He aroused the resentment of the English barons,
liberties of the church. Three who felt that new men were unworthy of powerful and lucrative positions in the
years later, he was declared a king’s service. But Thomas was also in the service of the church. Prior to entering
saint. Depictions of his mur- Henry’s service, Thomas had served Theobald, the archbishop of Canterbury, and in
der appear in stained glass 1154—the same year that Henry made Thomas his chancellor—Theobald made
windows, in manuscript Thomas cathedral archdeacon. Yet, Thomas had served Henry faithfully, even sup-
illuminations, and on objects porting the king’s attempts to curtail the authority of the church. Theobald, who
like this casket pictured here. was slowly dying, regretted his archdeacon’s activities.
(HIP/Art Resource, NY) Upon the death of the old archbishop, Henry appointed Thomas archbishop of
Canterbury, intending that Thomas would retain his position as chancellor as well.
But as archbishop, Thomas experienced a political, personal, and ultimately spiri-
tual transformation. As archbishop, he was head of the church in England, and in
this position Thomas decided that his interests were no longer the same as the
king’s. The role of an archbishop, it was now clear to him, lay in the defense of the
church’s liberties against the attempts of the king to limit them. Thus, Thomas
gave up being a king’s man, resigned the position of chancellor, and took up the
role of church defender.
A confrontation was soon in coming. In a departure from canon law and tradi-
tion, Henry claimed the right to try clergymen suspected of crimes in his royal
court rather than in ecclesiastical courts, where they usually received lighter penal-
ties. Thomas immediately objected and set himself against the will of the king.
The hostility between the two men forced Thomas into exile in France and at the
pope’s court in Rome for six years. The geographic distance did not lessen their
enmity. Henry confiscated the archbishop’s property and forced his relatives into
exile. Thomas excommunicated Henry and all those who supported him in his
cause. The bishops of England were split on the matter, but most came down on
the side of the king.
Church Reform and Spiritual Renewal 265
Eventually, Henry, fearing isolation from his fellow Christian rulers, met with
Thomas and agreed that Thomas would return to Canterbury. When he did so,
Thomas was greeted by cheering crowds. But he would not overturn the excom-
munications he had issued against Henry and those who supported him, and
Henry took that as an insult. It was at that point that Henry’s knights sped to Can-
terbury and murdered Thomas.
Almost immediately, Thomas Becket’s grave in the cathedral became a focal
point for pilgrims. So strong was Thomas’s reputation for holiness and defense
of the church that Pope Alexander III canonized him three years after his murder
in 1173.
Chronology
910 Monastery of Cluny is founded 1184 Church condemns Peter Waldo
987 Capetian dynasty replaces Carolingians 1187 Saladin crushes crusading army at Hattin
in France
1191 Richard I of England and Philip II Augustus of
1049 Leo IX elected pope France capture Acre
1076 Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Emperor 1192 Richard I and Saladin conclude three-year truce
Henry IV
1204 Constantinople falls to Fourth Crusade
1095 Pope Urban II’s sermon prompts crusading
movement 1208 Pope Innocent III calls for crusade against
Albigensian sect
1096 First wave of Crusaders sets off for Jerusalem
1209 Pope Innocent III approves Franciscan Order
1098 Cistercian Order is formed
1215 King John I signs Magna Carta; Fourth
1099 Jerusalem falls to First Crusade Lateran Council
1120 Order of the Templars is founded in Jerusalem. 1216 Dominican Order is founded
1163 Construction on Notre Dame begins 1291 Acre, last Christian outpost in east, falls
to Muslims
1182 Philip II expels Jews from France
had purchased their positions, a practice known as si- established the Cistercian Order, which acquired a
mony. It had been customary for lords to accept fees reputation for austerity it never lost. One of the most
from priests in exchange for the rights to officiate in famous preachers of the Middle Ages, Saint Bernard
the churches located on the lords’ lands, despite the of Clairveaux, belonged to this community in central
fact that bishops claimed to control these rights. Some France. He not only helped establish other Cistercian
bishops and archbishops even accepted payment for communities but also became an influential adviser
the lower-ranking offices in their jurisdiction. Now, to the French kings of the early twelfth century.
all such payments were condemned.
Like most successful reform movements, over time The Church and Secular Authority
the products of reform became themselves in need of
reform. By the end of the eleventh century, the Clu- The German emperor Henry III’s selection of Ger-
niac Order, too, had become rich. The abbey church at man-born Leo IX as pope in 1049 made few people
Cluny was the largest structure in Europe, and the happy. Supporters of reform within the Church viewed
monastery resembled more a bustling city than a the emperor’s role as interference. In Rome, the noble
sanctuary for silent prayer. Cluny’s influence can be families had trouble accepting a non-Roman pope
measured by the great number of papal, royal, and
noble delegations—similar to the elaborate ceremo-
nial visits secular rulers paid each other—sent to pay simony Purchase of ecclesiastical office from a layper-
respects to the order’s abbot. Important visitors re- son or church official.
quired accommodations and banquets befiting their Saint Bernard of Clairveaux (1090–1153) Cistercian
exalted status. The order’s own high standards had monk who was an influential preacher and adviser to
collapsed under the weight of its success. French kings and the pope.
A new set of reformers then sought to revive the Leo IX (r. 1049–1054) Pope who initiated the church
standards the Cluniac Order had attempted to set. In reform movement.
1098, monks from a monastery associated with Cluny
268 CHAPTER 10 The High Middle Ages, 1000–1300
over whom they exercised little influence. Bishops who tween Gregory’s and Henry’s successors was reached
had purchased their office were particularly nervous in the Concordat of Worms in 1122, which distin-
about the arrival of a man known to be intolerant of guished between the earthly and spiritual powers of
simony. Ordinary priests with wives feared that this a bishop. From then on, the emperor would confer
new bishop of Rome might compel them to give up the symbols of a bishop’s temporal authority over
their families. They were right to be worried. lands and property, and church authorities would in-
From the start, Leo set the tone for reform by dress- vest bishops with the symbols of their spiritual juris-
ing in the humble garb of a pilgrim. One of his first of- diction. Despite the clarity of the compromise, the
ficial acts was to depose the bishops and priests who liberties of the church remained an important issue as
had attained their positions through simony. He was popes continued to challenge the right of not only the
equally aggressive in attacking clerical marriage. The emperor but also kings, dukes, counts, and barons to
response of the married clergy was clear and heart- interfere in church affairs.
felt: they accused the church hierarchy of driving
them into poverty. Who, they cried, would tend to
their material needs while they ministered to spiri- Innocent III and the Fourth
tual ones? Who would make and wash their clothing, Lateran Council
clean their house, brew their ale, and in general main-
tain their household if not women? Affection un- The Gregorian reform lived much longer than its
doubtedly entered into the clergy’s concerns, but the namesake. In the early thirteenth century, another
ban’s repercussions had a practical side as well. pope, this one a young, highly skilled lawyer, turned
Leo IX’s successor, Pope Gregory VII, continued reform into law. The reform legislation of Innocent
to raise standards for the clergy and also expanded III was intended to define what it meant to be Chris-
papal authority, protecting the liberties of the church tian and to distinguish Christians from the non-
against interference from secular rulers. The greatest Christians living among them. In 1215, with Innocent
obstacle to the new pope’s plans was Henry IV, the presiding, the Fourth Lateran Council issued seventy
emperor who, like his father Henry III, considered it canons that set standards for clergy behavior, declared
his right not only to appoint the pope but also to ap- the pope to be the preeminent bishop in Christen-
point clergy to church positions within his empire. In- dom, condemned heresy, and required all Christians
tending to end that custom, Gregory decreed in 1075 to confess their sins to a priest once a year. But it was
that only the pope had the authority to appoint clergy the council’s pronouncements on marriage and the
to offices. He also forbade secular rulers from confer- presence of Jews in Christian society that had the
ring the symbols of a bishop’s authority on newly ap- greatest impact on ordinary Christians.
pointed bishops, a ceremony known as investiture. Since Carolingian times, the church had had an un-
Enraged, Henry responded by removing Gregory official role in the formal arrangements of marriage,
from office and calling for the election of a new pope.
To punish the emperor, Gregory excommunicated
him in 1076. “I release all Christian men from the alle-
Gregory VII (r. 1073–1085) Pope who expanded papal
giance which they have sworn or may swear to him, authority, raised clerical standards, and protected the
and I forbid anyone to serve him as king,” the pope church from interference by secular rulers.
declared. Relations between the emperor and the Investiture Controversy Conflict between Pope Gre-
pope could hardly have been more tense. gory VII and Emperor Henry IV over the secular role
In the winter of 1077, wearing the garb of a peni- in the investiture, or appointment, of bishops.
tent pilgrim, Henry went to meet the pope at Concordat of Worms Agreement between the papacy
Canossa, a village in the mountains of central Italy and the emperor in 1122 that allowed the emperor to
where the pope was visiting the castle of a powerful confer secular, but not spiritual, authority on bishops.
family. For three days, it was said, Henry stood bare- Innocent III (r. 1198–1216) One of the most influential
foot in the snow waiting for the pope to receive him. popes of the Middle Ages, responsible for the Fourth
Lateran Council and the crusade against heretics
In the face of such a public act of contrition, the pope
within Europe.
was compelled to forgive the seemingly penitent em-
Fourth Lateran Council Church council of 1215,
peror. The Investiture Controversy, as the confronta- presided over by Pope Innocent III, whose decrees set
tion between Gregory VII and Henry IV is known, standards for the clergy, declared the pope to hold
appeared to be over. supreme authority in the church, and required all
In fact, the battle for an end to lay interference in Christians to take confession once a year.
Church affairs was just beginning. A compromise be-
Church Reform and Spiritual Renewal 269
usually no more than a priest’s blessing of a couple from but worked in the world and lived according to
wed by contract. As in the Roman world, marriage rules they devised for themselves.
signaled an alliance between families and the passage The church welcomed these initiatives but worried
of property between them. By the eighth century, the that untrained preachers might misrepresent the teach-
church had made the consent of the couple, not of ings of the church. So laypeople had to receive permis-
their families, the defining feature of a legal marriage. sion to preach. Permission became an issue in the
Starting in the twelfth century, to prevent marriages French city of Lyons, when, in the late twelfth century,
between close kin, priests required the publishing of the public preaching of a merchant, Peter Waldo, at-
banns, a public announcement of a couple’s intention tracted attention. Waldo sought permission to preach
to marry that invited anyone with information that from the archbishop of Lyons and from the pope but
would hinder the marriage to come forward. Clan- was denied. This refusal led him to question the
destine marriages—unions contracted between a man church’s authority and, later, the necessity of the sacra-
and a woman in secret—were strongly condemned ments for salvation. When he continued to preach, the
by the church. After the Fourth Lateran Council, mar- church formally condemned him in 1184. This condem-
riages had to be announced publicly in advance, con- nation caused the Waldensians to question the value of
tracted openly, and publicly acknowledged; they were some of the sacraments, at which point the church un-
also forbidden between closely related kin. dertook their suppression with vigor. Members of the
In seeking to reinforce Christian identity, the coun- sect were declared heretics, imprisoned periodically,
cil decreed that Jews and Muslims must wear dis- excommunicated, and, finally, in the early thirteenth
tinguishing clothing in public. In addition, on the century, expelled from the region.
grounds that only Christians should exercise author- In the mid-twelfth century, another heretical sect,
ity over Christians, Jews were barred from holding the Cathars, adopted a dualist conception of the
public office. Finally, Jews who had converted to world, seeing everything of the spirit as good and the
Christianity were forbidden to return to their former material world as evil. Also known as Albigensians
religion. At this time Jews in the Diaspora lived mainly (for the southern French town, Albi, where many
in the German territories, southern France, and Sicily, lived), Cathars rejected the special role of the priest-
working as merchants, moneylenders, cobblers, and hood in salvation. By the early 1200s, Catharism had
tanners. The constraints placed on them only increased spread over much of southern France and into Spain.
from this point forward. In many towns, under the protection of noblemen
Innocent died in 1216, less than a year after the who had joined the sect, Cathars set up their own
council adjourned. The church had benefited from churches, which attracted more people than did the
having such an able canon lawyer as pope for eigh- Roman churches.
teen years. The reforms that Leo IX and Gregory VII Although missionary efforts aimed to bring the
had fought for took on substance in the legislation In- Cathars back into obedience failed, the church did
nocent III shepherded through the council sessions. not always discourage new religious orders, provided
Not all of his measures would succeed in the long they respected church authority and adhered to church
run, but he provided the papacy with the legal and teaching. In the early thirteenth century, the spirit of
theological instruments to impose order on the reform combined with a new religious enthusiasm
church and Christian society and to delineate the among the laity to produce a new kind of religious
boundaries of Christian identity. order, the mendicants, who repudiated property
ownership and embraced poverty. Unlike monks in
Lay Leaders and Friars
Starting in the late tenth century and throughout the banns Declaration by a priest of a couple’s intention
to marry.
eleventh, wandering monks carried the spirit of re-
form through the towns and villages of western Eu- Peter Waldo (ca. 1170s–1218) Devout merchant in
Lyons, France, who defied church authorities and
rope, preaching and engaging laypeople in the exhorted Christians to live more piously.
movement to define what it meant to be Christian
Cathars Heretical religious sect, also known as
and live accordingly. Inspired by the biblical text “If Albigensians, who rejected the role of the priesthood
you wish to be perfect, then go and sell everything in salvation.
you have, and give to the poor” (Matthew 9:21), mendicants (from Latin,“beggars”) Members of reli-
many lay people formed communities dedicated to gious orders that repudiated the ownership of per-
prayer and helping the sick and poor. Unlike monas- sonal and communal property.
teries, the new lay communities did not withdraw
270 CHAPTER 10 The High Middle Ages, 1000–1300
isolated monasteries, friars lived according to a monas- Although Francis resisted pressure from members
tic rule in the world and carried out the church’s mis- of his order to modify his principle that Franciscans
sion, working or begging to provide for their very could own no property, either individually and col-
simple needs. lectively, he reluctantly lessened the physical hard-
The Order of the Minor Brothers, commonly known ship the brothers were expected to endure in their life
as the Franciscan Order, vowed obedience to the pope, of poverty. After his death in 1226 from years of phys-
renunciation of property, and chastity. Relief of the ical self-deprivation, the Franciscans became divided
poor and preaching stood at the center of their mission. between those who wanted to follow Francis’s origi-
Their founder, Francis, was born in 1182 in Assisi, a hill nal rule to the letter and those who believed the order
town in central Italy, to a family of prosperous cloth needed to own some property to be able to function.
merchants. After serving in a war, he renounced his The majority of the members and the papacy favored
claim on his father’s goods in 1207, gave away all his a modified rule that permitted the order to acquire
clothing and goods, and dedicated his life to the poor missions and schools to teach their members how to
and infirm. The powerful example of his conversion preach and convert. By the start of the fourteenth cen-
convinced many of his friends to join him. Within tury, the Franciscans had brothers working in mis-
two years, in 1209, Pope Innocent III approved the sions as far away as Africa.
rule Francis wrote. The Franciscan friars wandered
over Italy, preaching repentance and aiding the sick;
within ten years, they numbered in the thousands. friars (from Latin, “brothers”) Members of mendicant
Their wanderings took them not only across Europe orders.
but also to Muslim territories, where they sought con- Francis of Assisi (1182–1226) Founder of the Francis-
verts. Women followed a more traditional path in the or- can friars, the first mendicant order.
der. With support from Francis, a young woman from Clare of Assisi (1194–1253) Follower of Francis of
Assisi, Clare, founded an order of nuns in 1212 that be- Assisi who established an affiliated order of nuns, the
came known later as the Order of the Poor Clares. Un- Poor Clares, in 1212.
like the friars, however, they lived in strict seclusion.
Church Reform and Spiritual Renewal 271
A Spanish contemporary of Francis, Dominic The friars’ work made a deep impression on reli-
Guzman, founded another order of mendicant friars, gious life in Europe. By setting an example of apos-
the Order of Preachers, or the Dominicans. In contrast tolic poverty, they made people question their
to the Franciscans, few of whom were priests, the Do- attachment to material things and made them more
minicans were an order of priests who specialized in sympathetic to the poverty surrounding them. They
preaching with the special aim of combating heresy, placed a greater emphasis on learning. They also par-
in particular the Cathars. Founded in 1216, the Do- ticipated in the papacy’s campaign to impose unifor-
minican Order proved so effective against heretical mity of belief on Christian society.
groups that bishops relied on theologically trained
Dominican friars to interrogate possible heretics and
apostate Jews—Jews who had converted and later re-
nounced Christianity. Dominicans placed great value Dominic Guzman (ca. 1170–1221) Founder of the
on education in theology as a way to combat religious Order of Preachers, or Dominican Order.
beliefs at odds with church doctrine.
272 CHAPTER 10 The High Middle Ages, 1000–1300
In this fourteenth-century
manuscript illumination,
Pope Urban II arrives at
the council and gives the
sermon that galvanized
thousands to march to Je-
rusalem. (Bridgeman-
Giraudon/Art Resource, NY)
Crusading Armies and massacres were the first widespread violence against
Crusader States Jews in western Europe. Having accomplished what
they believed God desired, many crusading Chris-
When monks spread word of Urban’s sermon tians returned home, but thousands pushed on. When
throughout Europe, the response was dramatic. they reached Constantinople in 1097, Emperor Alexius
Within a year, two armies—one hardly more than a did not recognize in these ragged, mostly unarmed,
mob of knights and peasants, the other contingents of and mostly poor men and women a response to his
knights led by noblemen—planned to depart. In the request. His army quickly escorted them out of his
first wave, tens, possibly hundreds, of thousands of territory. On a road in Asia Minor, the Seljuk Turks
people incited by the sermons they had heard set out put a bloody end to what became known as the Poor
for Jerusalem, the city they believed to be in need of People’s Crusade.
rescue. Jerusalem had for centuries been a city that Meanwhile, more seasoned soldiers prepared for a
Christians in western Europe dreamed of seeing but military undertaking endorsed by the pope. The First
which only pilgrims willing to endure the dangers of Crusade, led by nobles from France, Germany, and
a ruinously expensive journey ever reached. Now pi- southern Italy, lasted over two years, during which the
ous determination mixed with the allure of plunder Crusaders besieged walled towns, fought Muslim
and the thirst for adventure in the crowds that set out powers that stood in their way, and slaughtered indis-
to rid Jerusalem of people who were not Christian. criminately—even Christians, whose faith they either
“Deus le volt!” (“God wills it!”) became the rallying ignored or were unaware of. Enduring hardship and
cry of the masses marching east. starvation, more Crusaders died of disease than in
Some saw enemies closer to home. In numerous combat. After capturing the port of Antioch from a
cities, mobs massacred the only non-Christians in their Muslim ruler, they reached the walls of Jerusalem in
midst, the Jews. One witness described how pilgrims June 1099. Since their journey began, however, not only
in the northern French city of Rouen “armed them- had rival Muslim powers in Egypt expelled the Seljuks
selves, rounded up some Jews in a church—whether from Jerusalem but now Muslims, Jews, and Christians
by force or by ruse I don’t know—and led them out to once again coexisted under Muslim rule in the city they
put them to the sword regardless of age or sex. Those all considered sacred. Nevertheless, on July 15, 1099, af-
who agreed to submit to the Christian way of life ter a month-long siege, the Crusaders captured the city
could, however, escape the impending slaughter.” The and massacred nearly the entire population.
274 CHAPTER 10 The High Middle Ages, 1000–1300
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Anna Comnena Describes the Crusaders
Around 1120, Anna, the daughter of the Byzantine
emperor Alexius I Comnenus, wrote The Alexiad, an ➜ What does Anna
admiring history of her beloved father and the events appreciate about the
of his reign. The last five of the fifteen chapters de- Crusaders and what
scribe the First Crusade (1099–1102), and Anna’s ac- does she dislike?
count of the crusading warriors who showed up
unannounced at the gate of Constantinople provides
insight into the way western Europeans were perceived in the old, highly ceremo-
➜ How would you describe nial culture of the Byzantine court. In addition to calling them Franks, as most
the Byzantine court based on Byzantines did, Anna also calls them Kelts (Celts). In her world, northern Europe
what Anna says? was populated by primitive “barbarian” peoples whom Roman geographers had
labeled long ago. ➜ ➜
The new kingdom of Jerusalem established by the was a disaster. The arrival of a massive Muslim army
Crusaders could not depend on western kings for from the south forced the Christian kings to retreat
consistent, timely support, so early in the twelfth cen- and find their way home. The failure of the Second
tury professional soldiers came to be garrisoned in Crusade had a devastating impact on the morale of
immense stone fortifications, like the imposing Krak Christians in western Europe. Bernard of Clairveaux
des Chevaliers in Syria. These soldiers were not ordi- attributed the failure to the sins of Christians, many
nary knights. They belonged to religious orders of of whom were willing to accept the blame.
laymen who had taken vows similar to those taken It took a while for the Muslims of the region to
by monks. Their original purpose had been the care unify behind a leader, but when they did, the jihad,
of sick pilgrims, but now, in addition to their vows of as holy war is called in Islam, brought an end to
poverty, chastity, and obedience, these monk-knights Christian rule in the Near East. The Muslim leader
considered the defense of the Crusader kingdom to was Saladin, a legend in both the Muslim and Chris-
be their primary responsibility. tian worlds. Saladin drew the crusading armies into a
One such order was the Knights Hospitaller of Je- trap. On July 3, 1187, his army crushed the Frankish
rusalem, which acquired a reputation as a superior army, weakened by internal rivalries, on ground be-
military unit. Another, which took its name from the tween two hills, the Horns of Hattin, near the Sea of
location of its headquarters near the ruins of what Galilee. Only one Crusade leader survived the battle.
was reputedly Solomon’s Temple, was the Knights Saladin then took possession of the cities under
Templar. Bernard of Clairveaux praised “the new Frankish rule one by one until he finally entered Jeru-
knighthood” for its services to Christendom, but the salem in October, a loss that deeply shocked the
Templars engaged in far more than relief of the poor Christian west. Barely alive, Frankish refugees re-
and military defense. Their military skill made them treated to the ports of Tyre, Tripoli, and Antioch.
the ideal guards of money moving between western To recapture Jerusalem, Richard I, king of England,
Europe and Palestine, and they gained immense and Philip II Augustus of France led the Third Cru-
wealth from moneylending. sade, but they succeeded in seizing only the port of
As creditors of kings, the Knights Templars had Acre on the coast of Palestine in 1191. King Philip
not only wealth but also political influence. In 1305, shortly returned to France. For nearly a year, Richard
one of the Templars’ debtors, King Philip IV of and Saladin fought indecisive skirmishes. But when
France, charged them with heresy and homosexual reports of problems at home reached Richard and re-
activity, confiscated their vast properties, imprisoned ports of disagreements among his allies reached
all the Knights Templar in his kingdom, and burned
many of them as heretics at the stake. Their destruc-
tion produced a windfall of cash for the nearly empty
Knights Hospitaller (from the Hospital of St. John in
royal treasury. Jerusalem) Monastic order of knights formed to defend
For nearly a century, the Franks maintained Cru- Christian possessions in Syria and Palestine.
sader states in the cities they conquered in Syria and Knights Templar Military order founded in the 1120s
Palestine. These were multicultural societies with le- in Jerusalem to defend the land the Crusader forces
gal and political institutions that blended western had captured.
European and local traditions. But the Crusaders’ Louis VII (r. 1137–1180) King of France, first husband
presence, brutality, and ignorance of the religion and of Eleanor of Aquitaine and leader of the failed
customs of the people in the land they had conquered Second Crusade.
galvanized opposition to them. jihad Religious duty imposed on Muslims to defend
and extend Islam.
Saladin (r. 1169–1193) Muslim leader, of Kurdish an-
Crusades in the East and in Europe cestry, who defeated the Crusaders at Hattin and cap-
tured Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, a Second Crusade had organized to sup-
Richard I (r. 1189–1199) Son of Henry II of England
port the gains of the First. The German emperor Con- and Eleanor of Aquitaine; king of England and
rad III gathered his troops and pressed the kings of leader of the Third Crusade; known as Richard the
Poland and Bohemia to join him. With Louis VII of Lion-Hearted.
France, accompanied by a host of other nobles, the Philip II Augustus (r. 1179–1223) King of France and
Crusaders arrived in Syria in the spring of 1148, co-leader of the Third Crusade.
where they chose to attack Damascus, the one city in Acre Mediterranean port, today in Israel; last Christian
the region whose Muslim ruler was most inclined to territory in the Holy Land to fall to Muslims, in 1291.
join forces with the Christians. The resulting siege
276 CHAPTER 10 The High Middle Ages, 1000–1300
Saladin, the two warriors looked for a way out of the Meanwhile, all attempts to reestablish a Christian
war. They agreed to a three-year truce in September presence in the Holy Land stalled. In 1215 King Louis
of 1192 that ended shortly before Saladin died in 1193, IX of France, later Saint Louis, led a crusade to Egypt
but Jerusalem remained out of reach for the crusad- as its target, but, like his great-grandfather, Louis VII,
ing armies. Meanwhile, a hospital set up by a group he went home in defeat. The few remaining Christian
of German merchants to assist Richard and his forces outposts in Syria and Palestine survived until 1291,
in the siege of Acre was transformed, within a de- when Acre, the last city in the region under Christian
cade, into the Teutonic Knights, an order whose mili- rule, fell to Muslim forces.
tary mission was identical to that of the Hospitallers
and the Templars but whose members came from
The Impact of the Crusades
German lands.
In Rome, Pope Innocent III called for a Fourth Cru- Two centuries of fighting had resulted in a tremen-
sade to the Holy Land. But in 1204, instead of fulfill- dous loss of life, on all sides. By openly endorsing the
ing the mission defined by the pope, the crusading idea of slaughter as penance, the papacy created the
army seized Constantinople, the capital of the Byzan- conditions for legitimating violence toward Jews,
tine Empire. It was the first time in a thousand years Muslims, other non-Christians, and Christians who
that the mighty walls had been breached by invaders. did not recognize the pope as the head of the univer-
Once inside, the army burned and pillaged the city. sal church. The massacre of Jews at the start of the
Churches, palaces, libraries, and public buildings were Poor People’s Crusade was only the first episode in
ransacked and stripped of their treasures. The crusad- centuries of violence against them. Although Chris-
ing leaders then divided the old empire among them- tians and Muslims had fought against each other in
selves. The principal funder of the crusade, Venice, centuries past, now their confrontations were cast
received the island of Crete and two ports on the in starkly sectarian terms. For each side, it was a mat-
southern coast of the Peloponnesus. There eastern ter of “we the believers” against “the infidels”—the
clergy were compelled to recognize the pope as their nonbelievers—despite the fact that for centuries Mus-
spiritual leader and the Christian population was lim and Christian merchants had done business on
made to feel like conquered people. The crusading largely peaceful terms in eastern markets. In the
movement had now become an open hunt for plun- northern reaches of Europe, whole peoples joined the
der and territory. church when faced with the choice of conversion or
Closer to home, the crusade to seize Spain from the death. In southwestern France, the Cathars were de-
Muslims continued. Known as the Reconquista, the stroyed. Christians living in the conquered Byzantine
effort to bring all of the Iberian Peninsula under Empire thought of the Crusades as the last of the bar-
Christian rule succeeded in limiting Muslim rule to barian invasions. Following the Crusader conquest,
the province of Granada in the south by 1236. In 1208, eastern clergy were no longer allowed to be ordained
Pope Innocent III also called for war against the Cathar according to the Greek rite. With the Crusades, re-
heretics, thus using crusading as a tool to impose reli- form of the church had come to mean uniformity of
gious uniformity in western Europe. Responding to belief and practice, and western Christianity became
his call, knights from England and nobles from north- a militant religion.
ern France undertook the Albigensian Crusade, at- Many profited from the Crusades. The merchants
tacking Cathar cities and massacring thousands. It of western Europe, especially in Italian cities, bene-
took several armies and nearly twenty years to sup-
press the Cathars.
The Teutonic Knights now applied their crusading Teutonic Knights Order of German knights founded
zeal to the conquest and conversion of the peoples of in Jerusalem who shifted their area of operation in 1211
to eastern Europe to convert non-Christians.
eastern Europe. In 1211, they arrived in Hungary to
serve the king, Andrew II, whose kingdom suffered Reconquista (from Spanish, “reconquest”) War to
bring all Muslim territory in Spain under Christian
from incursions from a non-Christian people, the rule.
Cumans. The knights next subdued and converted Albigensian Crusade War waged in the first half of
the Prussians and in 1226 received permission to set- the thirteenth century against the Cathar sect in south-
tle. Within fifty years they were masters of the region, western France.
controlling the lucrative grain trade to the Baltic Sea. infidel (from Latin, “unbeliever”) From a Christian or
In eastern Europe, the land-rich, commercially active Muslim perspective, anyone who is not a member of
Teutonic Knights remained a military, political, and their religion.
economic force.
The Growth of Royal Authority 277
fited from contact with the markets of Palestine and longest-lasting line of kings, the Capetians, replaced
Syria. Following close behind the crusading con- the Carolingians in 987, kings were poorer and weaker
querors in the First Crusade were Italian merchants, than their nobles. Although in theory the kingdom of
who immediately established trading outposts in the the Capetian kings consisted of most of the land of
Crusader states. Venetian traders predominated in modern-day France, their income derived principally
the port of Tyre, while merchants from Amalfi, Pisa, from the region around Paris, which formed the royal
and Genoa traded in Jerusalem, Acre, and other domain. The rest of their kingdom was parceled out to
Christian strongholds. Having access to local markets the great lords who were their vassals. Over the twelfth
where traders from as far away as India and even and thirteenth centuries, the French kings added much
China brought their goods meant that the Italian mer- territory to the royal domain—mainly by confiscat-
chants could now create a demand in European mar- ing their chief vassals’ lands—and made significant
kets for luxury goods: spices, silk and linen fabrics, progress in turning royal law into the law of the king-
carpets, and brassware. In the twelfth century north- dom. In the thirteenth century, the French kings con-
ern Italian cities began to produce their own silk in- vened their judicial court, called Parlement, where
stead of importing it from the east, setting the they and their judges took the counsel of vassals, tried
conditions for the rise of the silk industry in the next cases reserved for royal justice, and heard appeals
century. The great distances between Italy and the from the towns and provinces.
Levant gave rise to banking techniques for the long- In England, the consolidation of royal authority
distance transfer of credit instead of coin, always vul- occurred more swiftly than in France. Following in-
nerable to theft and piracy. Thus, the Crusades vasions by Angles and Danes in the ninth and tenth
accelerated the pace of economic changes that had al- centuries, at Hastings in 1066, William, the duke of
ready begun prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 1099. Normandy, defeated the Danish king of England. Af-
ter this Norman Conquest, William and his succes-
sors ruled England from Normandy until the early
thirteenth century by delegating the tasks of govern-
The Growth of ment in England to royal representatives. Their main
Royal Authority concern was to raise money. After a long contest among
William’s heirs, Henry II restored order in part by
➜
By what means did kings manage to centralize and adapting pre-Norman administrative structures to
increase their authority?
his needs. He instituted a system whereby royal rep-
➜
Me
Bayeux
Se
use
Reims
Caen
C H AM PA G N E king took land away from his vassals.
in
ÎLE-DE-
Which regions did the French kings
Chartres HOLY
FRANCE Provins Troyes first set out to confiscate?
Rennes (ROYAL Sens
MAINE DOMAIN) Bar-sur-seine
BRI T T A N Y BLOIS Orléans
ROMAN
ire
ANJOU Lo
Tours B UR G U N D Y
Bay Nantes TOURAINE Bourges EMPIRE
of POITOU
Poitiers Cluny
Biscay B O U R BO N
Added 1270–1314
Royal fiefs Gar
Avignon
on
GASCONY PR O V EN C E
Montpelier
Toulouse Marseilles
Henry and his sons, Richard I and John I, all tried to prisingly, then, royal pressure on the nobility and the
curtail the ability of their nobles to wage war against church to contribute more often led to rebellion.
them by prohibiting the construction of castles with- When the demands of England’s King John I ex-
out royal license. Henry’s relations with the church ceeded the limits of what he was owed by custom, a
were marred by his fight with Thomas Becket, arch- group of nobles compelled him to sign the Magna
bishop of Canterbury. Though Henry hoped Becket’s Carta in 1215. Although this document restored the
loyalty to him would survive his appointment to the traditional rights of the barons and the clergy, espe-
highest church office in his kingdom, the archbishop cially protection from the king’s excessive fiscal de-
defended the liberties of the church, and lost his life mands, its defense of “free men” created a powerful
(see Choice). precedent for the rights of all subjects of the king, not
In France and England, kings launched military just the nobility. Later generations used it to protect
campaigns more easily than they managed to raise themselves from unlawful seizures and oppressive
regular funds from their subjects. Throughout the government. The king’s need for financial aid from
Middle Ages, direct taxation—that is, the levying of his free, property-owning subjects played a role in the
taxes on individuals rather than on goods and ser-
vices—was associated with low social status and lo-
John I (r. 1199–1216) King of England who lost most of
cal authority. Kings expected financial support from his territory in France and was forced by nobles to sign
their vassals, but the amounts set by long-standing the Magna Carta in 1215; known as John Lackland.
custom were tiny in comparison to royal fiscal needs. Magna Carta A document confining the English king
Beyond the customary financial aid, nobles viewed to his traditional rights and obligations, signed by
the royal treasury as the personal concern of the king. King John in 1215.
The church was exempt from all taxation. Not sur-
The Growth of Royal Authority 279
emergence of a representative assembly, the English scandalous behavior at her husband’s court, which
Parliament. When the king needed money, he met with was only heightened when she accompanied him to
representatives from the nobility, clergy, and mer- Syria on the Second Crusade and stayed close to the
chants to request the amount. When these representa- fighting. Well-educated, Eleanor gathered around her
tives used the meetings to raise issues of concern to poets and intellectuals. For reasons having mostly to
them with the king, the interaction became a negotia- do with the lack of a male heir to the throne, Louis
tion, though the king usually maintained the upper and Eleanor’s marriage was annulled by the pope in
hand. In France, by contrast, the king never instilled 1152. She took all her lands with her out of the mar-
in the nobility the expectation of financial support. riage. Louis married twice more before he had a son,
Philip II Augustus. Two months after the annulment,
The Politics of Dynastic Families Eleanor married Henry Plantagenet, duke of Nor-
mandy, count of Anjou, soon to become Henry II,
Because the dowries of royal and noble daughters king of England, in 1154. The new king and queen of
consisted of large amounts of money and even land, England now held more land in the French kingdom
marriages at that social level often had important po- than did Eleanor’s former husband, Louis VII, king of
litical consequences. Deprived of a direct role in polit- the French.
ical life, royal and aristocratic women served as the Politics shaped King Henry’s relations with his
vehicles that transferred property from one family to wife and children. He saw four of his five sons and
another. The custom of not allowing women in pos- three daughters all married to wealthy, titled men
session of large amounts of territory to inherit noble
and royal titles led to some of the period’s most dis-
ruptive conflicts within and between families. Parliament The representative assembly of England.
When Eleanor, the heiress of the duke of Aquitaine, Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204) Queen of France
married the heir to the French throne in 1137, the land and later queen of England, who inherited the
she brought to the marriage more than doubled the province of Aquitaine in southwestern France.
size of the kingdom. Over fifteen years of marriage, annulment Invalidation of a marriage as if it had
Eleanor and Louis VII produced several daughters, never existed.
but no sons. She acquired a reputation for bold, even
280 CHAPTER 10 The High Middle Ages, 1000–1300
and women. The daughters married a German duke, and the emperor continued to contest each other’s
a Spanish king, and a Neapolitan king. After his el- authority over clergy in the empire.
dest son died, Henry had the next son, his namesake, In the early twelfth century, a new dynasty, the
crowned king in 1170. Eleanor made her third son, Hohenstaufen, restored prestige and authority to the
Richard, the duke of Aquitaine. Another son, Geof- office of emperor. The ongoing rivalry between the pa-
frey, became the duke of Brittany through his mar- pacy and the emperor over whose authority was su-
riage to the heiress of the province. Only John, the perior made the new emperors highly conscious of
youngest, had to be content with nothing for the time their title’s symbolic power, and so the empire now
being, thereby earning the nickname John Lackland. acquired a new name, the Holy Roman Empire, a po-
Henry’s refusal to allow his sons a role in ruling the litical entity that would last until 1806. In the twelfth
territories attached to their titles alienated both his century, the designation holy signaled the emperor’s
sons and his queen. Henry the Young King led one claim to defend the church and to involve himself in
unsuccessful revolt against his father and died dur- its affairs. The first to designate the empire as “holy,”
ing another. The surviving brothers continued to plot Frederick I reinforced imperial power by claiming
against their father. As punishment for her support of the same rights and laws wielded by the ancient Ro-
her rebellious sons, Henry had Eleanor imprisoned, man emperors, which became known collectively as
where she remained for sixteen years until Henry regalia. Frederick’s revival of Roman imperial au-
died, in 1189. While her son Richard I was on crusade thority was as short-lived as it was ambitious. He
in the east, Eleanor ably administered the govern- died, apparently of a heart attack, on his way to join
ment of England. Richard’s brother and successor, the Third Crusade in 1190. His son who succeeded
John I, could not prevent Philip, the French king, who him, Henry VI, married Constance, heiress to the
was looking to increase the French royal domain, from Norman kingdom of Sicily, who, because she was a
capturing most of his land in France and thereby re- woman, could wear the crown only as consort of her
ducing his income by a third. By the mid-thirteenth husband, not in her own right.
century, the English kings held little more than Gas- In 1198, Henry VI died. When his son, Frederick II,
cony in southwest France. an infant, became the ward of Innocent III, the pope
Over the thirteenth century, dynastic marriages hoped to raise an obedient son of the church, but he
between the French and English royal families punc- was disappointed. Frederick’s kingdom consisted not
tuated an almost continuous state of hostility between only of the Holy Roman Empire in the north but also,
the two kingdoms. In 1299, King John’s grandson, in the south, Sicily and southern Italy. In between lay
Edward I, took as his second wife Margaret, the sis- the Papal States. In 1215, the year before he died, In-
ter of France’s King Philip IV, and married his son, nocent gave his approval to Frederick’s being crowned
the future Edward II, to Isabelle, the French king’s emperor in Aachen—Charlemagne’s old capital. Soon
daughter. The two marriages represented attempts at Frederick attempted to join the two portions of his
peace in recurring wars over Gascony. Tensions be- empire by depriving Innocent’s successors of their
tween the two kingdoms intensified in 1328, when lands. He marched his armies through the Italian
the last of Philip IV’s sons died. A long struggle for peninsula, causing the cities of Italy much suffering
the French crown between descendants of the French from urban warfare between factions loyal to him and
royal family was about to begin. to the pope. He also forced the Muslims from Sicily to
leave the island and settle in a village in southern
Italy, where he allowed them to practice their religion
The Holy Roman Empire without hindrance but required them to pay heavy
and Frederick II taxes and serve in his armies.
Because he began his reign at such a young age, by through the study of Justinian’s Body of Civil Law.
the time Frederick II died in 1250 at least two genera- Once graduated, as jurists, they applied their learn-
tions of people living in the empire and in Italy could ing by writing opinions in court cases that judges re-
not remember a time when he had not been emperor. ferred to when making their decisions. Similarly,
His great learning, military exploits, and reputation jurists reconciled Roman law with canon law. The
for both good and bad government led the people of law of the church governed the clergy, ecclesiastical
his time to call him Stupor Mundi (“Wonder of the property, and procedures against heretics, but it also
World”)—an epithet he had no reason to reject. covered matters of intimate concern to laypeople,
such as penance, marriage, and wills. In many places
The Instruments of Rule in western Europe, inheritance and marital disputes
were decided in ecclesiastical courts.
As kings in France, England, and the Holy Roman Em- The influence of Roman law did not reach far north
pire sought to centralize their authority, and popes of the Alps. In southern France, Provence adapted
sought to maintain theirs, written records became in- Roman law to the needs of its merchants. Feudal law
creasingly useful and in the thirteenth century prolif- combined with royal law and statutory law prevailed
erated. By 1300, many people in western Europe had in northern Europe. England developed a judicial
reasons to consult a written document at least once in system that had no comprehensive code book like the
their lives. Managers of estates kept account books of Body of Civil Law but relied instead on the accumu-
inventories and sales of estate produce. Knights pre- lation of decisions rendered in past cases. England’s
served charters to show they had rights to the land common law was made applicable everywhere in the
granted to them by their lords. Noblemen sent in- kingdom as the law common to all. Itinerant justices
structions to their vassals in letters. Merchants relied made regular circuits of the shires to hear the civil
heavily on written documents to communicate with and criminal cases under the king’s jurisdiction. Out
their partners and employees traveling on business of this system of law evolved the English legal system
and to keep accounts of the business they conducted. and, much later, that of the United States.
By far, the record offices of secular rulers and
popes produced the most documents. The chief secre-
tary of a king’s or pope’s records acquired the title of The Growth of Towns
chancellor. His responsibility was to draft letters in
response to requests for the king’s advice. At the start and Trade
of the thirteenth century, the records of the French
➜
documents, taxes, and financial obligations. New op- less guidance, since they understood verbal signals
portunities for trade led some to traffic in human from the plower to turn or to stop.
beings. Heavier, wheeled plows pulled by suitably har-
nessed horses meant that peasants could work more
Expansion in Agriculture land in a day than ever before. Whether an increase in
population across western Europe, but particularly in
Throughout the Middle Ages, land was the measure of the north, stimulated innovations or whether such in-
most aspects of life. A person’s wealth was measured novations contributed to a rise in the population, the
by the amount of land in his or her possession. The cumulative effect of these changes in agriculture made
amount of land under cultivation determined how itself apparent in the tenth century. Conditions in Eu-
much food was available. Toward the end of the tenth rope were ripe for an economic and cultural upsurge.
century, an increase in the amount of crop-producing
land was accompanied by an increase in population,
Revival of Trade and Town
with the potential for that number to rise even higher.
The increase in agricultural production came about as a Even before the Crusades brought western Europe
result of a combination of factors, the most prominent into increased contact with the people and markets of
of which were changing methods of field management the eastern Mediterranean, trade and towns were on
and improvements in agricultural technology. the rise. Travel was still dangerous, but merchants
For much of the early Middle Ages, peasants, like were willing to risk transporting goods long dis-
the Romans before them, had divided their fields in tances. By the late thirteenth century, a few merchants
two, left one half fallow, or uncultivated, for a year, from Italy, like the Venetian Marco Polo, had even
and planted their crops in the other half. Fallow land reached China. Greater surpluses in crops meant
replenished its nutrients, but the practice meant that people had more to sell at market. More people and
half the land produced nothing every year. In south- goods led to regularly held markets in the most pop-
ern Europe—with its drier climate—this system of ulated location in a region. It would be impossible to
two-field crop rotation continued, but in northern Eu- say whether trade gave rise to towns or vice versa.
rope, peasants improved on this system by dividing What is clear is that each fostered the other in condi-
their land into three parts. One they left fallow, an- tions of greater social stability.
other they planted in the spring, and the third they Travel on trade routes increased, and some towns
planted with winter crops. This three-field crop rota- sprang up to provide rest and refreshment to traders.
tion, dependent on more rainfall than southern Eu- The distance between towns often corresponded to
rope received, meant that two-thirds instead of half of the distance that traders could cover in a day. Mer-
a peasant’s land was under production in one year. chants kept their eyes open for customers with money
Related to the changes in crop rotation were im- to spend. Kings, lords, bishops, and their household
provements in plows and animal harnessing. More dependents were good customers, eager to buy the
land under cultivation spurred experimentation in luxury items merchants had for sale. Thus, royal,
the construction of plows. Peasants attached wheels noble, and ecclesiastical residences became sites of
to their plows, which made it easier for oxen to pull markets for local and long-distance traders. In Cham-
them through the heavier, wetter soil of northern Eu- pagne, in northeastern France, six large annual
rope. A vertical blade, or coulter, made a narrow slice markets attracted merchants from all over Europe
through the soil, followed by the plowshare, an iron- during the twelfth century. Their different currencies
covered blade that cut horizontally. The moldboard prompted the first development of banking tech-
tipped the cut soil over, creating the ridge of a row. niques. With the use of coins now the norm, money-
Wheels made it possible for a plow to move more changers daily posted changing exchange rates so
quickly down a row—provided it had a speedy ani- that merchants would know the worth of their coins
mal pulling it. in relation to the worth of other merchants’ coins. The
Oxen are slow and unintelligent compared to fairs of Champagne declined in the 1200s, when mer-
horses. But because the strap that circles an ox’s neck chant galleys reached northern Europe through the
under a yoke would strangle a horse, peasants could Strait of Gibraltar. By 1300, trade had transformed life
not use horses to pull plows until they devised a dif- for the better throughout western Europe.
ferent kind of harnessing. With a harness resting on Italian seaports benefited from their proximity to
its shoulders rather than its neck, a horse could be the markets of the eastern Mediterranean. They be-
used to plow, and horses could walk more quickly came urban far faster than most towns north of the
and work longer hours than oxen. They also required Alps. Because of their location, merchants from Genoa,
The Growth of Towns and Trade 283
Grain Fish
Flax
Lead
Dublin York Fish
Danzig
Fish Flax
Waterford Wool Lübeck
Boston Fish
Hemp Hemp Torun
Over 80,000 Stourbridge Iron Bremen
Iron Deventer Berlin
Over 40,000 London Grain Poznan
Lead Bristol Magdeburg
Over 20,000 Bruges Antwerp Salt Leipzig
Tin Lublin
Over 10,000 Ghent Cologne Breslau Tar
Ypres Wine Pitch
Rh
Tournai Brussels Copper Iron
Rouen Important trade fair Iron Krakow
ine
Prague
Marketing center, under 10,000 Fish Amiens Iron Frankfort
Guibray Rouen Wheat Silver
Salt Paris Paper
Cologne Banking center Flax St. Denis Nuremberg
Provins Nördlingen Paper
Wheat
Lagny
Boundary of the Iron
Linz Augsburg
Orléans Troyes Strasbourg
Holy Roman Empire Wine Bar
Munich
Vienna Iron
Salt Zurzach Buda
Tours Dijon Hall Salt Saltzburg
Bourges Besançon Innsbruck Schwaz
0 150 300 Km. Gastein
Wine Villach
0 150 300 Mi.
Geneva Bergamo Mfd. wares Vicenza
Brescia Padua
Wine
Lyon Milan
Bordeaux Mfd. wares Cremona Horses
Wine
Pavia VeronaVenice
Fruits+foodstuffs Piacenza MantuaGlass
Mfd. waresGenoa Parma
Bologna Ravenna
Wool Avignon Zara
Leon Iron Toulouse Montpellier Beauclaire Lucca Rimini
Silver
Pisa Florence Ancona
Villalón Narbonne Artwares
Wine Wine Arezzo
Valladolid Siena
Perugia
Wool Saragossa Orvieto
Coimbra Fruits+foodstuffs Timber
Pitch Rome
Madrid Barcelona Wine
Toledo Metalwares
Lisbon Cotton
Leather
Silver
Naples
Paper Olives
Valencia
Copper
Cork Cotton Córdoba Horses
Seville Olives
Palermo Messina
Silk Granada
Olives
Algiers Wine
Ceuta Slave market
Slave market Slave market Tunis
Olives Olives Olives
MAP 10.2 Population and Economic Centers Improved agricultural techniques contributed to the
rise in population across most of Europe. Cities grew in size and population between the tenth and
twelfth centuries, but few had more than a few thousand inhabitants. Which cities were the largest cities?
Venice, Pisa, and Amalfi functioned as middlemen Merchants and craftworkers organized themselves
carrying goods from the eastern Mediterranean to into guilds according to the goods they specialized
north of the Alps. In northern Europe, urbanization in. Guilds for goldsmiths, masons, leatherworkers,
occurred at a slower pace. Towns grew fastest in the furriers, carpenters, glassworkers, drapers, and many
cities of Flanders, a region in modern-day Belgium, other skilled workers as well as merchants wrote
whose merchants took an active part in trade with the
British Isles, the Baltic region, and, eventually, Italy.
Starting in the thirteenth century, Flemish textiles, Flanders Most urban region of northern Europe in the
made with imported wool from England, were sold Middle Ages, today a province of Belgium.
in markets all over Europe and the Mediterranean. By guilds Associations of merchants or craftworkers
the beginning of the fourteenth century, commerce for mutual protection and regulation of their field
and manufacturing industries experienced explosive of business.
growth throughout western Europe.
284 CHAPTER 10 The High Middle Ages, 1000–1300
statutes that governed their professional behavior Not everyone who wished to conduct business
and built halls in which they could meet. Members had the means to do so. Borrowing money at interest
relied on their guilds to represent them to municipal enabled merchants with little or no capital to embark
authorities. Some guilds were only for master crafts- on commercial ventures. If they made back what they
men, who owned their own businesses. Others also borrowed plus the interest and still had profit, their
admitted journeymen, those who had completed ap- venture was a success. The church’s view was differ-
prenticeships and now worked in a master’s business ent. On the basis of the Old Testament ban on charging
for a wage. Craftsmen and merchants generally had interest, or usury, the church forbade interest-bearing
shops open to the public on the street level and their loans between Christians. Since credit was essential
private residence above. In spite of the expertise they to the economic expansion of the thirteenth century,
could acquire working in their husbands’ businesses, merchants found ways around the prohibition. Written
women were generally excluded from guilds, except agreements between lenders and borrowers recorded
in the textile trade. only the amount to be repaid, thereby hiding the in-
Urban life required new forms of government. A terest charged. Long-distance-trade merchants hid
city government’s highest priority was to protect the rates of interest—12 percent on ordinary loans was
city’s economy, and that almost always meant pro- standard—in the exchange rates of loans made in one
tecting the interests of its wealthy merchants and currency and repaid in another. What began as pro-
craftsmen. In most cities, the craft and merchant guilds tection of poorer traders from richer ones inhibited
effectively became municipal governments: what was bold economic initiatives. Over time, the church ad-
good for trade was considered good for the city, and justed its definition of usury to the charging of exces-
vice versa. City governments assigned guilds such as sive interest, to allow money to move into the hands
large warehouses that also served as hostels to travel- of those who needed and were willing to pay for it.
ing merchants; others granted them entire neighbor- Christians turned over the job of lending money
hoods in which to live and conduct their business. mostly to Jews, whose religion allowed them to take
The working poor played no political role in their cities. interest from Christians but not from other Jews. For
Jews practicing humble crafts like shoemaking and
The Interests of Business leatherworking, moneylending offered a chance for
prosperity. Even though not all Jews became money-
For long-distance trade and manufacturing to be lenders and Christians, too, lent money at interest in
profitable, some cooperation among competitors was certain places and periods, Jews came to be associ-
necessary for all the businesses to be secure. Merchants ated with the practice and to bear the brunt of the
and craftworkers in western Europe formed compa- hostility people always feel toward their creditors.
nies that directed capital into potentially profitable When cash-strapped King Philip Augustus of France
ventures. Often business was a family matter. Broth- in 1182 defaulted on his debts to Jewish moneylend-
ers and sons pooled their family’s assets in ventures ers, he also confiscated their property and expelled
designed to turn a profit. The younger male members them from his kingdom. He was not the only Chris-
of a family spent years working in the family’s branch tian king to deal with debt in this way.
offices throughout Europe and the Mediterranean.
Galleys bearing cargo and business correspondence The Trade in Slaves
voyaged several times a year in convoy for mutual
protection against pirates. Throughout the Middle Ages, goods from the Mus-
To protect themselves from the hazards of sea lim world were in greater demand in western Europe
travel and piracy—in addition to the risky nature of than goods from the Christian world were in Muslim
business ventures—merchants developed various countries. Christian merchants supplied Muslim
kinds of contracts that allowed investors different de- traders with three basic commodities: furs, timber,
grees of involvement and profit. One kind of contract and slaves. Since the Carolingian period, Christians
between two merchants promised greater profit to the
partner who supplied most of the funds but stayed
home than to the one who contributed fewer funds journeymen (from French, “day”) Skilled, salaried
but traveled to purchase goods elsewhere. Early workers who labored for master craftsmen.
forms of insurance also offered merchants protection. usury Originally, the charging of interest on a loan,
Traders who understood how profitable long-distance revised in the later Middle Ages to mean the charging
trade could be also came to recognize how intricate of excessive interest.
the methods of turning a profit had become.
The Growth of Towns and Trade 285
Notre Dame became one of the most recognizable buildings in the world. Even in the Middle Ages, when
people associated the cathedral closely with the city of Paris. (David R. Frazier/Photo Researchers)
port heavy timber roofs, braces called flying buttresses once the great towers went up, their visibility from a
propped up the exterior walls. great distance gave a focus to travelers approaching
Such large buildings required innovative feats of Paris. In later years Notre Dame would be the site of
engineering, and their costs put severe strains on coronations, royal weddings, and the most important
episcopal and municipal treasuries. The long stretches public ceremonies in France.
of time when construction ceased for lack of funds
help explain why cathedrals took a century or more
to complete. In 1163, construction began on Notre From Cathedral Schools
Dame de Paris, one of the most impressive Gothic to Universities
cathedrals in western Europe. Twenty years later, the
area around the altar, the apse, was completed, fol- In the late eleventh century, as part of the movement
lowed nearly fifteen years later by the central aisle, or for church reform, cathedrals established schools
nave, which was covered by a timber roof 115 feet where young men could prepare to become clergy.
above the floor. It took another half century to com- Aspiring scholars, too, found teachers in cities like
plete the enormous round stained-glass window on Paris, Bologna, Pavia, and Salerno, whose bishops
the western wall and the decorations on the cathe-
dral’s façade. Generations of Parisians passed their
lives in the shadow of a never-ending construction Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral of Paris, begun in
site. Only someone born after 1250 would have seen 1163 and completed in the late thirteenth century.
the cathedral that we still see today. Finished or not,
288 CHAPTER 10 The High Middle Ages, 1000–1300
with logical proofs of God, but none withstood close works reached the scholars of Spain and then France
analysis. Fierce debates galvanized students and in translations around the time Aristotle’s new works
scholars on one side or the other. arrived. Another Muslim philosopher, Averroës,
The career of one of the most brilliant scholars of the wrote his influential interpretation of Aristotle’s phi-
Middle Ages exemplifies the intensity of debate. Peter losophy in Cordoba, Spain, where he was a judge and
Abelard, who first described his field of study as the- a jurist in the late twelfth century. In the same period
ology, believed in the power of logic to answer all in the same city, a Jewish philosopher and physician,
questions, and he put logic to use to debate and defeat Moses Maimonides, wrote interpretations of Aristo-
his teachers with an arrogance that gained him ene- tle’s work in both Hebrew and Arabic. In his Guide for
mies. While previous scholars had followed the prayer the Perplexed, he reconciled Aristotle’s thinking with
of St. Augustine—“I believe in order to understand”— Judaism so clearly that Jewish communities across
Abelard reversed the sequence, asserting he wanted to Europe and around the Mediterranean requested
understand in order to believe. His approach put him copies of the work. When the works of these three
at odds with many church leaders, who insisted that thinkers had been translated into Latin by Christian
faith had to remain a mystery. In their view, having scholars working in Spain, they gave the scholars in
proof of God’s existence deprives humanity of the free northern Europe and in Italy much to ponder about
choice to believe in a supreme being. Abelard, how- the natural world and the role of God in it.
ever, had his mind set as much on the means of his In the thirteenth century, a Dominican friar, Thomas
intellectual reasoning as he did on the ends. Higher Aquinas, became well known for his effort to recon-
learning’s purpose was no longer exclusively spiritual. cile Christian doctrine with Aristotelian philosophy.
Abelard loved learning for learning’s sake. Thomas excelled at composing summae, treatises con-
Abelard also loved a young woman named Heloise, taining the “highest,” or most complete, summary of a
whose reputation for great learning was widespread given topic. The most important of these was his
among the intellectuals of Paris. In addition to an ex- Summa Theologiae, which he meant to be a complete
cellent command of Latin and a knowledge of Greek, statement of Christian philosophy. Although Thomas’s
she could even read a little Hebrew, a language that brilliance gave him enormous influence over theologi-
practically no Christian in western Europe knew. Her cal debates of this time, some church leaders objected to
uncle, a clergyman attached to the Cathedral of Notre his attempts to render God and human existence per-
Dame, hired Abelard to tutor her, and as Abelard ad- fectly intelligible. In 1270, a few years before he died,
mits in his autobiography, their tutoring sessions be- Thomas stood accused of trying to do the impossible:
came love-making sessions. Their marriage, after she reconcile reason with faith. The bishop of Paris con-
gave birth to a son they named Astrolabe, put an end demned as heretical portions of his Summa but ac-
to Abelard’s career in the church. When Heloise’s un- cepted Thomas’s essential position that logic prepares
cle learned of their marriage, he sent his niece to a the mind for faith rather than determines it.
convent and a band of men to Abelard’s rooms, where
they castrated him. Abelard retreated to a monastery,
where he tried to revive his school, but church lead- Peter Abelard (1079–1142) Brilliant theologian and
ers vehemently opposed him. Called to an inquiry, he charismatic lecturer in Paris, notable for his attempts to
supplied an intellectual basis for faith and church reconcile faith and reason.
doctrine. But his works were condemned and burned. Avicenna (ca. 980–1037) Persian physician and philo-
Debates over the utility of logic to answer ques- sopher who specialized inAristotle’s work relating
tions of faith continued, however, especially after new to medicine.
translations into Latin, from Arabic, made Aristotle’s Averroës (1126–1198) Important Muslim philosopher,
Metaphysics and other previously unknown works born in Muslim Spain, whose interpretation of Aristo-
tle’s work were influential in Christian Europe.
available. These addressed the relationship of the
natural world to the soul, and they forced monastic Moses Maimonides (1135–1204) Jewish philosopher
and physician from Muslim Spain whose Guide for the
scholars to reconsider all they thought they had un- Perplexed and other works influenced Christian schol-
derstood about Aristotelian logic. To help them un- ars interested in Aristotelian philosophy.
derstand these works, they also had commentaries Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Dominican theologian
written by Muslim scholars, translations of which whose works are a synthesis of Aristotelian philosophy
reached them around the turn of the thirteenth cen- and Scholasticism.
tury. The earliest commentator was Avicenna, a physi- summae Works that seek to be the most complete
cian and philosopher in early eleventh-century Persia. statements about a subject.
His writings on Aristotle’s medical and scientific
290 CHAPTER 10 The High Middle Ages, 1000–1300
Describe the contest for authority between the pa- their power did not increase at the same pace or in a
pacy and secular rulers. uniform fashion. The new Norman kings of England
➜
How did Christian identity develop and change during benefited from institutions already in place when they
the High Middle Ages? conquered the island in 1066. In France, the kings ap-
➜
What new opportunities were available to the people plied brute force to increase their authority, capturing
of western Europe in this era? What new restrictions
constrained them?
as much land as possible from the vassal who held
more land within the kingdom than did the king him-
self. This vassal was the king of England, however, and
From the eleventh through the thirteenth centuries, thus was set in motion a contest that would continue
church leaders carried out reforms aiming to set into the following centuries. Meanwhile, successors
higher standards of behavior and belief for the clergy of Otto started calling their empire the Holy Roman
and the laity and to end lay interference in church af- Empire to reinforce a claim to defend the church and
fairs. Most notably, in the late eleventh century, Pope to be actively involved in church affairs.
Gregory VII challenged Emperor Henry IV’s right to Kings of western Europe could extend their author-
invest the bishops in his empire with the symbols of ity in large part because more of their subjects had
their authority. Although Henry yielded to the pope’s property worth taxing. Improved agricultural tech-
demand that he cease from interfering, secular control nology increased food supplies. Long-distance trade
of church appointments continued to plague relations revived, and towns grew. Merchants, craftsmen, and
between the papacy and secular rulers. In 1215, the those who supplied services to them had more money
energetic Pope Innocent III oversaw the Fourth Lat- than previous generations to spend on goods from
eran Council, whose decrees turned reform measures near and far, to invest in business ventures, and to ed-
into law. At the same time, the laity, too, embraced the ucate themselves. The church and inhabitants of the
ideals of reform, taking vows of poverty and chastity young cities devoted some of this wealth to building
to display the spirit of reform in their own lives. The cathedrals, monuments to the glory of God. At new
papacy welcomed these efforts as long as the faithful universities, scholars debated new approaches to learn-
acknowledged the church’s spiritual authority. ing and faith. In the High Middle Ages, everyone from
At the end of the eleventh century, enthusiasm for peasants and townsfolk to kings experienced an im-
an expedition to rid Jerusalem of nonbelievers surged provement in the conditions of their lives. The ques-
beyond the power of the church to control it. Crowds tion was: how long would it last?
headed east; some were armed, some were not, and
some chose to attack perceived enemies of the faith ➜
Thinking Back, Thinking Ahead ➜
closer to home, such as Jews, Muslims in Spain, and
heretics in southern France. To the Byzantines and What are some of the long-lasting
Muslims in the east, the Crusaders seemed like in- consequences of the Crusades?
vaders. Shedding the blood of infidels and heretics in
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Crusade
On September 16, 2001, in the wake of attacks by terrorists, President George W. Bush announced that the
United States was going to war against terrorism. He cautioned the American people, “This crusade, this
war on terrorism, is going to take a while.” His use of the word crusade provoked a strong reaction from
people in Arab nations, while it evoked barely a comment from people in the United States.
Websites 291
Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda, an alliance of the terrorist organizations, did not hesitate to turn the
phrase back on the American president in issuing a call for jihad: “Bush left no room for doubts or the opin-
ions of journalists, but he openly and clearly said that this war is a crusader war. He said this before the
whole world to emphasize this fact.” Bin Laden’s perception of history and international policy rests on
the enduring image of crusading in Muslim countries of the Middle East. The word crusade recalls the time
when their lands were invaded by Christian armies, but Bin Laden also connected it to the early twentieth
century. “Following World War I,” he stated in his call, “which ended more than eighty-three years ago, the
whole Islamic world fell under the crusader banner—under the British, French, and Italian governments.”
The reference is to European intervention in lands with majority Muslim populations, including Syria, Iraq,
Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon. While the extreme views of Bin Laden do not reflect those held by the over-
whelming majority of the world’s Muslims, his reference to the Crusades of the twelfth century and the
colonies of the twentieth century was comprehensible to Muslims in the Middle East in a way that it was
not to Christians and Jews in the United States.
The power of words and history to incite people continues to complicate relations among Christians, Jews,
and Muslims. When, in a university lecture in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI quoted a Byzantine theologian’s neg-
ative assessment of Islam, Muslim leaders took it as an insult to their religion. Some Muslims saw the pope’s
words as further proof of the long-standing enmity the Christian west has displayed toward Islam. Why the
series of armed migrations of western Europeans toward the east nearly a millennium ago still resonates in
relations between Christians and Muslims is a question that the study of history can help answer.
Suggested Readings
Blumenthal, Uta-Renate. The Investiture Controversy: Church Romanesque and Gothic. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University
and Monarchy from the Ninth to the Twelfth Century. Philadel- Press, 1992. A case for a change in the way intellectuals and ar-
phia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988. A succinct introduc- chitects of the Middle Ages reasoned based on the design of
tion to the broad scope of the movement to reform the church. and space within cathedrals; filled with illustrations.
Clanchy, Michael T. Abelard: A Medieval Life. Cambridge, Richard, Jean. The Crusades, c. 1071–c. 1291. Translated by Jean
Mass.: Blackwell, 1999. An insightful biography of one of the Birrell. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. A com-
most brilliant minds of the Middle Ages. prehensive survey of the crusading movement from its origins
Duby, Georges. The Early Growth of the European Economy: to the fall of Acre.
Warriors and Peasants from the Seventh to the Twelfth Cen- Warren, Wilfred L. Henry II. New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univer-
tury. Translated by H. B. Clarke. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell Univer- sity Press, 2000. The standard history of the reign of one of Eng-
sity Press, 1974. A classic of medieval economic history. land’s most important kings.
Radding, Charles, and William W. Clark. Medieval Architec-
ture, Medieval Learning: Builders and Masters in the Age of
Websites
Examples of medieval art from the best medieval museum in Website and search engine with links to bibliography, sources,
the United States, The Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum, and other information relating to the crusading movement,
at www.metmuseum.org/events/ev_cloisters.asp?HomePage Crusades Encyclopedia, at www.crusades-encyclopedia.com/
Link=collections_cloisters_l. index.html
The British monarchy’s webpage with an interesting overview
of its own history, History of the Monarchs of the United
Kingdom, at www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page5.asp.
292
CHAPTER
Reversals and Disasters,
1300–1450
CHAPTER OUTLINE
293
294 CHAPTER 11 Reversals and Disasters, 1300–1450
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Joan of Arc Recants, Then
Retracts Her Recanting
In 1428, Joan of Arc, a peasant girl around sixteen years of
age from the French province of Lorraine, claimed to hear
the voices of Saints Michael, Catherine, and Margaret. They
told her she must convince the leaders of the French forces
fighting the English to put her at the head of the army. Joan
sought out the captain of the French army garrisoned near
her village to ask him to send her to the dauphin, the late
French king’s uncrowned son and commander of the army.
When the captain refused, Joan returned home. A year later,
Joan of Arc she tried again and this time received permission to make the eleven-day journey
Key to the story of Joan of to the castle where dauphin was lodged. Dressed in men’s clothing, Joan, accom-
Arc are the men’s clothing panied by six armed escorts, reached the dauphin’s court.
she wore. It was considered Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of her story is that Joan, who had never
improper for women to dress before traveled far from her village, much less fought in a battle, succeeded in
like men, because it implied convincing the dauphin to let her lead the troops in an attack on the walls of Or-
their ability to act like men. léans in 1429. Against tremendous odds, the troops she led raised the siege. Still
Though trial records indicate dressed in men’s clothing and armor, Joan led French troops into other battles and
Joan wore male attire to her opened the way into captured territory so that the dauphin could be crowned
death, the illuminator depicts King Charles VII at the Cathedral of Rheims, the traditional site of royal corona-
her at her execution in tions in France.
women’s clothing. A year later, Joan was captured and kept prisoner by England’s Burgundian
(Bridgeman-Giraudon/Art allies. A court of English and Burgundian judges condemned her as a witch—
Resource, NY) someone who, they claimed, had dealings with the Devil—and a heretic. The
judges sought to end the inspiration she could provide to the French, for the
English were slowly losing ground to France in a war that would eventually last
more than one hundred years. Just nineteen years old, Joan stood her ground
before the judges. She refused to exchange her men’s clothes for women’s and to
deny that the voices she heard came from Heaven. She refused to tell the judges
what she had said to the dauphin to convince him to let her lead the French
armies. She refused to acknowledge that the church’s authority took precedence
over the instructions she received from the voices. The judges threatened her with
torture and made it clear that if she did not cooperate, she would be burned at
the stake.
But after Joan was found guilty of witchcraft and heresy, and turned over to
the secular authorities for execution, her courage faltered. Terrified of being
burned at the stake, she signed a document in which she recanted, renouncing her
voices and admitting that her claim to having heard them was heretical. The
judges condemned her to life imprisonment and required her to give up the men’s
clothing she had worn since she first led the French army. Dressed once again in
women’s clothing, Joan entered her prison cell.
A few days later, her jailers found her in men’s clothing once more. She put on
the clothes she wore in battle to symbolize her decision to retract her recanting
Famine and Plague 295
and once more to obey the voices of the saints that she believed she had heard.
The possession of courage, it must be remembered, does not mean the absence of
fear. Joan bravely went to her death at the stake in terror of the agony she was
about to endure. After the war against the English ended, the people of France
cherished the memory of Joan’s short life and career as a soldier for her king. She
became a symbol of France and in 1920 was canonized.
Chronology
1261 Michael VIII Palaeologus recaptures 1378 Ciompi Revolt takes place in Florence
Constantinople
1381 Peasants’ Revolt takes place in England
1301 Pope Boniface VIII issues Unam sanctam
1402 Timur (Tamerlane) invades Anatolia
1305 Clement V becomes pope; Avignon papacy begins
1409 Council of Pisa attempts to solve problem of
1323 Flanders revolt begins multiple popes
1346 English defeat French at Battle of Crécy 1415 Henry V defeats French at Battle of Agincourt
1347 Black Death first appears in western Europe 1415 Revolt in Bohemia following the execution of the
religious reformer John Hus
1356 English defeat French at Battle of Poitiers
1417 Council of Constance resolves Great Schism;
1358 Jacquerie revolt takes place in France Martin V becomes pope
1360 Truce ends first phase of Hundred Years’ War 1429 Joan of Arc defeats English at Orléans
1361 Ottomans conquer Adrianople 1453 Constantinople falls to Ottomans; Hundred Years’
War ends
1378 Gregory XI returns papacy to Rome
cultivation there. The Little Ice Age had descended find: cats, dogs, rodents, and horses. By the middle of
on northern Europe. the fourteenth century, northern Europe’s population
To make matters worse, much of the previous cen- increases had been reversed.
tury’s increase in agricultural production had oc- Fear of starvation set people in motion. From the
curred in regions with rocky, unsuitable soil. Signs of northern English city of York to the trading posts of
soil exhaustion appeared early in the fourteenth cen- Poland, rain, flooding, and perpetual winter turned
tury. Because it now took more seed to yield the same thousands of people into refugees. Villages became
amount of crops as before, peasants had to put aside a ghost towns, while cities became temporarily over-
larger share of their grain for the next year’s sowing. crowded, until their populations, too, succumbed to
Meager harvests in the years when rains did not wash starvation. Entirely dependent on grain imports to
away the entire crop meant less food for the peasant feed its inhabitants, the population of the manufactur-
family and less to sell at market. A ten-acre plot of ing city of Ypres in the Low Countries fell drastically in
land would have fed a peasant family a generation 1317. Bands of beggars roamed the countryside, while
earlier, but no longer. The land was overworked. in cities most crimes involved theft of food. Municipal
By 1315, rain, colder weather, and soil exhaustion authorities ordered the town gates locked at night.
had created the conditions for a severe famine across Like the Frankish kings of the early Middle Ages, sec-
much of northern Europe. Failed crops and the diffi- ular rulers could offer little protection to their subjects.
culties of transporting food from where it could be Disorder prevailed, and for most people, the situation
found to where it was needed meant that most people could not have gotten much worse.
experienced the pain of hunger, and thousands
starved to death. Those who lived were weak and
malnourished. The famine lasted three years, faded,
and then recurred intermittently in succeeding decades Little Ice Age Period of cooler weather in Europe
whenever harvests were poor. Livestock, too, declined, beginning around the start of the fourteenth century.
and peasants resorted to eating whatever they could
Famine and Plague 297
The “Dance of Death” became a common scene in manuscript illuminations, frescoes, and
statuary. Even though the poor died in greatest numbers, the figure of Death is depicted here
leading off to the afterlife people of all social ranks, including, as seen here, a pope, an emperor,
and a noble woman. (“The Dance of Death”[detail], 1463, attributed to Bernt Notke. St. Nicolai’s
Church, Tallinn, now the Niguliste Museum)
on methods familiar to them: astrology, bloodletting, Death preoccupied everyone everywhere. Poets
and herbal medicine. Inadvertently, some of these personified death in their poems, and writers such as
methods may have helped in certain situations, but in Boccaccio described the devastation. In The Canter-
general, physicians proved to be as helpless as the bury Tales, the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer created
rest of the population in the face of the plague’s viru- characters who were hardened by the deaths of so
lence. Mostly, they simply urged people to flee the many around them.
congested areas where the plague was rampant. But Some felt the need to take responsibility for the ca-
the working poor and the destitute had nowhere to tastrophe by joining penitential groups. Believing
go, and so the plague claimed more victims among that the plague represented God’s punishment for
the humble than among the rich, who fled to their their sins, people living mainly in cities flocked to
country estates. Parents abandoned their children, join confraternities, associations dedicated to the
children abandoned their parents, and priests de- performance of acts of charity and whose processions
serted their flocks. through city streets were now meant as public penance.
A few groups went to extremes by ritually whipping
Endurance and Adaptation themselves in public. When the flagellants, as they
were called, drew blood with their scourges, they drew
In the face of so much suffering and death, the people the admiration of some and aroused the revulsion of
of Europe searched for spiritual comfort and some
means of understanding the disasters. Rulers could
do little for their people; nor could the church offer Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400) English poet most
much in the way of physical relief. Locally, the com- famous for The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories
fort church services and rituals could provide de- in verse.
pended largely on the survival and courage of local confraternities Associations dedicated to the public
priests. Many laypeople sought a deeper involvement performance of acts of charity and penance during
in religious life. Others, believing that God had aban- the plague.
doned humanity because of its sins, assumed a de- flagellants Groups who ritually whipped themselves
in public to atone for the sins of humanity during
spairing, cynical attitude toward life. In the face of so
the plague.
much inexplicable death, it took fortitude to survive.
Famine and Plague 299
others. Groups of flagellants had existed in the thir- mous convoys of merchant galleys to Flanders, Eng-
teenth century, but their popularity waned after the land, Crete, the Black Sea, and the ports of the Levant.
church condemned their activity in 1261. After the The two major trading regions continued to be the
plague hit, flagellants went from town to town in pro- Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea. In the Mediter-
cessions, scourging themselves as they walked, until, in ranean, the merchants of Venice, Genoa, and Barcelona
1349, Pope Clement VI again condemned the activity. dominated maritime trade. Nobles, kings, manufac-
Others felt the need to blame someone else, and turers, and even popes took advantage of the credit
Jews proved to be convenient scapegoats. Across Eu- services offered by Florentine merchants, whose in-
rope, whole communities of Jews died at the hands of terest rates for loans were far below those of mer-
rioting Christians who believed that the Jews had chants elsewhere. In Florence, too, the government
poisoned the water supply or in some other mysteri- promoted schools where aspiring merchants learned
ous way introduced the disease. Such persecutions basic arithmetic, bookkeeping, and business practices,
caused some Jews to leave western Europe, migrat- a policy that Genoa and Venice emulated. On the
ing east toward Poland and Russia, where they re- Baltic Sea, the city of Lübeck (in present-day northern
mained in large numbers until the twentieth century, Germany) was unrivaled in the import-export traffic
or southeast toward Muslim lands, where they re- that passed through its port. In 1358, it became the offi-
ceived a slightly warmer welcome. cial headquarters of the Hanseatic League, an associa-
tion of German merchants with branches throughout
Economies Under Stress the Holy Roman Empire.
Yet even before the plague hit western Europe,
At first the commercial boom of the thirteenth century trade with the eastern end of the Mediterranean had
continued into the fourteenth century. The economic begun to decline, and economies were weakening.
outlook in long-distance trade looked much brighter Migrations and disturbances far to the east in Central
than did the outlook in local agricultural production. Asia and China made the long treks to the markets
Refinements in merchants’ arrangements, improve- there increasingly difficult. Muslim conquest of the
ments in navigation, and the development of new Black Sea region also hampered Christian trading in
commercial techniques in the decades prior to the ar- the east. Venetians, Genoese, and Catalans still trav-
rival of the plague helped keep economies going dur- eled to the Black Sea to do business, but Muslim mer-
ing difficult times. Long-distance trade had become so chants offered them stiff competition. Then, with
complex that merchants reorganized the ways in which famine and plague, population decreases and the dis-
their companies operated. Each company delegated ruptions of warfare, the demand for luxury goods de-
its business among the merchants who remained at the creased. Many trading companies went bankrupt.
company’s base to manage the business, the operators Overall, the economic consequences of the plague
of the ships that conveyed the company’s goods from were mixed. Death emptied rural areas of workers,
market to market, and the agent-representatives re- causing rents to fall. At the same time, although some
siding in foreign cities who oversaw the buying and cities experienced an increase in population—mostly
selling of those goods. Regular convoys of galleys refugees from the countryside—the scarcity of labor
bearing goods and mail between merchants and their drove up wages. Skilled and unskilled workers earned
home offices made the networks of trade run more more than ever before, but had less to buy than they
smoothly and profitably. would have had at the start of the century. By the
The same commercial networks benefited from im- middle of the fifteenth century, population levels had
provements in navigation. Not only were oar-driven still not recovered, trade with the east was still diffi-
galleys redesigned to hold more cargo, but a new cult, and the people of Europe had learned to endure
type of vessel was introduced to the Mediterranean the new realities of a frightening world.
trade. Round-hulled sailing vessels called cogs, which,
with their small crews and great storage capacity, had
been developed for the rough waters of the Atlantic
Ocean and the Baltic Sea were adapted for use in the scapegoats Any group that innocently bears the blame
smoother waters of the Mediterranean. Still, galleys, of others.
whose oars offset the disadvantages of low wind, re- cog Sailing cargo ship with a rounded hull.
mained the principal means of Mediterranean naval Hanseatic League (from German hansa, “trading
transport until the eighteenth century. In the four- association”) Association of north German merchants
teenth and fifteenth centuries, the governments of formed to protect their trading interests.
Venice, Genoa, and Florence annually sponsored enor-
300 CHAPTER 11 Reversals and Disasters, 1300–1450
What caused the Hundred Years’ War, and why did it last of his sister. In addition to a prejudice against the fe-
so long?
male line of succession, crowning the nephew posed a
➜
his troops across a low rise and faced oncoming But it was not yet half over. In its first phase the
French forces. He had only 4,000 men-at-arms and war was not so much between the countries of Eng-
10,000 archers, but the archers had longbows that shot land and France as it was between the kings of Eng-
arrows faster and farther than the crossbows of the land and France. To persuade his subjects to finance
French archers. A shower of English arrows destroyed his war through taxation, Edward III fostered a con-
the first contingent of French crossbowmen and then nection between the crown and the people by holding
the cavalry of French nobles. Their superior position a series of public pageants to celebrate his army’s vic-
and the success of the longbows allowed the English tories. As long as the English army was winning, he
army to wipe the much larger French army from the succeeded. Since the French were unable to mount an
field, where France’s greatest nobles lay dead. Ten invasion of England, the English people did not suf-
years later, Edward III’s son, Edward—called the Black fer from warfare as did the people of France. In France,
Prince for the color of his armor—repeated his father’s on the other hand, support for the war had never
victory at Poitiers in 1356: the longbowmen again been strong. From the start, the people of northern
overwhelmed an attack of mounted French nobles, France, where most of the fighting occurred, viewed
with the same lethal results. This time, the king of
France, John II, was captured, taken to England, and
held for ransom. The humiliation of the French aristoc-
racy and monarchy seemed complete. longbow Bow six feet high that had been used by the
Welsh to resist the English and then adopted by the
After the catastrophic French defeat at Poitiers, English army, where it proved decisive in Edward III’s
diplomacy produced a truce in 1360. Despite provoca- battles in France.
tion, neither side was prepared to continue the fight. Poitiers Battle in 1356 that marked the second defeat
Edward III’s death in 1377, one year after the death of of the French army by the English, during which
his son, the Black Prince, meant that Edward III’s the French king was captured and held in England
grandson, Richard II, a boy too young to lead a war, as- for ransom.
cended the English throne. The war seemed to be over.
302 CHAPTER 11 Reversals and Disasters, 1300–1450
the 1430s, France stood in danger of becoming entirely a possession of the English king.
303
304 CHAPTER 11 Reversals and Disasters, 1300–1450
war that stood in contrast to the often gallant consid- by her courgeous leadership, the French army gained
eration knights and nobles showed to enemy combat- decisive victories that undermined the alliance be-
ants of their own social rank. This form of warfare tween the English and the Burgundians. After the
extended far beyond the boundaries of battlefields. duke of Burgundy made his peace with Charles VII in
Many parts of France had no peace, for people had 1435, the French army slowly recaptured nearly all
as much to fear from the cessation of fighting as they the territory that the English had taken. When the
had from pitched battles and long sieges. If the sol- French army captured Guyenne in 1453, all the Eng-
diers were not fighting, they were not paid. So be- lish king had left in France was the port of Calais. The
tween military campaigns, companies of unemployed conflict that had lasted more than one hundred years
soldiers moved from place to place, looting as they was over.
went or demanding to be paid off instead. It was The peoples of England and of France paid a heavy
abundantly clear that neither the king nor the nobility price for their kings’ century-long war. Overtaxed, the
could provide protection for their subjects or for the English grew tired of King Henry’s military adven-
kingdom as a whole. ture. Overburdened and underfed, the French en-
dured sustained and serious losses in crops, income,
The Final Stage and lives. Yet, despite the suffering, the peoples of
England and of France now each regarded their kings
In 1399, Edward III’s grandson, the former boy-king as symbols of their country. The kings’ needs to rally
Richard II, had alienated his nobles so severely that support and raise funds for the war forged a new
they forced him to abdicate at the age of thirty-two. In bond between rulers and their subjects, the strength of
his stead, his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, leader of which was tested repeatedly. For France, the ultimate
the rebel nobles, became King Henry IV. Viewed as a victor despite losing so many battles, the war also
usurper of the English throne by many, Henry suc- united French territory, at least theoretically.
cessfully put down Scottish raids on the border,
Welsh assertions of independence, and powerful
English nobles who made their own attempt to cap-
ture the throne. In 1413, Henry IV died with his claim to Resistance and Revolt
the English throne and his son’s succession secured.
➜
raise the king’s ransom had forced the government to workers belonging to smaller and less prestigious
make political concessions to the merchants of Paris, guilds were not represented on the city council. En-
who sought reforms in the way they were governed. tirely excluded from power, workers and peasants
Very reluctant to cede any authority to the Parisians sought power in republican Florence in the only way
but much in need of their money, the captive king’s available to them—through force.
government, led by the dauphin, granted some of the The Ciompi Revolt of 1378 began as a revolt of the
merchants’ demands in February 1358, but the con- wool carders, the ciompi, who combed out the wool
cessions were not enough. The leader of the Paris into manageable strands prior to its being woven.
merchants, Etienne Marcel, quickly found himself The production and sale of woolen cloth made the
heading a rebellion against the king’s government. city wealthy, but not all of those who worked in the
Within days, tensions turned to violence; two of the industry benefited equally. The ciompi ranked lower
dauphin’s closest advisers were murdered by a mob in Florentine society than weavers and wholesale
that invaded the royal palace. Paris remained poised woolen merchants. Their radical inclinations had up
on the brink of revolt for three months. Then news of until then caused the Signoria to forbid them to form
the Jacquerie reached Paris. Marcel hoped to ally the a guild. Shut out of political life, they grew increas-
rebels of Paris with the rebels moving quickly toward ingly frustrated.
the capital. Instead, in June 1358, a combined force of When their anger finally exploded into riots in the
peasants and Parisians occupying the city of Meaux summer of 1378, other workers, who felt shut out of
was defeated. A month later, Marcel was assassinated. Florence’s political life, joined them. In the same
The Jacquerie rebellion was suppressed within period, the divisive competition among the major
weeks of its start. The suppression was brutal, inflict- guilds for dominance on the councils made it easier
ing new suffering on an already much-burdened for people in the lower social levels to push forward
population. But chroniclers who wrote about the war their demands. For a few weeks that summer, Floren-
for their noble patrons, such as Jean Froissart, attrib- tines flooded the streets with riotous demonstrations
uted the brutality to the rebels, and that is what the or they hid in their houses. Crowds milling around in
French people remembered. the piazza of the Palace of the Signoria called for the
government to lower taxes, abolish the public debt,
Florence and allow the ciompi to form their own guild. The city
council refused to compromise. Finally, on July 22,
As in Flanders, the workers and well-to-do inhabi- 1378, a crowd pushed into the large, fortresslike
tants of Italian cities grew increasingly dissatisfied palace and took the council room and its occupants
with the way they were being governed, taxed, and by force. The minor guilds gained the political power
excluded from political decisions. More and more they had long desired, and the ciompi at last an-
people questioned—in private, for the most part— nounced the formation of their own guild.
the privileges that aristocratic families demanded as The minor guilds dominating the new government
their due. Periodic riots against city governments despised lower-class ciompi just as the major guilds
contributed to a growing sense of disorder, most no- had when they were in power. Moreover, they proved
tably in Florence. inefficient and unresponsive to changes in the econ-
Florence was governed by a system of councils, omy. The wool carders soon felt themselves again
chief of which was the Signoria. Made up of represen- pushed to the margins of political power. Within a
tatives from the city’s twenty-one major and minor month, conflict once more threatened to engulf the city.
guilds, it acted like an executive council overseeing To avert another civil war, the lesser guilds on the city
all the other councils charged with governing the councils suppressed the wool carders’ guild and thus
large mercantile city. The rotation every two months ended their participation in Florence’s government.
of the guild members on councils looked from a dis- But the minor guilds themselves, despised by the more
tance like a republican government, as so many of prestigious guilds, did not last long in power.
Florence’s guild members proudly insisted that it Four years later, in 1382, the major guilds regained
was. In reality, a small group of wealthy merchants control of the city council, expelled the lesser guilds,
and their male relatives and clients were repeatedly
elected to the city’s public offices, and guilds repre-
senting the most prestigious occupations—lawyers, Ciompi Revolt (in Italian, “wool carders”) Revolt in
merchants from the textile trade, bankers, shopkeep- Florence in 1378 instigated by wool carders.
ers, and furriers—dominated Florentine political life. piazza Public square in an Italian city.
Middling businessmen, artisans, and poor skilled
Resistance and Revolt 307
nobles had organized to put down the revolt, the to papal officials opened doors for those who had the
rebels had gone on to murder London merchants and money. The noble families of Rome pressured the
set fire to portions of the city. With a small troop for pope to favor their kinsmen. The pope had his own
protection, the young king on horseback confronted kinsmen to give positions to, as did the cardinals.
the leaders of the revolt, Wat Tyler and the renegade When Pope Nicholas IV died in 1292, the cardinals
priest John Ball, inside the city walls. To show their of the church withdrew into a conclave to elect a new
loyalty to their king, the leaders and their rebel army pontiff. A process that usually consumed a few days or
followed Richard through the city gates and into a occasionally a few weeks at most, the conclave this time
field. He knew they would follow him, because they lasted until 1294. One faction prevented the election of
had made it clear their complaints were directed at the an opposing faction’s candidate, with the result that the
king’s officials, not him. But Richard led them into a cardinals could not agree on anyone. After two years of
trap. His army was waiting for them. The rebels who stalemate, they settled on an elderly monk with no tal-
were not slaughtered that day were later executed. ent for administration. Six months later, Celestine V be-
Like the revolts in Flanders, France, and Florence, came the only pope in history to abdicate, an action
the English uprising ended without having signifi- that did not prevent his canonization in 1313. Fearful of
cantly altered the society that the rebels sought to another deadlock, the cardinals quickly elected Boni-
change. The hopes and radical ideas of the rebels did face VIII, an elderly canon lawyer and diplomat who
not disappear entirely, but the conditions for their ful- was also a good administrator. In spite of these quali-
fillment still lay far in the future. ties, Boniface’s sharp temper alienated the cardinals.
His popularity sank even lower when he had the for-
mer pope, Celestine, put in prison, where the old monk
A Worldly Church soon died.
Despite his lack of support, Boniface energetically
➜
What factors contributed to the papacy’s loss of tackled the major problems facing the church. Of
prestige?
them, the fact that the papacy’s income did not meet
➜
Maintaining the papacy in Avignon had become so stead stands in relation to them as the intellect relates
unpopular that Pope Gregory XI, another Frenchman, to the soul. The council also officially endorsed seven
moved back to Rome in 1377. When he died soon sacraments.
after, the corruption and luxury of his successor, Ur- The new pope and his cardinals tried to restore the
ban VI, provoked the cardinals into invalidating their papal authority that the schism had damaged. In
election of him and electing another Frenchman, 1420, Pope Martin moved the papacy back to Rome
Clement VII, who returned the papacy to Avignon. after instigating a program of urban improvement to
But in Rome, Urban VI refused to recognize his re- make the city habitable. He also rejected the very
moval, and he excommunicated the newly elected process that had brought about his election. Thence-
pope, who, in turn, excommunicated Urban. Two men, forth, he proclaimed, the pope would not answer to
each claiming to be pope, appointed their own cardi- the authority of church councils.
nals and established rival bureaucracies. The enemies
in the Hundred Years’ War took sides, even though
The Laity and the Church
there had been little fighting in over two decades: the
French king supported the pope at Avignon, and the Laypeople, too, had their opinions about the state of
English king supported the pope at Rome. By 1378, the church. For many, religion was their only comfort
the split in the church and in Christian society in the in the face of starvation, disease, and random vio-
west, known as the Great Schism, threatened to di- lence, but church leaders seemed too embroiled in the
vide the Roman Church in two. schism to minister to the people. Left to themselves,
The Great Schism brought shame on the church, but some men and women joined chaste communities
the two popes and secular rulers found it to their ad- dedicated to prayer. Like the mendicant orders of the
vantage to let the situation continue. Theologians and thirteenth century, these laypeople chose to remain
cardinals tried to solve the problem. Even though only active in the world while carrying out acts of pious
the pope had the authority to convene councils, the charity. In contrast to the cloistered Poor Clares, how-
cardinals of both popes at last jointly convened the ever, some women stepped into the public sphere to
Council of Pisa in 1409 to settle the matter. They de- make an example of their spirituality.
posed both popes and elected a new pope, Alexander V. The spiritual life of one such woman, Catherine of
When the two popes refused to recognize that they Siena, made many church leaders uneasy. Born to ar-
had been removed from office, the cardinals faced the tisan parents, Catherine discovered a vocation for reli-
challenge of three men claiming to be pope. Another gious life at young age. She renounced marriage and,
five years passed before the church was prepared to when she was eighteen, joined a Dominican order that
end the confusion. At the Council of Constance in allowed her to live in her parents’ home while wear-
1414, the Roman pope was forced to resign, the Avi- ing the special tunic worn by members of the order.
gnon pope continued to resist, and church officials im- She became known for long fasts that over the years
prisoned the third pope elected at Pisa. With two of wore down her body’s reserves. So famous for holi-
three popes disposed of, removing the third depended ness did Catherine become that she felt free to express
on political maneuvering and timing. In 1417, when her opinions about the political events of her day. Al-
the last Avignon pope gave in, the council elected Mar- though she never received an education, Catherine
tin V as pope. The church was at last reunited. dictated hundreds of letters to a secretary. Her letters
During the Great Schism, when the prestige of the reached church leaders, rulers, and the pope. She gave
papacy had sunk very low, some church theologians
and lawyers argued for limits on the pope’s authority. Great Schism (1378–1417) Split within the western
They studied the history of the church and concluded church at the end of the Avignon papacy over the three
that ultimate church authority derived from councils, rivals to the office of the pope.
consisting of high church officials, including the pope. conciliarism Theory that councils are the highest
This position, known as conciliarism, surfaced in a authoritative body in the church.
period when the weakened papacy could do little to sacraments Religious practices or ceremonies that
symbolize a deeper religious reality; the seven sacra-
counter it. The conciliar movement had initiated the ments are baptism, communion (Eucharist), confirma-
Councils of Pisa and Constance, and at the Council of tion, confession (penance), ordination, marriage, and
Basel (1431–1439), new canons set limits on the pope’s unction in sickness.
finances and his courts and reserved the right to hear Catherine of Siena (1347–1380) Holy woman known
appeals against his decisions. Although debate con- for her long fasts and mystic religious experiences;
tinues, official church doctrine holds that the pope is canonized in 1461.
neither superior nor subordinate to councils, but in-
312 CHAPTER 11 Reversals and Disasters, 1300–1450
counsel to the mighty and comfort to the weak through clergy and laity. The popularity of the revolt among
her works and the prayers she composed. the Czechs and the strength of the rebels’ army forced
Catherine’s reputation for speaking out in public the emperor, as the church’s defender, to negotiate a
about the need for the Avignon papacy to return to settlement in 1436. The success of the Hussite Revolt
Rome and her service as the pope’s ambassador to represents a turning point in the church’s monopoly
Florence went against all notions of how a proper, de- over lay religious expression.
vout woman should act. Religious women were not
supposed to be heard, much less seen. They be-
longed, most people felt, in a nunnery or in their The Contraction of
homes. Yet Catherine captured the affections of pious
men and women throughout Italy and southern Eu- Europe’s Borders
rope, who tolerated her untraditional behavior be-
➜➜
How did the old Roman Empire finally come to an end?
cause they believed her when she said that, in a
Compare the multiethnic society of the Ottoman Empire
vision, she had become a spouse of Christ. In 1378, to western Europe.
when the papacy returned from Avignon to Rome,
Catherine moved there and spent the last two years All too aware that Muslim states remained in Spain
of her life helping the church reestablish itself. Only and on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, the
thirty-three years old but suffering from extreme people of the later Middle Ages learned of a new
physical self-deprivation, she died in Rome in 1380. threat to their eastern borders. Turkish tribes were
In contrast to the Scholastic theologians, whose in- slowly destroying the Byzantine Empire. One tribe in
tellectual efforts involved philosophical tools like particular, the Ottomans, came uncomfortably close
logic, mystics such as Catherine spoke and wrote to the frontier between the old empire and western
about the experience of religious passion and rapture. Europe. Farther east and northward in Russia lay the
Her mysticism inspired a movement of clergy and lands of people whom the Roman Church scarcely
laypeople who sought a direct experience of God that considered Christian. Although some in the west, es-
appealed to people’s spiritual sensibilities instead of pecially merchants, felt that distant markets repre-
to their reason. In the Low Countries, laywomen, sented opportunities, others felt that Christendom
known as Beguines, took vows of chastity and lived was contracting, and with it the boundaries of what
in communities, although they could leave to marry was safe and familiar.
if they chose. In 1415, a church council arranged for
the Beguines’ incorporation into the Franciscan lay Old Empires and Newcomers
order. Many mystics were highly educated men and
women, one of whom, Meister Eckhart, a German In 1261, thirty-six-year-old Michael VIII Paleologus,
Dominican, preached to laypeople about the mystery the emperor of the much-reduced Byzantine Empire,
of God. Because he advocated that everyone, not just centered on the city of Nicaea, recaptured Constan-
the clergy, should embark on his or her own spiritual
searches, Eckhart came under suspicion for heresy.
When religious belief combined with anger toward mysticism Belief that God can be experienced directly
the leaders of the church, the church’s response was through contemplation and prayer.
harsh. John Wycliffe, a theologian at Oxford Univer- Beguines Laywomen, mainly in the Low Countries of
sity in England, wrote works that questioned clerical northern Europe, who lived communally to devote
authority, excommunication, and monasticism. After themselves to a spiritual life.
his death, his followers, known as Lollards, endured John Wycliffe (ca. 1330–1384) Theologian from
persecution or went into hiding. A more serious chal- Oxford who questioned the fundamental teachings of
lenge to church authority occurred in the Czech re- the church.
gion of Bohemia, under the rule of the Holy Roman Lollards Followers of John Wycliffe, whose beliefs and
social agenda drew the condemnation of the church.
Emperor. Jan Hus, a theologian, expressed many of
the same opinions as Wycliffe, but unlike the Lollards, Jan Hus (ca. 1369–1415) Czech theologian and
reformer condemned as a heretic and burned at
the Hussites, as they were called, enjoyed the protec- the stake.
tion of the Bohemian nobility. After Hus was captured Hussites Followers of Hus, whose execution in 1415
and burned at the stake in 1415, his followers led a re- sparked a revolt and led to the establishment of a
volt that drew support from all levels of the popula- Hussite government in Czech Bohemia and the Hus-
tion. The Hussites developed a radical program of site church.
reform that dispensed with the distinction between
The Contraction of Europe’s Borders 313
tinople from the Frankish rulers who had held it since deal of autonomy. Political, cultural, or social cohe-
1204. From there, he fought to retake all the territory sion was nearly impossible, given the size of the em-
lost earlier in the century. His first priority was north- pire and the innumerable peoples, each with its own
ern Greece. Unable to expel the Frankish rulers of the language, living within its borders. An empire like
Peloponnesus, he forced them to recognize him as the Mongols’ could be held together only by force
their overlord. Yet, expecting invasion from Turkish and the cooperation of local elites. As with previous
powers to the east, Slavs from the north, and armies empires, however, the strains of ruling such far-flung
from southern Italy to the west, the Byzantine em- provinces, together with the impact of the bubonic
peror was surrounded by hostile forces. plague that devastated Asia before reaching western
With such pressure on his borders, Michael sent Europe in 1347, contributed to their decline in the
delegates to the Council of Lyons in 1274 to gain the mid-fourteenth century.
support of the pope with a promise to reunite the The fall of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad al-
Latin and Greek churches, which had formally ended lowed for the emergence of other, independent
relations with each other in 1054 mostly over the caliphates in Egypt and India. In thirteenth-century
Greek church’s refusal to recognize the pope as the Egypt, the position of caliph became the prerogative
supreme head of both churches. When the council of the descendants of Mamluks, or slave soldiers,
and the pope agreed that the eastern church could many of them Turkish in origin, who had gained con-
continue some of its rituals, Michael authorized the trol over the caliphs. Under the Abbasids, Muslim
union. The idea of union between the churches had armies relied on slave soldiers who over time ac-
long been unpopular among ordinary Byzantines quired influence over their masters to such a degree
and especially among the Byzantine clergy. But that they became, in effect, the rulers. Eventually in
Michael had succeeded in depriving his enemies in Egypt and in India, they replaced the caliphs alto-
southern Italy of a pretext to invade his empire. After gether and established dynasties that lasted until the
his death in 1282, his son, Andronicus II, could afford sixteenth century.
to repudiate the union, because the southern Italians
were forced to ally with him anyway against a new
threat emerging from the east that menaced his em- The Rise of the Ottoman Turks
pire and the Muslims in Syria and Palestine. When the Mongols put an end to Seljuk dominance of
In the thirteenth century, with the arrival of Mon- Anatolia, the Turkish warrior leader Osman, whose
gols from the east, the Muslims were placed on the ancestors had probably arrived in Anatolia early in
defensive for the first time. The great Mongol leader the thirteenth century, emerged as the strongest
Genghis Khan led his armies from their base in the power in the region. By the time Osman died in 1324,
heart of Asia all the way to Russia in the west and Bei- he had conquered most of northwestern Anatolia.
jing in the east. His successors drove their forces even His successors, the Ottomans—whose name derives
farther. In 1240, they sacked Kiev. In the 1260s they from Osman—steadily added new territory. They
ended Seljuk rule, already in decline, in Anatolia. The conquered Thrace in northern Greece after 1357 and
Abbasid dynasty in Baghdad fell in 1258, thus bring- Adrianople in 1361. Bulgaria came under their rule in
ing to an end the centuries-old caliphate. Wherever 1389. They continued to whittle down the Byzantine
the Mongols went, news of their terrifying mounted Empire until it consisted of little more than its capital,
archers and savagery preceded them. Now, when
merchants from Christian and Muslim territories re-
Mongols An Asiatic people whose empire at its height
opened land routes to Asian markets, they had to in the thirteenth century stretched from the Pacific to
pass through a new and unfamiliar empire whose the Mediterranean.
borders seemed endless. Genghis Khan (c. 1204–1227) Mongol ruler who
From eastern Siberia to western Russia, from conquered northern China and established the
Siberia in the north to Iran, modern-day Iraq, and Mongol Empire.
Syria in the south and southwest, the Mongol Empire khanate Geographical unit ruled by a Mongol ruler,
was so extensive that it could not be governed by a or khan.
central power. So the Mongols established khanates Mamluks Slave soldiers in Muslim Egypt who first
that relied on local populations to do much of their served the sultan ruler but later assumed power
ruling for them. Each of the khans reported to the themselves.
great khan (the equivalent of the western title of em- Osman (1258–1324) Turkish founder of the Ottoman
dynasty.
peror) based no longer in Mongolia but in China after
the 1220s. The huge distances gave the khans a good
314 CHAPTER 11 Reversals and Disasters, 1300–1450
MAP 11.3 The Spread of the Ottoman Empire and the Contraction of the Byzantines The Ottoman
Turks first ruled the region around Nicaea before expanding across Asia Minor, north into the Balkans
and eastern Europe, and south into Muslim territories. Their expansion occurred mainly at the expense of
Byzantine power, but the older Muslim dynasties ruling Egypt also succumbed to their might.
Constantinople, and the surrounding region. Even passed before one of them, Mehmed I (r. 1413–1421),
before the capture of the capital in 1453, the Ottoman united all the warring factions under his rule as sul-
sultans ruled an empire that stretched from Anatolia tan of the newly restored Ottoman Empire.
to the Balkans and would last more than six cen- Before he could begin to reconquer the land that
turies, until the end of the First World War in 1918. was lost, Mehmed reestablished the mechanisms of
In the early fifteenth century, only the Tartar ruler state that had existed in the first empire. He restored
Timur (Tamerlane, as he is known in the west), who the bureaucracy and Islamic judicial system. He rein-
conquered Persia and most of Central Asia, halted, stated a system whereby he allotted a unit of land
temporarily, the Ottoman advance. In 1402, he in- called a timar to a mounted soldier who was ex-
vaded Anatolia with the intention of destroying the
Ottoman state. Forced to turn his attention away
sultan Ruler of a Muslim country or empire called a
from his conquests in eastern Europe, the Ottoman sultanate.
sultan Bayazid brought his army to meet Timur’s at
Timur (ca. 1370–1405) Tartar conqueror, also known as
Ankara, today Turkey’s capital, where he was Tamerlane.
soundly defeated. For the next decade the Ottoman Ottoman Empire Empire ruled by the sultan descen-
state ceased to exist, as conquered lands reasserted dants of the house of Osman.
their independence when they learned of Bayazid’s timar In the Ottoman Empire, a unit of property in
defeat. But Timur’s presence in Anatolia did not last exchange for which military service was required,
long. When he died in 1405, the sons of Bayazid similar to the western European fief.
fought among themselves for the sultanate. Ten years
The Contraction of Europe’s Borders 315
In 1478, the Senate of Venice sent Gentile Bellini, a member of Though representatives of the western and eastern
the talented family of painters, to visit the Ottoman court in churches had tried to achieve reunion at the Council
Constantinople, where the Venetian painted the aged Sultan
of Florence in 1439, so many Byzantine Christians re-
Mehmed the Conqueror’s portrait. Here, Mehmed wears the
large turban typical of Ottoman rulers. Men of lower rank sented the agreement that the reunion had to be aban-
wore smaller turbans. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY) doned. But without friends in the west, the people of
the Byzantine Empire had nowhere to turn.
Mehmed set about bringing down the capital of
pected to equip himself with its revenue. The sultan the Byzantine Empire and all the vestiges of the old
returned to the practice of seizing Christian boys Roman Empire. In addition to nearly 100,000 troops,
from conquered territories, compelling them to con- he deployed a relatively new technology to achieve
vert to Islam, and raising them to serve in an elite unit his goal: cannon. Mehmed’s huge cannons, forged by
of warriors known as the janissaries. Once the basic Christian Hungarians in his employ, battered the city
elements of state were in place, Mehmed set out to re- walls that had only twice before been breached. On
conquer all the Balkan territory his predecessors had May 29, 1453, Mehmed’s janissary troops entered
once ruled. Constantinople through a hole the cannons had cre-
By 1450, the Balkan lands were once again under ated in the walls. Its capital city conquered, the
Ottoman rule. Mehmed II was determined to breach Byzantine Empire vanished.
the thick walls of Constantinople and take the city.
Help from the west was unlikely and unwelcome, as
the Fourth Crusade’s conquest of Constantinople and janissaries Ottoman infantry composed mainly of
the Byzantine emperor’s favor shown to Venetian and Christian boys either captured or given in tribute to
Genoese merchants to the disadvantage of Byzantine the sultan to be raised as Muslim soldiers.
merchants had instilled a deep hostility toward the west Mehmed II (r. 1451–1481) Sultan who conquered
in the subjects of the Byzantine emperor. The pope’s Constantinople and established the city as the capital
insistence that the clergy of the eastern church recog- of the Ottoman Empire.
nize his supreme authority intensified the hostility.
316 CHAPTER 11 Reversals and Disasters, 1300–1450
In between periods of violence and open hostility, come and often persecuted, Jewish communities re-
the Jews of Europe, especially the communities in the sponded by emphasizing among themselves their
German cities of the Holy Roman Empire, Italy, and bonds of kinship, common faith, and vibrant culture.
southern France, lived productive and even prosper-
ous lives in the narrow range of occupations they
were permitted to enter, such as moneylending and Ashkenazim Jews of Europe who settled mainly in the
shoemaking. German and Polish Jews, the Ashke- Holy Roman Empire, Poland, Lithuania, and other
nazim, spoke and wrote in Yiddish, a language de- eastern regions.
rived from German and Semitic languages and Yiddish Language spoken by the Ashkenazim, derived
written in Hebrew characters. A rich literary culture from German and Semitic and written in Hebrew
began to flourish in the twelfth century in the cities characters.
along the Rhine River and eastern Europe. Unwel-
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Eleazar of Mainz Writes His Last Testament
Mainz, Germany, was one of the cities whose Jewish population was massacred by
crusading zealots in 1096. More than 250 years later, around 1357, a member of
the small, barely revived Jewish community, Eleazar ben Samuel HaLevi, wrote a
kind of last testament for his children known as an ethical will. Unlike most wills,
which dispose of the testator’s worldly goods among his or her heirs, ethical wills
bequeath to the heirs the testator’s moral and spiritual legacy. Eleazar’s will is the
last lesson in life that he passed on to his children.
➜ Who does Eleazar mean These are the things which my sons and daughters shall do at my request. . . . ➜
by “Gentile”? Their business must be conducted honestly, in their dealings both with Jew and
Gentile. They must be gentle in their manners and prompt to accede to every
honorable request. They must not talk more than is necessary; by this will they be
saved from slander, falsehood, and frivolity. They shall give an exact tithe of all
their possessions: they shall never turn away a poor man empty-handed, but must
give him what they can, be it much or little. If he beg a lodging over night, and
they know him not, let them provide him with the wherewithal to pay an
innkeeper. Thus shall they satisfy the needs of the poor in every possible way. . . .
➜ If they can by any means contrive it, my sons and daughters should live in
➜ What does Eleazar con- communities, and not isolated from other Jews, so that their sons and daughters may
sider to be the marks of learn the ways of Judaism. Even if compelled to solicit from others the money to pay
membership among Jews? a teacher, they must not let the young of both sexes go without instruction in the
Torah. Marry your children, O my sons and daughters, as soon as their age is ripe, to
members of respectable families. Let no child of mine hunt after money by making a
low match for that object; but if the family is undistinguished only on the mother’s
side, it does not matter, for all Israel counts descent from the father’s side. . . .
On holidays and festivals and Sabbaths seek to make happy the poor, the unfor-
tunate, widows and orphans, who should always be guests at your tables; their
joyous entertainment is a religious duty. Let me repeat my warning against gossip
and scandal. And as you Speak no scandal, so listen to none; for if there were no
receivers there would be no bearers of slanderous tales; therefore the reception
and credit of slander is as serious an offense as the originating of it. The less you
318 CHAPTER 11 Reversals and Disasters, 1300–1450
say, the less cause you give for animosity, while “in the multitude of words there
wants transgression” [Proverbs 10:19].
➜ What impression of him- ➜ I beg of you, my sons and daughters, my wife, and all the congregation,
self does Eleazar hope to give that no funeral oration be spoken in my honor. Do not carry my body on a bier,
in the manner of his burial? but in a coach. Wash me clean, comb my hair, trim my nails, as I was wont to
do in my lifetime, so that I may go clean to my eternal rest, as I went clean to
synagogue every Sabbathday. If the ordinary officials dislike the duty, let adequate
payment be made to some poor man who shall render this service carefully and
not perfunctorily. . . .
Put me in the ground at the right hand of my father, and if the space be a little
narrow I am sure that he loves me well enough to make room for me by his side. If
this be altogether impossible put me on his left, or near my grandmother, Yura.
Should this also be impractical, let me be buried by the side of my daughter.
Source: Reprinted from Jacob R. Marcus, The Jew in the Medieval World, with permission of the Hebrew
Union College Press, Cincinnati.
At the same time that the religious and political cli- grandsons received a portion of his empire, the west-
mate in Christian Europe worsened for Jews, it im- ern portion falling to his grandson Batu, who ruled
proved in the newly established Ottoman territories. the population of Mongols, Turks, and Russians
While Christendom was unable to incorporate Jews known to the west as the Empire of the Golden
as Jews, the Ottomans were willing to let Jews pros- Horde. In 1240 Batu’s army laid waste to the city of
per in relative security. Ottoman cities such as Con- Kiev, the populous capital of trade and government.
stantinople (now called Istanbul) and Edirne had Only the death of his uncle, the great khan, stopped
Jewish residents. Thessalonica had had prosperous Batu from pushing farther westward.
Jewish communities well before 1453. Once Batu had conquered all the Russian princi-
The inclusion of Jews in Ottoman society was not palities, he and his people settled in the steppes and
entirely voluntary. Soon after the conquest of Con- south of the Volga River. As the overlord of the Rus-
stantinople, which had been depopulated and in de- sian princes, he organized the collection of tribute
cline in the years leading up to its capture, Mehmed II and the conscription of soldiers for the army of the
forcibly relocated Jews from the Balkans and Anatolia Golden Horde. Important caravan routes—known as
to his new capital to help revive the economy. There- the Great Silk Road—connecting China with the
after, he encouraged Jewish immigrants from the Byzantine Empire passed through their land. Silk,
west. Jewish physicians, merchants, and bankers be- spices, precious jewels, and ceramics came west to be
came much sought after in the new empire. Opportu- exchanged for Scandinavian slaves, fur, hides, salt,
nities to live in peace, make a living, and even join the and Caspian caviar in demand in the east. The khans
ranks of the wealthy (despite a tax rate higher than granted Genoese merchants the use of Caffa, a port
Muslims paid) were available to Jews under the Ot- on the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea, as a base
tomans as they were not in the west. for their trade in slaves and other commodities. The
Venetians had the use of Tana, another port on the
Russia After 1000 Black Sea, where they engaged in similar commerce.
To the north, in the lands of the Russian princes,
Medieval Russia had been divided into principalities, the fur and timber of Russia forests attracted mer-
each ruled by a prince. The descendants of Vikings chants from everywhere. The Baltic Sea served as a
and Slavs, Christianized in the tenth century, ruled highway for the cogs sailing from Scandinavian and
the region surrounding the city of Kiev along the German ports, while rivers gave access to merchants
Dnieper River. With the city’s commercial power and
military strength, Kiev’s princes dominated the other Golden Horde Collection of Tartar-Mongol tribes who
Russian princes until the arrival of the Mongols conquered and ruled the land of the Rus from the mid-
around 1237 drastically changed the political and thirteenth to the late fifteenth century.
economic landscape. Great Silk Road Long trade route from China to the
When Genghis Khan died in 1227, he was on the Mediterranean coast; so-called because it was the route
verge of entering the steppes north of the Black Sea by which silk goods arrived in the west.
and south of the land of the Russians. His sons and
Summary 319
from Christian Europe and Muslim lands. Whoever alienate the khan of the Golden Horde but fought
ruled this land—spectacularly rich in resources, with back Swedish, Lithuanian, and German troops from
few towns and a relatively small and entirely rural the west. His son, Daniel, was the first prince of a dy-
population—had the potential of possessing great nasty centered on Moscow in the principality of Mus-
economic and political power. covy, which would benefit from the political vacuum
The fall of Kiev and the princes who ruled it created by the fall of Kiev.
opened the way for other Russian leaders to emerge.
Although Novgorod in the north survived the Mon-
gol invasion, Moscow, once an isolated military post, Alexander Nevsky (r. 1236–1263) Russian ruler who
began to emerge as a center of power in the late thir- stopped the advance of German, Swedish, and
teenth century. Alexander Nevsky, prince of Nov- Lithuanian troops from the west.
gorod and grand price of Vladimir, made sure not to
Describe life, and death, in fourteenth-century Europe. discontented men and women began the Jacquerie, a
How did the papacy and secular rulers contest each bloody rampage in the countryside of France. In 1381,
other for authority?
an army from the counties surrounding London tried
➜
Where did the loyalties of various ranks of people to impose social change on the English king, Richard II,
lie? How did they assert their rights and dignity
and spirituality? but was quickly defeated.
Beset by so many challenges, ordinary people turned
to religion and spirituality to find comfort and fulfill-
Plague, war, and social upheavals exist in every age, ment. The church, governed for most of the fourteenth
but at certain times in history, they can occur in such century in Avignon, had become a huge bureaucracy
intensity and with such frequency that they leave a concerned primarily with its own unhealthy finances.
deep impression in memory and in culture. The four- The reputation of the church while the papacy resided
teenth century in western Europe was such a period. at Avignon sank low, but not as low as it would sink
Men and women of all ranks, but especially the poor, during the Great Schism. Some church leaders, how-
faced extraordinary challenges. ever, saw in the scandal an opportunity to make the
Prior to the beginning of the plague in 1347, most pope share some of his authority with the leaders of
people of western Europe experienced hunger at the church embodied in councils. For the papacy, this
some point in their lives. Weather changes in north- was taking reform too far.
ern Europe brought wet summers, even colder win- On Europe’s frontiers, the conquest of the last rem-
ters, and extensive flooding. Bad weather destroyed nants of the old Roman Empire alarmed people in the
crops. Poor harvests led to severe shortages of food in West. The Ottomans had emerged from Anatolia by
many regions. The price of grain soared, putting food 1300 and slowly chipped away at the Byzantine Empire
out of reach of all but the wealthy. Weakened by mal- over the fourteenth century. When in 1453 the great city
nourishment, the population fell prey to disease. An of Constantinople fell for the second time in its long
epidemic of the bubonic plague claimed the lives of a history, it was to its new Muslim master, the Ottoman
third to half of the population of Europe in the mid- sultan Mehmed II. To the people of Europe, the Chris-
dle of the century. tian world now seemed a much smaller place.
Warfare conferred even greater hardship on peas-
ants in the countryside and city dwellers alike. In the
Hundred Years’ War between the kings of England ➜
Thinking Back, Thinking Ahead ➜
and France, the English armies trampled planted
fields, set fire to villages, and besieged walled towns How did the disappearance of the Byzantine
as a way to undermine support for the French king. Empire in the mid-fifteenth century change the
Across the English Channel, the people of England possibilities for trade between Europe and Asia?
were made to pay more and more through taxes for
320 CHAPTER 11 Reversals and Disasters, 1300–1450
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
The Black Death and AIDS
Until the influenza pandemic between 1918 and 1920, when nearly 100 million people around the world
died within two years, the epidemic of diseases that swept across western Europe beginning in 1347 was
the deadliest. The Black Death held a position in popular opinion in the west as the most physically and
psychologically devastating catastrophe ever to strike a large population. That an estimated one-third to
one-half of Europe’s population died within a few years overwhelmed the imagination of people living in
the twentieth century. What it must have been like to live in societies where people could die unexpectedly
within hours of contracting a disease defies imagination today.
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) first entered the
consciousness of Americans during the early 1980s, when large numbers of homosexual men in the United
States and a smaller number of people around the world began to die. Then the disease and the virus
spread through sexual contact and blood transfusions to all sectors of the population and throughout the
world. More than 25 million people worldwide have died from AIDS since 1981. As of 2006, more than 38
million people—over 21 million of them in sub-Saharan Africa alone—are living with AIDS or are HIV-positive.
Unlike victims of the bubonic plague, those who are HIV-positive can live for years. Once they contract the
full-blown disease of AIDS, they can last another few years. Although drugs can now prolong the lives of
those infected by decades, the high cost of medication means that millions cannot afford treatment.
The long-term economic and psychological impact of AIDS has yet to be fully felt. Since the majority of those
infected are between the ages of fifteen and sixty, a significant percentage of the workforce and student popu-
lation of Africa have been incapacitated. Twelve million children have lost their parents. Households of children
raised by grandparents are common. Just as the Black Death created ghost villages and set back the gains of
the European economy in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, so, too, is AIDS undoing many of the economic
advances made in recent decades by countries such as South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.
Suggested Readings
Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. London and New York: Harvard University Press, 1997. Still a reliable overview of the
Penguin Classics, 2003. A collection of one hundred delightful devastating plague that swept Europe.
tales filled with insights into daily life, the Black Death in Flor- Hilton, R. H. Bond Men Made Free: Medieval Peasant Move-
ence, and relations between men and women. ments and the English Rising of 1381. London: Routledge, 2003.
Cohen, Mark R. Under Cross and Crescent: The Jews in the A classic study of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 and its origins.
Middle Ages. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1995 Imber, Colin. The Ottoman State, 1300–1650: The Structure of
A comparison between the condition and status of Jews in Power. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. An excellent
Christian territory and those in Muslim countries. overview of the forming of the Ottoman government in its
Froissart, Jean. Chronicles. London and New York: Penguin early centuries.
Classics, 1978. A lively account of the first phase of the Hun- Muldoon, James. Popes, Lawyers, and Infidels: The Church
dred Years’ War written in the late fourteenth century. and the Non-Christian World, 1250–1550. Philadelphia: Uni-
Herlihy, David. The Black Death and the Transformation of versity of Pennsylvania Press, 1979. A study of papal policy
the West. Edited by Samuel K. Cohn Jr. Cambridge, Mass.: toward non-Christians.
Websites
Links to a wide variety of sites of interests to students of me- Decameron Web, at www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_
dieval warfare, De Re Militari: The Society for Medieval Mil- Studies/dweb/dweb.shtml
itary History, at deremilitari.org On many aspect of Ottoman life and society, The Ottomans, at
Text of Giovanni Boccaccio’s collection of tales and many inter- www.theottomans.org/english/index.asp
esting articles on aspects of life in fourteenth-century Italy,
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322
CHAPTER
The Renaissance in
Italy and Northern
Europe, 1350–1550
CHAPTER OUTLINE
323
324 CHAPTER 12 The Renaissance in Italy and Northern Europe, 1350–1550
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Leonardo da Vinci Seeks Employment
In the spring of 1519, at the great age of sixty-seven, Leonardo da Vinci
made his will. He died several days later, leaving his long-time trusted
assistant, Francesco Melzi, a treasure trove of paintings and drawings.
Their power to move and evoke awe has not diminished with the passing
of centuries. Today, they are among the most valuable works of art in
the world.
It may have been that this master draftsman and painter would have
preferred to be remembered for his engineering feats, especially those
applicable to the so-called art of waging war. Leonardo had long applied
his talents to the service of the state, and since 1516 he had been living
in a house granted him by the French king in Fontainebleau, France.
He was far from Milan, where he had spent nearly two decades in
the service first of Duke Ludovico Sforza and then of the military governor
after the French invaded that city in 1499 and forced Sforza out. His
deathbed was equally far from Tuscany, where he had been born in
1452 and spent his childhood and youth. After spending his teenage years
and his twenties working as an apprentice to the master painter Andrea
Although a few Renaissance
del Verrochio, the thirty-year-old Leonardo composed a letter to Ludovico Sforza,
painters matched his skill and
in which he detailed the skills he hoped to put to use in the duke’s service. He
talent, Leonardo da Vinci
offered to design bridges that could bear the weight of cannon and weaponry;
surpassed them all in vision,
to instruct Milanese captains in the techniques of siege warfare; to make a
curiosity, learning, and exper-
transportable cannon that fired rocks; and to build ships more suitable to naval
tise in an impressive range of
warfare, as well as siege engines, catapults, and even an armored vehicle to
subjects. In 1513, when he
transport troops. In the end, none of these plans were ever executed, but they
was sixty-one years old and
demonstrate Leonardo’s extraordinary imagination. Only in an incidental way did
living in Rome, Leonardo
he mention the very talents for which he was already acquiring a reputation,
drew this self-portrait that
painting and sculpture.
shows the flowing hair and
By portraying himself in this fashion, Leonardo ensured that he would not
beard of an old man.
have to choose among his many and varied interests. Noble men and women
(Alinari/Art Resource, NY)
all over Italy wanted him to paint their portraits. Monasteries commissioned
him to paint altarpieces and frescoes. The city of Florence hired him to paint a
large and complicated fresco painting of a battle for the city’s freedom. The
pope ordered paintings from him. But Leonardo simultaneously pursued his
military interests. He drew topographical maps of contested territory for his
employers. The government of Genoa paid him to survey the landscape in the
city’s hinterland and make recommendations on its defenses. In 1500, he
inspected and suggested improvements to the eastern defenses of the Republic
of Venice. Two years later, he prepared military maps and charts of the Papal
States for the pope.
Leonardo’s decision to emphasize his talent for military engineering in his
letter to the duke of Milan was in his mind not much different from his
decision to put his talent for painting in the service of the French king.
Both rulers were willing to give him employment to create what the world
A New Climate of Cultural Expression 325
Chronology
1356 Emperor Charles IV issues Golden Bull 1485 William Caxton publishes Malory’s Le
Morte D’Arthur;
1362 Lithuanians capture Kiev Henry Tudor defeats Richard III of England
1380 Venice and Genoa fight War of Chioggia 1494 Ludovico Sforza becomes duke of Milan;
The Medici of Florence enter exile
1417 Great Schism ends
1496 Savonarola assumes power in Florence
1436 Brunelleschi’s dome atop the cathedral of
Florence is consecrated 1498 Savonarola is burned at the stake
1440 Lorenzo Valla refutes authenticity of Donation 1508 Pope Julius II reconquers Papal States
of Constantine
1508–1512 Michelangelo paints ceiling of
1440s Gutenberg invents printing press Sistine Chapel
1450 Francesco Sforza becomes duke of Milan 1512 Medici return to power
1455–1485 House of Lancaster and House of York fight 1516 Erasmus translates Greek New Testament
Wars of the Roses into Latin;
Leonardo settles in France
ca. 1455 Gutenberg Bible is published
1520 Francis I becomes king of France
1470 Thomas Malory writes Le Morte d’Arthur (The
Death of Arthur) 1532 Publication of Machiavelli’s The Prince
tutors in the hopes of employment in the govern- him to study canon law, but a love of literature di-
ments of Italian cities. Women from well-to-do fami- rected the young scholar toward poetry both in Latin
lies, too, studied philosophy and theology, but solely and in the everyday vernacular language. Petrarch’s
out of a love of learning, since careers outside of poems made him famous throughout Italy, southern
home and marriage were closed to them. Lay schol- France, and eventually all of Europe, but his love of
ars became interested in exploring the question of manuscripts made a greater impact on literature. As
what it meant to be human. They were called human- ambassador to the Avignon popes, Petrarch traveled
ists because their intellectual interests centered on the all over Europe, stopping in monasteries along his
study of humanity (studium humanitatis), or human- way. A bibliophile of the first order, Petrarch searched
ism. They esteemed the works of ancient Romans for
their literary qualities rather than their usefulness for
Christian theology. Their interest in language and the
technical aspects of literature led them to criticize humanism Philosophical and literary study of what it
means to be human.
Scholastic thinkers for not paying closer attention to
Petrarch (1304–1374) Francesco Petrarca, one of the
grammar and vocabulary in their interpretation of first humanist scholars, who was responsible for the
biblical texts. In general, however, they celebrated recovery of numerous works of classical Latin Roman
human potential and downplayed the theological writers.
emphasis on the sinful nature of humanity. vernacular In medieval and Renaissance Europe, the
One of the earliest humanists, Francesco Petrarca, dialects spoken in everyday life, in contrast to the
born in 1304 in Tuscany and known as Petrarch, be- literary language of Latin.
longed to the generation of scholars that joined the bibliophile Lover and collector of books.
clergy to acquire a higher education. His father wanted
A New Climate of Cultural Expression 327
through their libraries for old manuscripts and dis- an artist of outstanding genius. Two centuries earlier,
covered lost works by Cicero. Writing to the ancient the early-fourteenth-century Italian painter Giotto
Roman as if he were alive, Petrarch chastised Cicero would have been viewed as an artisan of exceptional
for contributing to the downfall of the Roman Repub- talent. The emergence of artists from the world of ar-
lic. He emulated the style and content of the ancients tisans had everything to do with the same cultural cli-
with such success that readers took a new interest in mate in which humanist scholars worked.
the language and texts associated with Rome. Giotto painted in a time when the function of a
Ancient Greek texts benefited from the arrival of painting mattered as much as the beauty or creativity
refugees from the Byzantine Empire in the 1390s. it displayed. The male and female patrons who hired
Fleeing the Ottomans, they emigrated to Italy and Giotto would have specified what they wanted to see
stimulated a great interest in the literature of the past. in the painting. Giotto’s role in the process was sim-
After a tour of Europe in 1394, the great Greek scholar ply to execute the patron’s desire. Although Giotto re-
Emmanuel Chrysoloras made Florence a new center ceived much praise for the beauty and spiritual
of Greek learning, thanks to his skills as a teacher and qualities of his painting, he was only a craftsman in
to the manuscripts he brought with him. Other Byzan- the eyes of the people who employed him. Religious
tine scholars found employment elsewhere in Italy, and secular patrons hired artisan painters, sculptors,
where they not only taught Greek but also introduced and architects to create devotional objects whose
intellectuals to the previously unknown body of sci- beauty was meant to enhance, reinforce, and remind
entific works by Plato, Aristotle, and others. viewers of what they should believe or do. Painted
Not all intellectuals worked as papal secretaries or frescoes like the ones Giotto painted celebrating the
scribes in city government. Some worked directly for life of Saint Francis in the basilica at Assisi (see image
autocratic rulers and wealthy merchants who enjoyed on page 271) depicted stories that taught the laity
the prestige that came with being patrons of human- the elements of Christian belief. Sculptors created
ists. These men employed scholars in their house- statues out of stone or bronze that portrayed holy or
holds, to instruct their children or to converse when historical figures, celebrated warriors, or secular
visitors came to call. Humanist clients encouraged rulers. Craftsmen builders designed churches, gov-
their patrons to collect manuscripts and, later, books ernment buildings, and private residences whose size
that would form the basis of some of Europe’s most or grandeur suggested the glory of God or its occu-
important libraries. Lorenzo de’ Medici, the ruler of pants. Even the finely crafted gold and silver objects
Florence in the late fifteenth century, amassed an im- on display in churches had practical uses in the Mass.
portant collection of manuscripts and books under All artistic creations had a purpose and a function.
the guidance of the humanist scholars whose patron
he was. Although humanists tended to embrace the
values of the patrons for whom they worked, they ad- Emmanuel Chrysoloras (1355–1415) Important Greek
mired Cicero’s involvement in Roman public affairs scholar who introduced the scientific works of ancient
and valued political engagement in city life. The Flor- Greek philosophers to the west.
entine humanists took from Cicero an appreciation autocrat Ruler who possesses absolute power.
for republicanism, which rejected autocractic rule in patron Person, usually wealthy or powerful, who finan-
favor of government by the people. Civic humanism, cially supports the intellectual or artistic work of a client.
the study of ancient texts to develop ideological sup- client Artist or intellectual supported by a wealthy
patron.
port for Florence’s republican government, gave the
humanists an opportunity to express their patriotism. Lorenzo de’ Medici (r. 1469–1492, “the Magnificent”)
Ruler of Florence and patron of artists, poets, and
Through the study of these texts, the humanists humanist scholars during the Italian Renaissance.
sought to bring what they perceived to be the best of civic humanism Study and appreciation of classical
the ancient world to life again in their own time— republican forms of government.
hence their conviction that they lived in a period of renaissance Literally, “rebirth,” signifying a revival.
rebirth, or renaissance. Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475–1564) Painter, sculp-
tor, poet, and architect, considered in his time to be the
From Artisan to Artist greatest artist Italy had ever produced.
Giotto di Bondone (1267–1334) Best-known and most
By the end of the fifteenth century, when the Renais- influential painter of the Middle Ages.
sance in Italy was at its height, patrons like Lorenzo artisan Skilled craftsmen, such as a cabinetmaker,
de’ Medici would have viewed the painter, sculptor, painter, or shoemaker.
and architect Michelangelo much as we do today, as
328 CHAPTER 12 The Renaissance in Italy and Northern Europe, 1350–1550
For these reasons, those who painted portraits or the stereotype of artist as temperamental genius
religious works, made statues, and designed build- emerges clearly for the first time.
ings would have described themselves as artisans,
not as painters, sculptors, or architects. They were Perspectives and Techniques
also businessmen. If a painter was successful, he very
likely owned and operated his own workshop and One man’s career best personifies the changes in cul-
employed other painters who assisted him, even to tural expression and production during the Italian
the extent of painting the background of a scene that Renaissance. Filippo Brunelleschi, like most of his
would eventually be associated with his name alone. colleagues, did not confine himself exclusively to one
Gentile Bellini, a renowned Venetian painter and the creative medium. He was an exceptionally talented
son and brother of two other famous painters, was painter, metalworker, engineer, and architect, all in
the master of his own workshop, where he and his as- one. Born and raised in Florence, Brunelleschi became
sistants together painted scenes of Venice’s ceremo- even in his own day one of the most famous artists
nial life. The contract he signed with his patrons Italy ever produced. His two most significant contri-
specified precisely what images the painting would butions to the cultural movements of his time related
contain, the pigment colors that would be used, and to his experiments with linear perspective in painting
the date when the project would be completed. Once and to his engineering innovations in architecture.
all the conditions had been agreed upon, Bellini’s as- Like the humanists, Brunelleschi believed the an-
sistants worked on drafting and painting the build- cient Romans had much to teach him. His studies in
ings in the background while the master focused his the art and architecture of Rome led him to develop
creative attention on the figures that required techni- the mathematical principles of linear perspective that
cal precision and artistic vision. Sculptors and archi- the Romans had used in their wall paintings to con-
tects made similar contractual arrangements with vey a sense of depth. Linear perspective creates the
their patrons, who tended to view themselves as the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional
real creative force behind artistic productions. surface. To convey a sense of depth or distance, the
The workmanlike relationship between a painter painter drew lines on the flat surface of his canvas or
and his patron changed slowly over the fifteenth cen- wall that all converged on one point, called the van-
tury as the creative expression of the artisan became ishing point. Brunelleschi’s own paintings in which
more highly valued. By the end of the century, not he demonstrated this technique have not survived,
only did people think of painters, sculptors, and ar- but his peers credit him with bringing the principles
chitects as artists, as we understand the term, but the of linear perspective to the attention of working
artisans also began to regard their skills and talent painters and sculptors. Among the very first to make
more highly than previously. Michelangelo, a de- use of perspective were Masaccio in Florence and Ja-
voutly religious man, who painted the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel and designed Saint Peter’s Church, Gentile Bellini (ca. 1429–1507) Important Venetian
both at the Vatican, evoked the highest praise of any painter whose subject matter mainly concerned Vene-
artist in his time from his contemporaries, yet he re- tian political and religious history.
vealed his ambivalence about the life of an artist in Vatican Area on the north side of the Tiber in Rome
a poem: where the pope was living by the end of the fifteenth
century.
My cherished art, my season in the sun,
Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574) Italian architect and artist
name, fame, acclaim—that cant I made a run for, who wrote biographies of Renaissance artists.
left me in servitude, poor, old, alone. Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446) Outstanding archi-
O death, relieve me soon. Or soon I’m done for. tect, painter, and engineer who introduced linear per-
By the sixteenth century, the artisan had become spective in painting and designed the dome of
Florence’s cathedral.
an artist, and his work was now art. This change is re-
linear perspective Illusion of depth and three-
flected clearly in a collection of biographical sketches dimensional space in an image achieved by drawing
by a painter whose reputation rests more firmly on the lines of the composition toward a vanishing point.
his writings than on his paintings. Giorgio Vasari’s vanishing point In a painting, the point at which all
The Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and the lines converge to give the illusion of depth and
Architects, published in 1550, preserves details about three dimensions.
the life, work, and character of Renaissance Italy’s Masaccio (1401–1428) Italian artist notable for his early
most famous artists, from Giotto in the thirteenth cen- experimentation with linear perspective.
tury to Michelangelo in the sixteenth. In this work,
A New Climate of Cultural Expression 329
Brunelleschi’s reputation
rests on his engineering of
the dome of Florence’s
cathedral, finished in 1436
and pictured here. Italians
refer to cathedrals by their
word for “dome,” duomo.
The Duomo stands out so
clearly in Florence’s sky-
line that it epitomizes the
city today as much as it
did in the fifteenth cen-
tury. (Scala/Art Resource,
NY)
copo Bellini, the father of Gentile Bellini, the promi- nardo to investigate the inner workings of the human
nent Venetian painter. body through dissections of cadavers, an illegal prac-
Brunelleschi’s fame, in his own time and today, tice condemned by the church. Understanding how
however, stems mainly from his architectural and en- tendons connected muscle to bone enabled him to de-
gineering accomplishments. Although the founda- pict human forms with detailed accuracy. Everything
tion of Florence’s cathedral was laid at the very end that was human fascinated Leonardo. His wide range
of the thirteenth century, it still lacked a roof and a of expertise and his genius made him the prototype of
dome in the first decades of the fifteenth century. In the Renaissance man.
1420, Brunelleschi, chief architect of the ongoing con-
struction, implemented his plan to build an enormous The Pleasure of Things
and immensely heavy octagonal dome on top of the
completed cathedral walls. It was a daring project, in- The explosion of cultural creativity in Renaissance
volving updated Roman engineering equipment and Italy was not confined to the works of art in churches
ancient brick and stone methods of construction. In and government buildings. All wanted to adorn
the end, Brunelleschi’s plan worked, and the dome themselves and their surroundings with more pos-
was consecrated in 1436. A friend of all the great sessions than had ever been available before, but, as
artists at the time, Brunelleschi represents the ex- always, only a minority could afford to. When the
traordinary combination of talent, skill, and great economy began to revive after the reversals and dis-
learning found in many of the artists who emerged in asters of the fourteenth century, a new acquisitive
the fifteenth century. spirit took hold in Italian cities as trade, manufactur-
Leonardo da Vinci rivaled Brunelleschi and Michel- ing, and a rise in imported goods provided people
angelo in breadth of knowledge, skill, and talent. He with opportunities to spend money on objects that
worked as a painter of portraits and of the large fres- pleased them, enhanced their status, or both.
coes in monasteries and civic buildings that only ec-
clesiastical institutions and governments could afford
to commission. His skills as a military engineer made Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) One of the world’s
him just as well known (see Choice). He was a scholar, greatest artists and engineers, most famous for his
too, who read widely in many fields. The humanist painting the Mona Lisa.
quest to celebrate all that was human inspired Leo-
330 CHAPTER 12 The Renaissance in Italy and Northern Europe, 1350–1550
Before beginning his painting in 1482, the Adoration of the Magi, Leonardo sketched on paper its composition,
using linear perspective in the architectural elements. The painting was never finished, but Leonardo’s sketches
have taught art historians much about how painters in the fifteenth century worked. (Scala/Art Resource, NY)
Domestic interiors in the late fourteenth century dishes and cookware, tended to be uniform and utili-
would have seemed as uncomfortable to someone at tarian in shape, color, and material.
the start of the sixteenth century as they would to As the fifteenth century progressed, people bought
someone today. Medieval homes lacked good seat- more and more things, because, in large part, there
ing. Most families of modest means in the fourteenth were now more things to buy. Italian cities were be-
century owned very few pieces of furniture. One or coming societies of consumers, intent on spending
two beds sufficed for all members of the family; the money in ways that would show off their status and
servants slept on rushes piled on the floor. One table taste. The wealthiest families directed their money
provided a surface to eat on, socialize around, or toward building palaces that would reflect their so-
write on. Perhaps there was a stool or a wooden cial status. Domestic architecture emerged as a style
bench to sit on. Against a wall might be a rough- distinct from ecclesiastic and governmental architec-
hewn wooden chest for storage. With so little furni- ture. Builders designed palaces for their patrons that
ture, families spent most of their days outside in the looked magnificent and imposing from the outside
courtyard of a house, working in the fields, or sitting and luxurious and ceremonial on the inside. Spacious
under a tree with their neighbors, whether they lived reception rooms, where the members of the family
in the countryside or in a city. When they had to come met with visitors, now contained more kinds of furni-
indoors, family members piled on the bed for seating. ture than before. Larger and more ornately decorated
The home of a well-to-do family would not have wooden storage chests lined the wall. More chairs
contained a greater variety of furniture, although there were available. A sideboard held the family’s silver-
were likely to be a few more seats, wooden chests, and plate in a room now specifically designated for eating.
tables. Nor was there much in the way of decoration. Framed devotional paintings or frescoes depicting all
Only wealthy families could afford to have their walls the members of the family and their patron saints
hung with tapestries, whose main function was, in any filled in the spots on the wall not covered by tapes-
case, to retain heat. Everyday utensils, like serving tries. People spent their money on luxury goods that
The Northern European Renaissance 331
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Erasmus Defends His Translation of the Greek
New Testament
Erasmus, a theologian and editor and translator of the Greek New Testament,
faced strong criticism for undertaking his translation from church leaders and other
theologians, who feared what would happen if laypeople studied the text on their
own. Erasmus had an enormous circle of friends throughout Europe. All his life, he
wrote letters to them in which he discussed whichever work he was composing at
the time, debated with them about political trends, and defended his belief in
church reform. In the following letter, written in 1515, he responds to Martin Dorp,
a Dutch theologian who in a previous letter had questioned the need for and legit-
imacy of the New Testament translation that Erasmus was about to begin. In his
The Northern European Renaissance 335
reply, Erasmus aggressively defends his translation at the same time as he insinu-
ates that someone like Dorp, who could not read scripture in its original language
of Greek, was in no position to lecture a theologian who could.
many identical copies of a work quickly for distribu- cost far less to produce than parchment and vellum,
tion. A goldsmith from the German city of Mainz, the treated sheep or calf skins that served as writing
Johannes Gutenberg, is believed to have invented in surfaces in western Europe. Depending on its size, a
the 1440s the process in which a printer pressed ink- complete Bible consisting entirely of parchment or
coated movable type onto paper. Although the Chi- vellum pages could require the skins of nearly two
nese had centuries before devised a printing process hundred sheep or calves, which explains why manu-
by carving the characters that made up their written scripts were so expensive to produce. By the late thir-
language onto blocks of wood, Gutenberg’s innova- teenth century, paper production in Italy had begun.
tion was, first, to cast small pieces of metal type, each Scribes continued to use parchment and vellum for
with a raised face in the shape of a letter. A typesetter their luxury manuscripts, but in everyday life people
arranged the metal type, letter by letter, in horizontal increasingly used paper for their account books,
rows to spell out the text to be published. Setting the records, and private documents.
type was the most time-consuming part of the print- The affordability of paper and the speed of printing
ing process. After the rows were locked within a frame, on it brought about a revolution in ideas and beliefs
the printer brushed the set type with ink, laid paper in the sixteenth century, as unprecedented amounts
on it, and then slid it under a heavy press. When all of information were put into circulation. The first
the pages of the text had been printed, the metal type products of the printing press certainly included books,
was disassembled so that it could be set again for an- but short and inexpensive political pamphlets, reli-
other text. gious tracts, and bureaucratic forms appeared for sale
The development of the printing process depended in Mainz’s first printshops right away. The artistry and
on the availability and low cost of paper in western craftsmanship that went into large luxury books, like
Europe. Originally a product from China that Muslim the beautiful three-volume Bibles Gutenberg printed
merchants brought back along the caravan routes to around 1455, kept their price prohibitively high.
the Mediterranean, paper attracted the attention of
Christian merchants—and possibly the crusaders— Johannes Gutenberg (d. 1468) Inventor of the print-
who had dealings in the Muslim world. They recog- ing press, and printing from movable type, in the west.
nized that paper, made from pulverized cotton cloth,
The Northern European Renaissance 337
N OR WAY
SW E D E N
Stockholm
1483
Major printing centers
with date of establishment
SCOTLAND By 1470
Edinburgh 1471–1485
1507 North Baltic
Sea Copenhagen 1486–1500
1493 Sea
ND
Dublin
Political boundaries
IRE
1551
ENGLAND Hamburg
in 1490
Emden 1491
Amsterdam 1554 Berlin Warsaw
Oxford 1523 Deventer 1477 1540 1578
1478 London Utrecht 1472
1480 Antwerp Leipzig POL A N D
1470 Cologne 1466 1481
Brussels Bonn 1543
1474 Frankfurt 1478 Prague 1478
ATLANTIC Mainz Bamberg 1460
1448 HOL Y Nuremberg
OCEAN Paris R OMA N 1470
Vienna
1470 E MPI R E Augsburg 1468 1482
Strasbourg
1460 hine Munich MOLDAVIA
R 1482
F R A N C E Basel 1462 Zurich HU N GA R Y
Bern
D a nu b e
Cluny 1525 1508
1483 Geneva
Lyons 1478 Venice
1473 Milan V 1469
1470 E Belgrade
N 1552
Rhône
I
C
Florence E
1471 PAPAL
NAVARRE STATES OTTOMAN Constantinople
AL
EMPIRE 1488
UG
Madrid 1515
1499 1475 NAPLES
Lisbon
1489 CA S T I L E
MAP 12.1 The Growth of Printing Bills of sale, sermons, bibles, and scholarly works were among
the first printed texts that printers produced. The new invention quickly spread across western Europe.
Within fifty years, Venice had more printing presses than any other city in Europe.
Printing shops spread quickly, first across Germany many more people knew how to read, especially in
and then throughout Europe. Within a few years of Italy, where literacy had accompanied the expansion
Gutenberg’s Bibles, the printing press reached other of commerce and lay education. As the print culture
German cities—Strasbourg in 1460, Cologne in 1464. expanded, reliance on memory and recitation dimin-
Sixty towns in Germany had printing shops by 1500. ished. The very way people thought and learned and
But in that same year Venice could boast of 150 print- remembered was changing.
ing presses. One Venetian printer, Aldus Manutius,
joined with humanist scholars to print texts in the
Greek alphabet that refugee scholars from the Byzan-
tine Empire had brought to Italy. Aldus Manutius (1449–1515) Important Venetian
Less than a century following the invention of printer noted for publishing Byzantine texts in the
movable type and the printing press, an estimated 9 Greek alphabet.
million books were in circulation. Moreover, a great
338 CHAPTER 12 The Renaissance in Italy and Northern Europe, 1350–1550
The Cities of power far exceeded the authority of any public office
he held. Through his network of clients, Cosimo di-
Renaissance Italy rected—out of sight from public view—Florentine fis-
cal and diplomatic affairs. He dressed modestly, ate
➜➜
Arno, to the right, required extending the city walls. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY)
339
340 CHAPTER 12 The Renaissance in Italy and Northern Europe, 1350–1550
authorities resorted to the services of professional The Visconti family’s ambition to govern did not
military men—condottieri—to keep the peace. These stop, however, at the city walls. Throughout the 1380s
captains and their salaried armies acted at first like a and 1390s, Visconti forces conquered Siena and Pisa
police force and a militia, but they soon made them- (both near Florence) as well as Verona and Vicenza
selves lords of the cities whose safety they had been (close to Venice), subdued the city of Bologna (a papal
hired to defend. possession), and took control of the commercially im-
These military rulers of Italian cities owed their portant passes over the Alps. The alliance formed by
power to brute force, but disguised it behind the ele- Florence, Venice, and the pope to stop the Visconti
gant and refined behavior typical of a Renaissance was only partly successful. In 1447, when Filippo
court. Among humanists, two types of the ideal ruler Maria Visconti died without a legitimate male heir,
took shape. The Courtier, a widely-read work published the people of Milan saw an opportunity to form a re-
in 1528 by Baldassare Castiglione, a diplomat and in- public. Filippo Maria’s son-in-law, Francesco Sforza,
tellectual from Milan, described the ideal ruler as a the condottiere hired to keep public order, had other
battle-tested as well as a highly educated commander plans. By 1450, attempts to form a republic had failed
with elegant manners. Castiglione’s “Renaissance man” and Sforza had declared himself duke of Milan.
combined a chivalrous knight with a humanist scholar. The new autocratic rulers of Milan enjoyed the
A Florentine presented another type of ideal ruler prestige that came from patronizing the humanists
that reflected a grittier understanding of how the world and artists inspired by Renaissance ideals of republi-
worked. The son of a poor Florentine lawyer who be- can liberty. In return, the republican-minded human-
longed to a distinguished family, Niccolò Machiavelli ists, painters, and architects did not object to working
gained considerable experience as a diplomat in Flor- in the military state that Milan had become. They eas-
ence’s government between the death of Savonarola ily found employment in the city’s monasteries and
in 1498 and the Medici’s return to power in 1512. On ducal government. The most prominent artist of all,
the grounds that employment in Florence’s govern- Leonardo da Vinci, spent nearly two decades in Mi-
ment prior to their return made Machiavelli their en- lan in the employ of Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan,
emy, the Medici family had him arrested and who asked him to cast a bronze equestrian statue
tortured. After a brief, painful period in prison, he commemorating his father, Francesco, the first Sforza
went into exile. To win his way back to Florence, duke of Milan. His fresco of the Last Supper in the
Machiavelli dedicated to the new Medici ruler his Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan re-
work The Prince. Published in 1532 only after Machi- mains to this day one of the most recognizable paint-
avelli died, The Prince offers political advice on how ings in the world.
heads of states, particularly those who seize power,
should govern. Machiavelli advanced a strategy for The Papal States and the Church
domination requiring rulers to show no mercy to
their enemies, to act decisively and ruthlessly, and to Unlike Florence and Milan, where many people
rule by expediency rather than morality. The ends, clung to republican ideals even when ruled by auto-
Machiavelli famously argued, justified the means. crats, the Papal States made no accommodation to
Like the humanists, he looked to ancient Roman writ- those who would have preferred to live in a republic.
ers for solutions to the problems he saw plaguing the In all of western Europe, only the pope could claim
cities of Italy. But he studied those texts with the au-
tocratic behavior he had witnessed when on diplo-
matic business for Florence in Milan and the Papal condottieri Mercenary captains employed by Italian
States in mind and came to conclusions that sat un- city-states to maintain internal order.
easily with humanist ideals. Baldassare Castiglione (1478–1529) Diplomat and
humanist who wrote The Courtier (1528), in which he
Milan in the province of Lombardy enjoyed the
describes the “Renaissance man.”
rights and privileges of an autonomous city. A coun-
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) Diplomat and politi-
cil made up of the leading Milanese families gov- cal writer most famous for The Prince, a work instruct-
erned the city until 1311, when the Visconti family ing rulers on how to govern.
imposed its rule on the population. Under their rule, Visconti The family of ruling Milanese dukes from
Milan grew into a powerful state founded on its 1395 until 1447, when replaced by the Sforza family.
rulers’ military requirements. Its armaments and tex- Francesco Sforza (r. 1447–1466) Mercenary captain
tile industries made the city wealthy. Milanese armor hired to protect Milan; the first of a dynasty to
was in demand throughout Europe, and its silk cloth rule Milan.
rivaled what Florentine weavers produced.
342 CHAPTER 12 The Renaissance in Italy and Northern Europe, 1350–1550
legitimacy dating back to Emperor Constantine in the Alexander VI’s death and Cesare Borgia’s inability to
third century, even if that claim had been discredited defend his possession of the Papal States had given
in certain circles. Over half a century before, in 1440, Venice an opportunity to expand its mainland hold-
the humanist Lorenzo Valla performed a feat of ings. Now, in an alliance with other powers in Italy,
scholarship that drew the admiration of scholars all Julius forced the Venetians out of his lands in 1509.
across Europe, including Erasmus. Using humanist Julius, the patron of the arts responsible for Michelan-
methods of textual analysis, he convincingly proved gelo’s ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, conquered the
that the Donation of Constantine, on the basis of land that had been lost to the papacy since the Avi-
which the papacy laid claim to central Italy, was forged. gnon popes of the fourteenth century.
Valla’s work had little practical impact, as the pa-
pacy’s power had been reinforced simply by the pas-
sage of centuries and the weight of tradition. The
Papal States remained a theocratic and autocratic do-
Renaissance Ideals in
minion until the nineteenth century. Transition, 1400–1550
When the papacy left Rome and settled in Avignon,
the nobles who governed the Papal States on behalf ➜ How did many of the cultural benefits of the Italian
Renaissance reach France?
of the papacy took the opportunity to extricate them-
➜
What factors contributed to their slow passage
selves from its lordship. During the fourteenth century, to England?
several of the cities and towns under papal rule, such
as Bologna, refused to recognize the lordship of the Avi- Pope Julius, the Sforza dukes, and the Medici demon-
gnon popes. The Visconti family of Milan, whose ter- strated that the appreciation of humanist ideals could
ritory abutted the northwestern borders of the pope’s coexist with autocratic domination over their sub-
lands, also saw an opportunity to add to their territory. jects. Similarly, the people of other countries and their
Resistance to papal overlordship grew so strong that rulers absorbed the cultural and intellectual innova-
the papacy’s income dropped significantly. Hiring an tions of Italy and Flanders at different rates and in
army in the 1350s to reimpose papal rule over the their own ways. The French king admired the Italian
rebel lands sapped the pope’s treasury even more. Renaissance so much that, when he invaded the
Initially, restoring order in the Papal States was the peninsula to conquer it, he made sure to acquire as
first order of business when the popes returned to many works of art—and artists—as he could along
Rome permanently at the end of the Great Schism in the way. For most of the fifteenth century, civil war
1417. The popes of the fifteenth century appointed distracted the nobility of England from the pleasures
their own family members to secular and ecclesiastic of patronage. In Germany, painters took some notice
offices in the cities of central Italy as a way of securing of the Italian and Flemish artists, but farther east, the
the loyalty of public authorities there. At the end of Russians clung to the stylized forms icon painters
the century, Pope Alexander VI of the Borgia family had absorbed from the Byzantines long ago.
put family loyalty ahead of the papacy’s interests by
creating a new, independent state carved out of the The Court of Francis I
Papal States for his illegitimate son, Cesare Borgia,
whom he had made a cardinal in 1493 when Cesare Chivalry—the medieval code of heroism, piety, and
was not yet twenty. Five years later, Cesare exchanged the idealization of noblewomen—was the consuming
his position as cardinal for that of military commander. passion of one man, whose interests and predilections
The army he led conquered the three principal re- shaped the character of the Renaissance in France:
gions in the Papal States: Emilia, Romagna, and Um-
bria. When his father died in 1503, Cesare lost access
to the funding he needed to pay his army. Without an Lorenzo Valla (1407–1457) Humanist scholar whose
army, and with a new pope intent on restoring dignity influential treatise, written in 1440, showed the Dona-
tion of Constantine to be a forgery.
to the papacy and its lands, Cesare fell from power.
Alexander VI (r. 1492–1503) Pope who was a member
The death of Alexander VI’s successor within a
of the Spanish Borgia family and notorious for the
year of his election put Pope Julius II in charge of im- promotion of his illegitimate children and the corrup-
posing papal rule over central Italy. Not content with tion of his papal court.
hiring a mercenary army to enter battle for him, Julius II (r. 1503–1513) Pope who was a great patron of
Julius led his own troops in 1508 to restore papal au- artists, especially Michelangelo, and who restored the
thority in the cities of Bologna and Perugia, contrary Papal States to papal control.
to church law, which forbade clergy to fight in wars.
Renaissance Ideals in Transition, 1400–1550 343
King Francis I. As a fatherless teenager, heir to his lished it in 1485, making it one of the earliest printed
cousin Louis XII, Francis took no interest in academic works of English literature. The stories about the ad-
learning. Warfare and the ceremony associated with ventures of King Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, and
aristocratic knighthood absorbed all of the spoiled the knights offered a model of heroic kingship that
boy’s attention. With no one able to guide him or re- the English looked for in their own king.
strain him apart from his mother, Francis trained Henry V’s son and heir, Henry VI (r. 1421–1461,
himself to wage war rather than to rule. 1470–1471), did not, however, inspire much confi-
When he succeeded to the throne in 1520, Francis I dence. Mentally unstable and unfit to rule for periods
made his mother, Louise, regent so that she could rule of time, he survived repeated attempts to remove him
in his absence and then left to conquer Italy. His first from power until kinsmen and rival claimants to the
target was the duchy of Milan, under the rule of the throne deposed him in 1461. The leader of his oppo-
Sforza family, whose forces he defeated. The French nents and his cousin from the House of York as-
king was outmaneuvered by the adroit Pope Leo X, cended the throne as Edward IV (r. 1461–1470, 1471–
who took back possession of his territories in central 1483). Henry fled to allies in Scotland but was cap-
Italy while recognizing Francis’s overlordship. The tured and confined in the Tower of London in 1465.
Sforza duke of Milan achieved the same arrangement. The new king Edward spent his entire reign fighting
Francis failed to conquer Italy, but Italy, in a sense, off supporters of the deposed Henry in the ongoing
conquered him. During his time at the papal court, the series of civil wars known collectively as the Wars of
French king was deeply impressed with the culture of the Roses (1455–1485), after the red and white roses
the Italian Renaissance and, over time, patronized symbolizing Edward IV’s York and Henry VI’s Lan-
some of its leading artists. He drew to his court in caster families. After his coronation, Edward ruled
France the finest painters, poets, musicians, and schol- for ten years before his early death put his young son,
ars, who, perceiving their patron’s chivalric passions, Edward V (r. 1483), on the throne.
produced paintings, poetry, and songs that glorified The young king’s reign, too, soon ended. His un-
the arts of war. Leonardo da Vinci and the sculptor cle, Richard of York, imprisoned the young king and
Benvenuto Cellini were his guests. The royal place at his younger brother in the Tower of London, where
Fontainebleau melded traditional French architecture they both died under mysterious circumstances. Ru-
with the new Italian style, and the king’s lavish court mors that their uncle, now Richard III, had had his
life there was modeled on the magnificence of the
great Italian courts in Florence and Milan. Moreover,
Francis took an interest in the Christian humanists
Francis I (r. 1515–1547) King of France who centralized
and their reform-minded critiques of the church. As royal rule, created at his court a vibrant Renaissance
an adult, he acquired the intellectual interests that his culture, and unsuccessfully fought Charles V for con-
martial training in youth had precluded. The combi- trol of Italy.
nation of chivalric ceremonial displays and his pro- Fontainebleau Castle, or château, and chief residence
motion of the arts and learning created a lasting of Francis I, king of France.
legacy for Francis as his kingdom’s Renaissance king. ballad Popular song that usually told a story.
Arthurian legends Stories associated with the deeds
and lives of the mythical King Arthur and the Knights
England Before Its Renaissance of the Round Table.
After the last battles of the Hundred Years’ War in the Thomas Malory (d. 1471) Author of Le Morte d’Arthur,
mid-fifteenth century, English men and women asso- an English-language collection of the Arthurian leg-
ciated king with country more than they had ever ends, published in 1485.
done, partly as a result of patriotic pageants, popular William Caxton (ca.1415–1492) England’s first printer,
who published Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur.
ballads, and other propaganda meant to rally finan-
cial and moral support for the war against France. Tower of London Norman fortification situated on the
banks of the Thames River where political prisoners
Throughout the war, the Arthurian legends idealized were confined.
knighthood and offered a powerful model of chival- Wars of the Roses Civil wars between the descendants
ric kingship in the character of King Arthur. After the of Edward III for the throne of England, 1455–1485.
war, in the 1470s, Thomas Malory reworked many of Richard III (r. 1483–1485) King of England after
the old tales about the legendary king and his knights his young nephew, Edward V, died in captivity; de-
for the first time in English in an epic account of the feated and killed by Henry Tudor at the Battle of
Knights of the Round Table, Le Morte d’Arthur (The Bosworth Field.
Death of Arthur). The printer William Caxton pub-
344 CHAPTER 12 The Renaissance in Italy and Northern Europe, 1350–1550
nephews murdered turned the nobles and the popu- Slavic territories competed fiercely over trade in
lation against the king, thus presenting an opportu- Scandinavian and Baltic lands. In the final decades of
nity for the supporters of Henry VI’s House of the thirteenth century, guilds of German merchants
Lancaster to reassert their claim to the throne. In 1485, with branch offices in England and Flanders joined
Richard’s chief Lancastrian opponent, Henry Tudor with German merchants based in the Baltic and Scan-
of Wales, defeated Richard at Bosworth Field. When dinavian regions to form the Hanseatic League, a
Henry married Elizabeth of York in 1486, he united commercial association whose purpose was to pro-
the Lancastrian and Yorkist factions. Crowned Henry vide its members with protection against piracy at
VII, the founder of the Tudor dynasty set out to re- sea and to regulate trade in German cities and in the
store stability to England and replenish the nearly Baltic states farther north. They specialized in the ma-
empty royal treasury. Only under later Tudors would jor commodities of the Baltic region, especially in fish,
England achieve its Renaissance. timber, and furs. Because public order was conducive
to trade, league members served as city managers
The Holy Roman Empire and and police forces in the hundred-odd cities in which
they were based during the fourteenth century. But
Eastern Europe the lack of centralization among the branches of the
In the lands to the east of the French kingdom in the Hanseatic League led to their decline in the face of the
late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the flourishing growing power of the states around them, particu-
trade among the Baltic Sea countries inspired the larly to the east.
rulers in the region to consolidate their authority and On the eastern borders of the empire and the
claim their share of the profits. The Holy Roman em- Hanseatic cities of Prussia lay Poland and, beyond it,
perors concentrated their efforts on their German Lithuania, whose duke, Jagiello, became king of Poland
lands. The princes of Moscow wrested control over in 1386 when he married Poland’s heiress to the throne,
their lands from their Mongol conquerors. The kings Jadwiga. Jagiello’s conversion to the Roman church
of Bohemia and Hungary insinuated themselves into at his marriage ensured that the majority of Lithuani-
the center of the Holy Roman Empire’s political life, ans adhered to the Roman Catholic Church rather than
while new states were emerging along the northern the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Although the two
shorelines of the Baltic Sea. countries were ruled by the same man, they did not
Unlike his predecessors, the Holy Roman emperor merge into one kingdom. Within a generation, Poland
Charles IV (r. 1347–1378) faced the difficult truth that had one grandson of Jagiello’s as king and Lithuania
he could not sustain an empire that stretched from had another as grand prince. The power of conjoined
Germany in the north to Italy in the south. In a procla- Poland-Lithuania succeeded in defeating the military
mation issued in 1356 and known as the Golden Bull, order of Teutonic Knights, the major competitor for
he laid out a system by which his successors would be conquering and ruling the unchristianized Baltic ter-
chosen by seven permanent electors: the archbishops ritory to the north. Based in Prussia, to the west of
of three German cities and the rulers of four principal- Poland and Lithuania, the order protected the Hanse-
ities. Three of the prince electors were German; the atic cities and made incursions into Polish territory in
fourth was the king of Bohemia. Although Charles’s
plan provided political stability to the civil war–prone
empire, the permanent exclusion of certain princely
families deepened resentments and competition among Bosworth Field Battle in 1485 in which the Yorkist
the German nobles that had already led to sporadic forces, led by the English king Richard III, was de-
feated by the Lancastrian faction commanded by
warfare. Charles’s choice of electors, however, had an Henry Tudor.
unforeseen but timely impact on the empire’s secu-
Henry VII (r. 1485–1509) First Tudor king of England,
rity. After deposing Charles’ son and successor, the who ended the Wars of the Roses and consolidated
electors chose as emperor his grandson, Sigimund, royal power.
king of Bohemia and Hungary in 1410 largely be- Tudor Dynastic family ruling England from 1485 to 1603.
cause his kingdom was viewed as the front line in the Golden Bull Decree issued by Emperor Charles IV in
effort to hold back the Ottoman Turks, whose armies 1356 that established the method for electing the Holy
pushed the empire’s eastern borders in the first half Roman emperor.
of the fifteenth century. prince electors Noblemen and bishops with the hered-
While the system of prince electors offered some itary right to elect the Holy Roman emperor.
stability to the empire, merchants in German and
Summary 345
an effort to claim land there. In 1410, Jagiello defeated (r. 1425–1462), to defend his inheritance of his father’s
the order in a battle that set back its efforts to occupy lands from his uncles. Political stability came to
the northern parts of Lithuania. But it was only at the Basil’s Russian lands only after decades of warfare
conclusion of a thirteen-year war in 1466 that the Teu- against his uncles and cousins, the slow collapse of
tonic Knights were finally and decisively defeated. the Golden Horde, and, once Basil had died in 1462,
Even farther to the east, the grand prince of Moscow, the coming to power of his capable son, Ivan III.
Basil I, brought together Russian principalities under By the end of the fifteenth century, Basil’s heirs had
his rule by conquering his neighbors between 1392 transformed Moscow into the strongest power in the
and 1398. To discourage an invasion of his lands by east, beholden to no other.
the Mongol Empire of the Golden Horde—to whom
he paid tribute to prevent just that possibility—he
made an alliance with Lithuania in 1392. Within three
years, a larger threat appeared on his eastern borders: Basil I (r. 1389–1425) Grand prince of Moscow who
Timur, the Tartar ruler, who attacked Basil’s lands expelled the Mongols from Russia and maintained his
and inflicted even more damage on the Mongols. independence from Lithuania.
Basil’s death in 1425 left his ten-year-old son, Basil II
Papal States. In ruling circles, the appeal of civic hu- had to return to those war-torn regions before the in-
manism was limited. fluence of the Renaissance could be felt.
Elsewhere in Europe, the news of these cultural
movements led slowly to similar changes. Francis I of
France could not conquer Italy, but he returned with ➜
Thinking Back, Thinking Ahead ➜
a great appreciation of the Renaissance and lured
many of its artisans, like Leonardo, to follow him. What were the possible consequences of the
The absorption of Renaissance ideals by the peoples greater availability of printed Bibles in vernacu-
of England, the Holy Roman Empire, and Russia oc- lar languages?
curred at a slower pace. Political stability and peace
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Renaissance Art, Modern Art
What is art? If you walk into a museum today, you might find one gallery filled with huge canvases covered
with stripes of color or splattered paint. In the next room might be portraits and religious scenes painted
centuries ago. One kind of art seems like child’s play, while the other seems to have required much skill in
its creation. Can they both really be art? Must art involve craftsmanship and fine technique as well as
beauty, as in a Renaissance painting? Or does anything that an artist does or makes that stimulates a re-
sponse in a viewer qualify as art?
Such questions have long preoccupied artists, art critics, and the public. Renaissance artists meant to glorify
God, in the first place, and humanity, in the second. Their aim was to faithfully represent the world they
saw around them, and by “faithfully” they would have intended faithfulness to God and nature. In later
centuries, artists abandoned the goal of accurately depicting the human form and expression and sought
instead to depict an interior reality—what an emotion felt like, for example, or the fragmentation of mod-
ern life, or the chilling efficiency of machines and technology.
Since the Renaissance, the purpose or role of art in society has never ceased to change. Pablo Picasso, one
of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, insisted that when he incorporated African and
Asian-Pacific elements into his paintings and sculptures, he was seeking only to broaden the range of what
was considered beautiful. His goal was to render new models of beauty accessible to people in the west.
Still other modern artists renounced the ideal of beauty in art altogether. Barnett Newman, a twentieth-
century artist, wrote in 1948, “The impulse of modern art is the desire to destroy beauty,” a sentiment that
stands in strong contrast to the objectives of Renaissance artists, whose aim was to exalt the human form.
Suggested Readings
Abulafia, David. The Western Mediterranean Kingdoms, 1200– Baxandall, Michael. Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-
1500. London and New York: Longman, 1997. A useful study of Century Italy. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. A
mainly Italy and Spain. work that helped establish the social history of Renaissance art.
Websites 347
Brucker, Gene. Florence, the Golden Age, 1138–1737. Berkeley Lane, Frederic C. Venice, a Maritime Republic. Baltimore:
and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998. A classic Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973. Still the place to begin,
overview of Florentine history. despite having been written more than thirty years ago.
Epstein, Steven. Genoa and the Genoese, 958–1528. Chapel Nuttall, Paula. From Flanders to Florence: The Impact of
Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 2001. A good in- Netherlandish Painting, 1400–1500. New Haven, Conn.: Yale
troduction to the history of this merchant republic. University Press, 2004. A good introduction to northern influ-
Goldthwaite, Richard A. Wealth and the Demand for Art in ence on Italian art.
Italy, 1300–1600. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
1995. An account of the rise of consumer culture that empha-
sizes Florence.
Websites
On Leonardo, a museum in his birthplace, The Leonardo Mu- A group seeking to vindicate Richard III of the charge of mur-
seum, at www.leonet.it/comuni/vinci der offers many interesting features relating to the Wars of the
An excellent site to look at images of artwork, organized by Roses, The Richard III Society, American Branch, at www
the artist’s name, Web Gallery of Art, at www.wga.hu/ .r3.org/intro.html
frames-e.html?/html
348
CHAPTER
Europe’s Age
of Expansion,
1450–1550
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Economic and Social Change Voice: Isabella of Castile Writes Her Last
Population Increase Will and Testament.
Recovery in the Countryside Exploration, Expansion, and
Growth in the Cities European Identity
The Port of Antwerp Native Americans in the European
Resurgent Monarchies Imagination
Ferdinand and Isabella and the Rise The Labor of Africans
of Spain The Problem of “the Other”
Charles I of Spain, Charles V of the Holy Summary
Roman Empire
Francis I and the Kingdom of France Echo: Christopher Columbus
Consolidation in England Under the Suggested Readings
First Tudors
Italy, Germany, and Russia Websites
1492
1440s 1462 1469 1485 Columbus
Gutenberg invents Ivan III Marriage of Ferdinand Henry VII sets sail
printing process becomes of Aragon and becomes king Jews expelled
tsar Isabella of Castile of England from Spain
Ottoman Empire
SCOTLAND
Boundary of Holy Roman Empire TEUTONIC RUSSIA
KNIGHTS
Baltic
IRELAND North DENMARK Sea
Sea
KASSEL
SAXONY SILESIA Dn ie
e
LUXEMBOURG per
ATLANTIC RHINE
PALATINATE UPPER BOHEMIA
Paris PALATINATE
MORAVIA
OCEAN LORRAINE WÜRTTEMBERG
BU
FRANCHE- Vienna
UN
COMTÉ
SWISS AUSTRIA
DY
TYROL
CHAROLAIS CONFED. SALZBURG
SAVOY
REP. OF
e
MILAN
n
Po VENICE
Rhô
Eb
r GENOA
PA
Black Sea
o
Danube
PA
O
L ST
MODENA
PORTUGAL ANDORRA
TUSCANY T
T
ATES
Tangiers
Algiers
Melilla Bougie Bona SICILY
Tunis
Oran
Me
OTTOMAN dite
0 200 400 Km. rrane Crete
NORTH AFRICA EMPIRE an Sea (Rep. of Venice)
1515 1552
Francis I crowned king of France Las Casas
1510 publishes Brief
Albuquerque 1517 Account of the
conquers Goa Charles V begins to rule in Spain Destruction
Luther condemns indulgences of the Indies
349
350 CHAPTER 13 Europe’s Age of Expansion, 1450–1550
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Isabella of Castile Finances Columbus’s
Voyage Across the Atlantic
In January 1492, a forty-year-old Genoese sailor, Cristoforo Colombo,
known in the English-speaking world as Christopher Columbus,
appeared before Queen Isabella of Castile and her husband, King
Ferdinand of Aragon. Columbus was seeking Spanish support for an
ocean voyage to the eastern shores of Asia, which he believed were
on the far side of the Atlantic Ocean. Twice before, Isabella had
turned the Italian down. His third audience with the queen in 1492
was a desperate last attempt. Once again he presented his plans and
described the benefits of the voyage. Once again, the queen refused.
In despair, Columbus fled the court and galloped north, intending to
ask the French king for help. But six miles out of town, royal guards
stopped him and brought him back to the city. Isabella had changed
her mind.
Isabella of Later, Ferdinand would claim that he had convinced his wife to fi-
nance the voyage. Perhaps. As the only woman in the fifteenth century who
Castile ruled as a monarch, Isabella had to assert her royal will while not breaking the
In this painting by an un- conventions of womanliness, which required submission to her husband. Through-
known artist, Queen Isabella out her reign, she acted as a dutiful wife involved in the traditional tasks of run-
is presented in modest dress, ning a household, weaving cloth for the family’s clothing, and repairing worn
head covered. There is no garments. Isabella also emphasized her faithfulness to Ferdinand despite his fre-
hint of royal splendor in her quent infidelities. Ferdinand’s claim that he had the final say in authorizing
appearance or expression. Columbus’s voyage would fit with Isabella’s role as the subordinate partner in
She appears, rather, as the their marriage.
woman head of household, a But Ferdinand’s account was challenged by one of Isabella’s earliest biogra-
role she emphasized for her phers, the Dominican friar and bishop Bartolomé de Las Casas. Las Casas was an
subjects. (Institut Amatller influential person at the court of Isabella’s grandson, King Charles I, and had ac-
d’Art Hispanic) cess to official documents and family papers. After Isabella’s death, he wrote that
the queen took the advice of her financial advisers when she recalled Columbus to
court. This, too, is possible. Although Isabella embraced the gender expectations
of her age, she was also highly effective in charting her own course of action. She
herself had chosen Ferdinand as her husband, defying the wishes of her half
brother, the king. The bride and groom were technically ineligible for marriage
because, as cousins, they were too closely related in the eyes of the church. But
Isabella went ahead with the union after documents were forged in the pope’s
name permitting an exception to Catholic marriage laws. Although independent
when she needed to be, she preferred to work as a partner with Ferdinand, adopt-
ing as her motto, “The worth of one is the worth of the other—Isabella as Ferdi-
nand.” Isabella’s motto cleverly proclaimed both her independence and her wifely
relation to Ferdinand. It also emphasized the union of the two Spanish kingdoms
that her marriage had achieved.
However she made her decision, Isabella announced that she would pawn her
jewels to finance the voyage. (Pawning valuables was one way fifteenth-century
Introduction 351
monarchs could raise quick cash.) Finances settled, the queen could relish the gains
from Columbus’s voyage. Spain, like the rest of Europe, was hungry for the gold
and spices of the east. But the country was cut off from a land route across Asia by
the Venetians and their Muslim trading partners, and from a sea route around
Africa by treaties with the Portuguese. A direct westward route was therefore the
only one available to the Spanish. Moreover, both the Spanish and Portuguese had
discovered and colonized islands in the Atlantic during the past seventy years.
Perhaps Columbus would find more on the way to Asia, increasing the likelihood
of riches.
Columbus’s proposal also appealed to Isabella’s fervent Catholic faith; a
Spanish presence in eastern Asia would open the way for a Christian
encirclement of the Muslim world and even the recapture of the holy city of
Jerusalem. This vision exerted a powerful influence on a Spanish queen whose
ancestors had extended their rule over a Muslim-dominated Iberian Peninsula.
In fact, at the very moment Columbus appeared at court in 1492, Isabella and
Ferdinand were celebrating their conquest of Granada, the last independent
Muslim state on the peninsula. The Muslim defeat also provoked an attack on
the other non-Christian people of the peninsula, the Jews. Shortly after Isabella
offered Columbus the money he needed, she ordered the forced conversion or
expulsion of all Jews in her lands. In the spring of 1492, just as the unconverted
Jews were being shipped out of Spain, Columbus began preparing for his west-
ward voyage.
Chronology
1420 Portuguese begin the colonization of 1517 Charles V (Habsburg) begins rule in Spain
Atlantic islands
1519 Cortés lands in Mexico
1462 Ivan III becomes tsar
1531 Pizarro invades Inca Empire
1469 Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile marry
1533 Ivan IV becomes tsar
1480 Ivan III declares Moscow’s independence from
Mongol rule 1542 Charles V issues New Laws for the Indies
1485 Henry VII (Tudor) becomes King of England 1552 Las Casas publishes Brief Account of the
Destruction of the Indies
1488 Bartholomew Diaz rounds southern tip of Africa
and enters Indian Ocean 1556 Charles V abdicates
1492 Jews are expelled from Spain; Columbus sets sail 1557 Portuguese establish trading colony at Macau
1500–1502 Muslims are expelled from Spain 1559 French and Spanish sign Peace of Cateau-
Cambrésis
1509 Henry VIII becomes king of England
1565–1572 Ivan the Terrible purges enemies
1510 Alfonso de Albuquerque conquers Goa in oprichnina
What effects did the rise in population after 1450 have on Why had they lived so long? Were they especially
rural and urban communities?
blessed by God, or (more likely!) had they made deals
➜
Peter Bruegel the Elder’s The Harvesters (1556) captures the beauty of a good harvest. Grain stalks shimmer
in the sun as men scythe them, while men and women bind them. Other workers take a meal under a tree.
This painting presents a powerful image of agricultural abundance and human wellbeing. (Copyright © The
Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource, NY, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA)
mid-twenties and men somewhat later, and about 10 marriage and birth rates caused the increase in Eu-
percent of both men and women never married. This rope’s population. In 1450, Europe’s population was
pattern contrasted with that of European Jews and about 60 million. In 1550, it was nearly 69 million.
Eastern Orthodox Christians, for whom marriage for
women coincided with the onset of sexual maturity in Recovery in the Countryside
the teenage years and was nearly universal. The rea-
son for late marriage and significant rates of celibacy In 1450, Europe was still an overwhelmingly agricul-
among the Christians of western Europe lay in the ex- tural society. Ninety percent of Europeans lived in
pectation that people should marry only when they rural areas, where they engaged in some kind of
could afford to set up their own household; it took farming. As in the past, agriculture depended on un-
time to establish economic independence, and some predictable weather conditions that could lead to
people never achieved it. After 1450, when land, food,
and wages were abundant, more young people mar-
ried and established their own households. When these birthrate The number of live births per thousand in a
better-fed, healthier people started their families, the given population.
birthrate rose in much of western Europe. The rise in
354 CHAPTER 13 Europe’s Age of Expansion, 1450–1550
either abundant harvests or devastating crop failures. definition of work affected men and women differently.
Yet despite the precarious nature of agricultural ac- Because women’s economic activity focused prima-
tivity, times were good for rural people between 1450 rily on their households, they no longer “worked.”
and 1550. They simply did “housekeeping.” Men were the
After the Black Death, when population fell and la- “workers” because they raised crops for the market.
bor was scarce, landlords’ power over their peasants The devaluation of women’s traditional household
often decreased. Serfdom virtually disappeared in work was accompanied by the belief that women
western Europe, where it was replaced with commu- were incapable of skilled work. They were thought to
nities of free peasants who either owned their land, be too awkward or ignorant to do complicated jobs.
rented it from their lords, or worked as wage labor- Therefore, anything they did was, by definition, un-
ers. Below the lord was the peasants’ commune, which skilled. In fact, however, much of their activity in-
set dates for planting crops and managed the mead- volved considerable skill. For example, many rural
ows and woodlands belonging to the community as a women made butter or cheese. But the skill involved
whole. If the local lord tried to seize these common was not recognized. The same attitudes shaped men’s
lands for his own use, the commune would organize and women’s wages. At harvest time, when there was
villagers’ resistance and even encourage riots in de- a high demand for labor in the fields, men were regu-
fense of them. In eastern Europe, however, landlords larly paid twice what women were although they
successfully reimposed serfdom on their peasants, performed similar tasks.
seizing peasant lands, setting heavy work require-
ments, and forbidding peasants to leave their estates.
Landlords were able to do this because the kings and Growth in the Cities
other rulers in the region supported their actions. The developing market economy was also closely
In western Europe, the village of Langlade in south- linked to the growth of cities. Beginning in 1450, Eu-
east France shows how rural people responded to im- rope’s cities grew until by 1550 about 10 percent of
proved economic conditions. Like most communities, the total population lived in them. Since most cities
Langlade increased agricultural production to pro- were surrounded by their old walls, the rise in popu-
vide for a rising population. In addition to cultivating lation made them ever more crowded. Houses were
their grain fields, the villagers grew grapes for wine crammed next to each other, and streets were full of
and moved into nearby hills, where they chopped garbage. Sometimes garbage was dumped into wells,
down scrubby oaks and uprooted wild rosemary canals, or the local river, polluting the city’s water
bushes. After pack animals had carried off the wood supply, while at others it was piled just outside the
to nearby towns to meet a growing demand for fuel, city walls. These garbage piles could become so high
the community planted the new land with wheat and that they threatened the city’s defenses, since they
olive trees. could be used for scaling the walls. Human excrement
In 1450, many rural communities were largely self- also presented problems. Feces were placed next to
sufficient economically, since they produced most of front doors for sale to manure peddlers, who used
the food, clothing, and other basic necessities they them to fertilize nearby fields. Urine was sometimes
needed. Over the next hundred years, however, many collected in barrels outside leather shops, where it was
rural people sold their agricultural surplus and bought used in the tanning process. All this waste created a
many goods they had previously produced for them- huge stench; often travelers could smell a city long
selves. Thus, they became integrated into regional or before they could see it. Overcrowding and filth also
international markets. When the villagers of Langlade, led to high urban disease and death rates. Through-
for example, sold the wood they had cleared from out the sixteenth century, cities could never sustain
their new fields to townspeople, they were losing their their population levels but relied on a continuous
economic independence and becoming integrated in stream of migrants from the countryside. Because of
a market economy. Europe’s expanding population, the stream never
The growth of a market economy affected the value dried up. Although cities were crowded and dirty,
of people’s economic activity. Previously, everything their inhabitants thought of them as organic wholes
men and women did to maintain the material well-
being of their families was considered work. With the
growth of markets, however, the definition of work commune An association of peasants supervising and
began to change. It was now defined simply as activity coordinating the collective life of their village.
that produced goods for the market. This narrower
Economic and Social Change 355
whose well-being depended on the harmonious in- serving as city-appointed officers to certify weights,
teraction of all the people living in them. It was there- measures, and grain quality. They also worked as
fore the responsibility of the well-off to care for the seamstresses and lace makers, skilled activities that,
needy by founding hospitals, orphanages, and homes like butter and cheese making, were usually under-
for the elderly. valued and poorly paid. Many women spun thread
Men’s work in sixteenth-century cities can be clas- for weaving. Spinning was the slowest process in
sified into four categories. Some men turned agricul- cloth production, and the need for spinners rose dra-
tural products like grain into food such as bread, the matically as weavers tried to meet the growing de-
basic element in the urban diet. Bread was such a ba- mand for cloth from a rising population. In the
sic necessity that urban governments strictly regu- countryside, both men and women worked as spin-
lated its price and tried to assure its availability in ners. In cities, however, men avoided this occupation
times of grain shortages, since they feared riots if the as too low paying.
supply gave out. Others manufactured cloth and One group did break through the restrictions on
leather goods for clothing. Still others were engaged women’s economic activity—widows. A widowed
in construction; with urban populations growing and woman could step in as the head of her dead hus-
more buildings under construction, these men were band’s business and run it on her own. But if she re-
in constant demand. Finally, some men made house- married, or had male children who wanted to take it
hold furnishings or fashioned the tools that builders over, she usually returned to a subordinate economic
used. The most prestigious workers in a city, such as position. Finally, prostitution was the one occupation
weavers of fine woolen or silk cloth or workers in always open to women. Because it dishonored her, a
gold, were organized into guilds. Guilds had origi- woman usually chose it only when nothing else was
nated in the Middle Ages but were in their heyday available.
from 1450 to 1550. Like society at large, the guilds
were organized on hierarchical lines; the men admit- The Port of Antwerp
ted to them were divided into masters, journeymen,
and apprentices. Journeymen hoped someday to be Although cities all over Europe were growing, none
admitted to the ranks of the masters, but often they could rival Antwerp in wealth and importance. Lo-
were not, since masters worked to keep their mem- cated at the western end of the North Sea, Antwerp
bership limited. Guilds had originated as social clubs was an ideal transfer point for the east-west trade
for artisans, providing opportunities for drinking that moved through the English Channel and the
and offering protection from a saint adopted as the North Sea to the Baltic Sea. It was also a transfer point
guild’s patron. In the sixteenth century, these older between northern Europe, the Iberian Peninsula,
functions were still important, but the guild’s main and the Mediterranean. By 1500, it was the most
purpose was to regulate the manufacture of specific important commercial center in Europe. With its
goods for the marketplace. rise, European trade networks shifted northward,
Membership in a guild was a prized source of male from the Mediterranean. Although Italian cities and
identity, and members proclaimed their skills and the merchants continued to play a central role in Euro-
perfection of their products. They thought of them- pean trade, Mediterranean cities would never again
selves as the backbone of the urban world and were dominate it.
concerned with maintaining an honorable position in The wharves of Antwerp were piled high with
society. To this end they carefully policed themselves, goods from Europe and Asia. One hundred thousand
punishing the wayward for indecent or immoral be- pieces of English woolen cloth were imported each
havior. Also, in line with the idea that the community year, and the city was ringed with huge bleaching
should function as a harmonious whole, the guilds vats preparing the cloth for finishing in the city’s
were required by law to maintain the quality of their cloth guilds. Spain also sent its prized wool north
products in the interests of consumer protection. for spinning and weaving. Next to the bales of cloth
Guild work was considered skilled and, therefore, and wool were sacks of wheat, along with wood for
usually open only to men. In the Middle Ages, a few
women had participated in guilds, but after 1500,
most lost their place in them. As in the countryside, Antwerp City in the Netherlands that functioned in
most women were confined to housekeeping or low- the first half of the sixteenth century as Europe’s main
paid work. Women did, however, have a significant trading center.
role in retail trade, operating stalls in marketplaces and
356 CHAPTER 13 Europe’s Age of Expansion, 1450–1550
This painting by an unknown artist from the Netherlands shows the bustling commercial activity of Antwerp.
The crowds examining goods for sale, the groups of men talking, and the carts carrying barrels of beer or wine
give a lively sense of the city as Europe’s leading commercial center in the sixteenth century. (Musées Royaux
des Beaux-Arts de Belgique)
urban construction and shipyards, all from eastern more than two acres. Begun in the mid-fourteenth
Germany and Poland. The sixteenth-century popula- century, it was finished in the sixteenth and stood as a
tion surge turned eastern Europe into a major sup- symbol of the city’s wealth and pride. Nearby was the
plier of grain and timber for the west. Bars of copper great square with its monumental city hall and impos-
and silver from mines in south Germany were se- ing guild offices. On the city’s outskirts were brew-
curely locked away in Antwerp’s warehouses, wait- eries supplying beer for thousands of thirsty workers.
ing the arrival of Portuguese ships laden with spices The complex trade networks converging on An-
brought around the southern tip of Africa from India twerp, involving thousands of merchant businesses
and Southeast Asia. The metals would be exchanged spread over long distances, stimulated the develop-
for cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper, and then exported ment of the banking and credit networks, developed
to the Far East, where they would pay for another in the twelfth century, through which traders avoided
cargo of spices. Vaults also held chests of diamonds the inconvenience of hauling about large sums of
waiting to be cut and sold. Over a thousand represen- coins to cover their transactions. Instead, they signed
tatives of foreign trading companies jostled each notes promising payment from money kept at home.
other on the city’s streets as they inspected cargoes If a merchant’s reputation was good, the notes would
and bargained over prices. be accepted as a kind of paper money. The use of these
In 1500, Antwerp boasted a population of over notes laid the foundations for modern banking prac-
100,000, making it one of Europe’s largest cities. The tices. Because Antwerp was the center for both inter-
city center was dominated by the Cathedral of Our European and Far Eastern trade, it functioned as a
Lady, the largest in the Netherlands, which covered center of exchange for an emerging world economy.
Resurgent Monarchies 357
conversions to Christianity. But these New Chris- the son of the Holy Roman emperor, Philip the Hand-
tians, or Conversos, were often accused of secretly some. Joan brought Castile, Aragon, Granada, Naples,
holding to their old Jewish ways. In response, the Sicily, and Sardinia to the marriage, while Philip
monarchs created the Spanish Inquisition, a church brought the Habsburg family’s land of Austria, in-
court authorized to examine Conversos about the herited from his father, along with the Netherlands,
genuineness of their Christian faith. Over the next inherited from his mother. Theirs was the royal wed-
dozen years, hundreds of them failed to prove their ding of the century. All that was needed was a child
sincerity and were burned alive as heretics. Then, in who would inherit this vast collection of territories.
1491, news of a supposed atrocity swept across
Castile. Some New Christians and unconverted Jews
in the town of La Guardia were accused of murdering Charles I of Spain, Charles V of the
a Christian boy and ripping out his heart for use in Holy Roman Empire
magic. A story like this was a standard element in late
medieval Christian attacks on Jews, and in 1491 it led That child was born in 1500 and named Charles.
to the execution of the accused men, despite the fact Charles spent his early years in the Netherlands,
that no one in La Guardia reported a missing child. where Joan moved after her wedding. A sickly boy, he
Faced with rising anti-Jewish passions, some Jews re- inherited from his father a large lower jaw that stuck
sponded in kind, repeating old arguments that Chris- out beyond the upper one and made it difficult to
tians’ souls were created by the Devil. It was against chew food. This “Habsburg jaw” continued to be
this background that Ferdinand and Isabella ordered passed on in the family and can be seen in many
the forced conversion or expulsion of all remaining paintings of Habsburg rulers, despite artists’ attempt
Jews. About fifty thousand converted, while some to downplay it. In 1517, after the death of his father,
forty thousand fled to Portugal, Italy, and North Philip, and grandfather, Ferdinand, Charles jour-
Africa. Many of these refugees eventually returned neyed for the first time to Spain, where he was to rule
and submitted to baptism. Thus the edict eliminated as Charles I in place of Joan, who had developed
Jewish communities but greatly increased the num- mental problems that prevented her from governing.
ber of New Christians, who continued to be accused Charles quickly made Spain his primary place of res-
of half-hearted conversion. The Jews who had fled to idence, spending more time there than in his other
Portugal were expelled from that kingdom in 1497. lands. When not in Spain, he was usually back in the
Some then moved to Antwerp, where they estab- Netherlands, the country he loved the most.
lished a thriving merchant community that pros- The lands Charles inherited rivaled Charle-
pered from the revival of European commerce. In magne’s empire in size, but they were never a united
1494, Pope Alexander VI proclaimed Ferdinand and state. Like Ferdinand and Isabella, Charles recog-
Isabella “Catholic Rulers” in recognition of their ef- nized the political independence of each, respecting
forts to suppress non-Christian religions. its local laws and traditions. Also, like his grand-
Finally, between 1500 and 1502, all remaining parents, he realized the importance of appearing per-
Muslims in Granada and Castile were also ordered to sonally before his subjects. Unlike them, however, he
convert to Christianity or leave. Some, like the Jews, ruled over so many lands that he could never be in
became Christians. But these Moriscos were no more one of them long enough to satisfy people’s desire to
well received than the Conversos, since the sincerity see him. This was a constant source of friction. “My
of their conversions was also questioned. Most who life,” he complained, “has been one long journey.”
left went to North Africa. The forced conversion or
expulsion of Jews and Muslims ended the religious
pluralism and cultural diversity of Castile and Aragon. New Christians/Conversos Jews whom the state
forced to convert to Christianity or face persecution
The war against Granada had united Castilians and
and expulsion from Spanish territory.
Aragonese in a common Spanish crusade. The expul-
Spanish Inquisition Church court originally estab-
sion of the Jews and Muslims created a new, exclu- lished to try New Christians suspected of observing
sively Christian Spanish identity. their old Jewish practices in secret.
As they consolidated their power and promoted a Moriscos Muslims in Spain who were forced to con-
new identity among their subjects, Ferdinand and Is- vert to Christianity or leave.
abella searched for a husband for their eldest surviv- Habsburgs Dynastic family originating in Austria that
ing child, Joan. They themselves had made a good provided many rulers there, and also in the Nether-
political marriage, and they wanted one for their lands, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire.
daughter. Fortunately, they found an ideal match in
Resurgent Monarchies 359
in the forms of annuities—long-term loans that guar- out, except for a toehold around Calais, large swaths
anteed an annual payment to the lender. of territory, each ruled by a branch of the extended
Annuities turned out to be the way that cash- royal family, functioned as virtually independent
hungry sixteenth-century states managed to meet units within the theoretically unified kingdom. Over
their financial obligations. The success of annuities the second half of the fifteenth century, however,
depended on two things: the availability of lenders these branches died out, their lands reverted to the
and the recruitment of managers to supervise states’ Crown, and the amount of territory directly ruled
growing indebtedness. The demographic and eco- over by the king almost doubled between 1450 and
nomic expansion of Europe from 1450 to 1550 en- 1500. Habsburg lands had grown as a result of spec-
sured the former; prosperous times put money in the tacularly successful marriages; the French state grew
pockets of many people who then looked for rela- as a result of lucky deaths.
tively safe ways to invest it. Lending to a state Francis I, who ruled from 1515 to 1547, was the
seemed one way. Charles borrowed from bankers in most vigorous of the newly powerful French kings.
Germany and the Netherlands who were financing His court was famous for its Renaissance culture.
the growing trade networks centered on Antwerp, Like Charles V, he traveled throughout his realm,
the prize jewel in his inheritance. He also turned to showing himself to his subjects and thereby cement-
individual subjects who had money to invest. ing his rule. Unlike Charles, however, he ruled over a
The rise of a professionally trained class of bureau- more unified state, since political centralization had
crats began with Ferdinand and Isabella’s lawyers. increased when each previously independent terri-
Under Charles, men with expert skills were recruited tory reverted to direct royal rule. To further this new
to collect taxes more efficiently. Increasingly, trained centralization, Francis ordered all courts, except church
managers supervised governments’ growing debts ones, to use the French dialect of Paris in their pro-
and oversaw the new complexity of state borrowing ceedings. Since this French was only one of several di-
in a time of escalating military costs. Borrowing from alects spoken at the time, the edict promoted a single
banks and subjects turned Charles, and other rulers common language for use in public affairs through-
who did the same, into royal credit risks whose credit out the kingdom. At the same time, French nobles
ratings were closely watched by would-be lenders. stopped using their local dialects and started to speak
By 1550, Charles V was growing weary of rule. He the refined French of Francis’s royal court. The grow-
had been personally involved in the Italian and ing use of standardized French, along with political
French wars for thirty years. Moreover, the political centralization, created a new national identity for the
and religious situation in the Holy Roman Empire people of the kingdom that slowly replaced older
was becoming destabilized with the rise of Protes- identities rooted in local customs and dialects.
tantism. He suffered from gout and insomnia. During Francis also increased royal power when he signed
the sleepless nights, he tinkered with his collection of a concordat with Pope Leo X in 1516 that gave the
clocks, taking them apart and reassembling them king the right to nominate candidates for hundreds of
over and over again. He sank into depression and high offices in the French church, thereby increasing
wept like a child. Finally, in 1556, he decided to abdi- the Crown’s control of church personnel. In return,
cate. He granted the position of emperor and his Aus- Francis repudiated the earlier French position that
trian lands to his younger brother, Ferdinand. His son
Philip received the Netherlands, the Italian posses-
sions, the Spanish states, and Spain’s vast new Amer-
ican empire. Charles then retired to a monastery in annuities Long-term loans to European states guaran-
teeing an annual interest payment to the lender.
southwestern Spain, where he died in 1558.
Protestantism Beliefs and practices of Christians who
broke with the Roman Church in the sixteenth century.
Francis I and the Kingdom of France taille French royal tax first levied during the Hundred
Years’ War.
In 1500, the French state, like Spain, was undergoing
Francis I (r. 1515–1547) King of France who centralized
profound transformations. The Hundred Years’ War royal rule, created at his court a vibrant Renaissance
had strengthened the French monarchy, which now culture, and unsuccessfully fought Charles V for con-
possessed a regular source of revenue from the taille trol of Italy.
tax, a permanent royal army, and the beginnings of a concordat Formal agreement between a pope and a
state bureaucracy staffed by experts. But France was ruler of a Catholic state.
fragmented. Although the English had been driven
Resurgent Monarchies 361
the pope was subject to the authority of general the long conflict to an end. The French renounced
church councils and recognized him as the supreme claims in Italy and ceded some territory to Spain. This
head of the Roman Church. Having reestablished settlement caused a good deal of grumbling among
good relations with the papacy, the king was now free powerful French nobles who had shed their blood
to pursue his military ambitions in Italy. over three generations on behalf of the “king’s just
By 1519, when Charles V had inherited the lands cause” in Italy. Henry, however, ordered festivities to
ruled over by his two grandfathers, Francis had one celebrate the peace and participated in one of them, a
great fear: the Habsburgs. From the northeast to the joust in which men on horseback holding lances
southwest, wherever he looked beyond French bor- charged each other in hopes of dismounting their op-
ders, he saw Habsburg lands. Francis had tried to ponent. As the king’s opponent made contact with
break Habsburg power by bribing the imperial elec- him, his lance shot into a slit in the king’s helmet and
tors in the Holy Roman Empire to choose him as em- pierced his eye. Ten days later Henry was dead.
peror, but Charles was the grandson of the emperor
Maximilian, and he had bribed the electors as well.
Francis then turned to Italy and tried to make good Consolidation in England Under
the French claims to Milan and Naples. But he fared the First Tudors
poorly, being captured on a battlefield and taken as a
prisoner to Madrid. As the price for his freedom, he Defeat in the Hundred Years’ War forced England’s
was forced to sign a humiliating peace in which he re- kings, for the first time in four hundred years, to con-
pudiated all his Italian claims and promised Charles fine their rule to their island possessions, except for
the duchy of Burgundy, one of the territories that had the French port city of Calais. In 1485, when the Wars
reverted to the French Crown. of the Roses ended with the death in battle of Richard
Back in Paris, Francis repudiated the peace and III, Henry VII ascended the throne as the first king of
laid plans to continue the fight. Charles’s victories in a new royal dynasty, the Tudors. Like his counter-
Italy had created a backlash that allowed Francis to parts in Spain and France, Henry embarked on a
form an anti-Spanish alliance with a number of Ital- policy of consolidating royal power. Henry, a Lancas-
ian rulers, including the pope. Then in 1527, Charles trian, also united Lancastrian and Yorkist factions by
won another victory when Spanish and German mer- marrying Elizabeth of York in 1486.
cenary armies descended on Rome and sacked the The Tudors’ roots lay in Wales, a semi-independent
city. Charles’s reputation suffered badly from his territory under English rule. Henry emphasized his
troops’ brutality, and he took his anger out on Fran- Welsh heritage and presented himself as a truly home-
cis, proposing, unrealistically, that the two should grown ruler, the first since the Norman Conquest in
meet in a duel to settle their dispute. 1066. In the year he became king, Sir Thomas Mal-
After 1527, Francis continued the fight against the ory’s Le Morte d’Arthur was published, recounting the
Habsburgs, but his strategy changed. Now Charles legends about the Welsh king Arthur and his Knights
faced the threat of an expanding Protestant move- of the Round Table. Drawing on them, Henry named
ment in the empire and the Netherlands. Although he his first son Arthur to emphasize his ancient British
was no friend of the Protestants in France, Francis al- background. When Arthur was of age, Henry arranged
lied with the German Protestants and then with the his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the younger
Ottoman Turks in his attempts to weaken Habsburg daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, to forge a Span-
power. Francis’s foreign policy undermined the me- ish alliance against England’s old enemy, France.
dieval notion that Europe was held together by a Henry ruled in conjunction with the Parliament, which
common Catholic Christian faith. Now, it seemed, it
was composed of a number of independent states,
each of which advanced its own interests without re-
Henry II (r. 1547–1559) French king who pursued
gard to religious allegiance. Francis I’s wars in Italy.
In 1547, Francis died, aged fifty-three and wracked
Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559) Treaty that ended
by syphilis, a new disease from America. He was suc- the Spanish and French war for the control of Italy and
ceeded by his son, Henry II, who ruled until 1559. Al- established Spanish dominance there.
though the king was new, French policy remained the Henry VII (r. 1485–1509) First Tudor king of England,
same, since Henry continued the war against the Habs- who ended the Wars of the Roses and consolidated
burgs. Finally, in 1559, the French and the Spanish royal power.
signed the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis, which brought
362 CHAPTER 13 Europe’s Age of Expansion, 1450–1550
had gained power during the Hundred Years’ War by broke with the pope over the issue. He forbade papal
granting the king taxes to pay for his military ex- control of the church in England, got Parliament to
penses. Like Ferdinand and Isabella with the towns approve his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, and
of Castile, Henry coaxed the Parliament to cooperate married a new wife, Anne Boleyn, the second of six,
in consolidating the new dynasty. as it turned out. Like his father, Henry VIII expanded
Henry became king at a particularly favorable English control over the rest of the British Isles. He
time. England, like the rest of Europe, was experienc- abolished Wales’s semi-independent status and gave
ing demographic expansion and economic growth. it seats in the English Parliament and got the Irish
Its heartland, the southeast, centered on London, was parliament in Dublin to decree that Ireland was an in-
bustling with agricultural and commercial activity as dependent kingdom ruled by the king of England.
population rose and ships loaded with wool crossed England’s political control of ever-larger parts of
the North Sea to Antwerp. Henry took advantage of the British Isles was accompanied by a growing cul-
prosperous times to increase his royal income. He tural dominance as the English dialect of the court
confiscated the property of his opponents in the Wars and the southeast spread throughout the Tudor realm.
of the Roses and then made sure his new estates pro- The rise of English was partly the result of a new lit-
duced maximum revenue. Yet more money came from erature, like Malory’s Arthurian legends, which was
import and export fees, which rose with expanding printed in London and distributed throughout the
overseas trade. The administration of justice also pro- kingdom. English was also spread by men graduating
duced revenue, since courts charged fees and levied from the country’s two universities, Cambridge and
fines. Henry established a series of judicial councils Oxford, which started to use it instead of Latin. The
that operated with streamlined rules and speedy effi- introduction of an English prayer book in churches
ciency. Understandably, they were popular with his after Henry VIII’s break with Rome spread the use of
subjects since they offered justice more quickly than the language even more. Political centralization and
older courts bogged down in top-heavy procedures. cultural unification laid the foundations for a new
Perhaps Henry VII’s most important achievement English identity that would develop fully during the
was his imposition of English power on the other long reign of Henry VIII’s daughter Elizabeth I.
parts of the British Isles—Scotland and Ireland. Al- From 1450 to 1550, the monarchs of Spain, France,
though Scotland was an independent kingdom, Eng- and England embarked on a policy of consolidating
lish kings had tried for centuries to bind it closely to their political power at home by ending civil wars
their realm. Henry continued this policy by arranging and strengthening royal government. If they fought
for the marriage of his daughter, Margaret, to the foreign wars, they faced financial strains that forced
Scots king, a marriage that laid the foundation for a them to search for new sources of revenue. The most
union of the two kingdoms under a single ruler. Ire- important source came from borrowing. As a result, a
land had been under English rule since the twelfth new group of state creditors emerged in Europe. The
century, when the pope had confirmed Henry II as its management of strengthened royal governments and
lord. In fact, effective English control was confined complex state finances fell increasingly on a new class
only to the area around Dublin. But even this area of legally trained experts, often of non-noble birth. Fi-
had slipped from the English during the Hundred nally, these states created new forms of collective
Years’ War and the Wars of the Roses. During his identity for their subjects based on a common religion
reign, Henry reestablished royal control there. or a common language. As these developments took
In 1509, Henry VII died and was succeeded by his place, the older ideal of Europe united into one com-
younger son, Henry VIII, since Arthur had also died. munity, Christendom, gave way to a new reality, a
Henry VIII had married Arthur’s widow, Catherine Europe made up of independent states whose ambi-
of Aragon, to keep his father’s Spanish alliance intact. tions often brought them into armed conflict with
He had to obtain a special papal dispensation to do so, one another.
since the church forbade marriage between a widow
and her brother-in-law. Henry VIII wanted the mar-
riage with Catherine for dynastic reasons: Catherine’s
chief job was to produce a male heir to the throne. At
this she failed, since she gave birth to only one child Henry VIII (r. 1509–1547) King who consolidated
who survived infancy, and it was a daughter, Mary. Tudor rule over the British Isles and, breaking with
By the late 1520s, Henry was convinced that Cather- the pope over his divorce, launched the English
ine could no longer conceive and sought an annul- Reformation.
ment of his marriage. Eventually, in the 1530s, Henry
Resurgent Monarchies 363
U
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Stockholm Helsinki Ladoga V
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the peninsula for the next three
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hundred years.
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Brest ra
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north-central Europe into a single
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COSSACKS Saray
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other rulers of the empire’s more
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IR Principality of Moscow, ca. 1300 sixteenth century added religious
E
Athens Acquisitions by Ivan III’s accession (1462) fragmentation to the previously
Acquisitions under Ivan III (1462–1505) existing political decentralization
Acquisitions by death of Ivan the Terrible (1584) as the empire’s states split into hos-
Acquisitions by Peter the Great’s accession (1689) tile Protestant and Catholic camps.
200 400 Km.
0 Acquisitions under Peter the Great (1689–1725) As in Italy, regionalism was to
0 200 400 Mi.
Major battle characterize German political life
until the nineteenth century.
In far eastern Europe, the de-
cline of the Mongol Empire al-
Italy, Germany, and Russia lowed peoples under Mongol rule to assert their
independence. In 1462, the grand prince of Moscow,
By 1550, large centralized states covered parts of Eu- Ivan III the Great, began to consolidate power in a
rope, but other parts continued to be characterized by centralized Russian state. Ivan, who married the
political fragmentation. Chief among them were Italy niece of the last Byzantine emperor, took the title of
and Germany. In 1450, the Italian peninsula was tsar, the Russian form of caesar, to proclaim that he
dominated by five states: Milan, Venice, Tuscany, the
Papal States, and the kingdom of Naples. In 1559,
when the French and Spanish wars in Italy ended, Ivan III the Great (r. 1462–1505) Grand prince of
Spain controlled Milan in the north and the kingdom Moscow who conquered lands, took the title of tsar,
of Naples in the south and thereby exercised the and established a centralized state.
greatest influence over the peninsula as a whole, but tsar (in Russian, “Caesar”) Title taken by the early
the other states maintained their political indepen- consolidators of a unified Russian state.
dence. Thus regionalism, rather than centralization,
364 CHAPTER 13 Europe’s Age of Expansion, 1450–1550
and then rushing to his palace, where he would pre- and Spain created Europe’s first overseas empires in
side over bands of executioners engaging in drunken, Asia and the Western Hemisphere.
blasphemous orgies. The oprichnina convulsed Russia
for seven years and then subsided. Ivan continued to The Motives and the Means
suffer from fits of violent rage, during one of which
he brutally killed his son and heir. He died in 1584, a Economic, political, and religious factors, along with
year after his defeat in the Livonian War. technological developments, combined to bring about
Despite its violence, the oprichnina’s lasting effects Europe’s overseas expansion. After 1450, when popu-
on Russia were minimal. Many old noble and land- lation rose and the economy strengthened, Europeans
lord families survived the purge, while some of Ivan’s once again demanded goods from Asia and Africa.
agents, temporarily raised to power during this ter- By 1450, however, the realities of trade with those
rible episode, sank back into the class of modest places had changed. Gone were the days when Marco
provincial landowners. Ivan’s attempt to rule despot- Polo and other Europeans could travel under Mongol
ically had failed. Like their counterparts in the west, protection across Eurasia to trade directly with the
Russia’s rulers were most successful when they coop- Chinese. Now the Ottoman Turks barred the way,
erated with their social and economic elites instead of while Muslims in Africa kept Europeans out of trade
trying to crush them. there. Some Europeans benefited from the new reali-
When Ivan IV died, the tsar ruled over vast, cultur- ties; the Venetians established profitable trading
ally diverse lands. The northern peoples and those in posts in Syria and Egypt, where they worked with lo-
western Siberia were non-Russians who spoke their cal Arabs to bring Asian goods to Europe. Others,
own distinct languages and worshiped local, non- jealous of the Venetians’ success, sought new routes
Christian gods. The people of the center were Slavs to the east. The Genoese, especially, looked for ways
who had converted to Orthodox Christianity, while to recover the trade they had lost to the Ottomans on
the peoples of the south, in the former Mongol lands, the Black Sea.
were either Muslims or pagans. The tsars’ policy was The rise of strong governments after 1450 also pre-
to respect these religious differences. Although they pared the way for expansion. State sponsorship and
were Orthodox Christian in religion, and claimed de- financing were crucial in the search for new trade
scent from the Christian rulers of Kiev and Constan- routes. The first states to offer this support were Por-
tinople, Ivan III and his successors officially forbade tugal and Castile. Their location on the Iberian Penin-
the Orthodox Church from systematic missionary ac- sula positioned them for explorations down the coast
tivity among the non-Christian peoples of the emerg- of Africa and across the Atlantic. Moreover, Por-
ing Russian Empire. This policy contrasted sharply tuguese and Spanish sailors, who had fished in At-
with that adopted farther west by Ferdinand and Is- lantic waters for centuries and carried cargoes to and
abella of Spain. from northern trading centers like Antwerp, were ac-
customed to sailing ocean waters outside the pro-
tected Mediterranean. Often, it was the Genoese who
organized this rising seaborne commerce. Columbus
Europe’s Global Expansion himself was Genoese.
Economic considerations drove states to support
➜
MAP 13.2 Map of Martin Beheim, 1492 Martin Beheim, a fifteenth-century German map maker,
showed the world as round in 1492. Africa and part of Europe are on the far right. The Madeira and
Cape Verde Islands are identified, and then Cipongu (Japan). This is the information Columbus had when
he set sail. (From Admiral of the Ocean Sea by Samuel Eliot Morison. Copyright © 1942 by Samuel Eliot
Morison; Copyright © renewed 1970 by Samuel Eliot Morison. By permission of Little, Brown and
Company, Inc.)
would have gotten nowhere had it not been for tech- allowed mapmakers to accurately draw large por-
nological developments that made long-distance sail- tions of the known world. Sailors were also able to
ing on the open seas a practical possibility. determine their north/south position (latitude) with
In the Middle Ages, Europe’s ships were ill suited greater accuracy, using astrolabes or quadrants for
to long voyages on rough Atlantic waters. Propelled measuring the distance of heavenly bodies (the sun
by oars or a simple sail, they were small, with only or known stars) from the horizon. Finding one’s east/
crude steering devices. By the end of the fifteenth west position (longitude) was more difficult, but a
century, however, ships had improved. They were skilled sailor could calculate it using a magnetic com-
larger, better constructed, fitted with improved rud-
ders for steering, and supplied with a triangular la-
teen sail, popularized by Arab sailors, that allowed lateen sail Triangular sail, first used by Arab sailors,
them to pick up the wind regardless of the direction that could swing to pick up wind coming from differ-
from which it was blowing. They could also carry ent directions.
cannons and thus take advantage of the new gun- cartography Science of mapmaking.
powder technology. astrolabes and quadrants Devices allowing sailors to
Navigational aids had also improved. Mapmaking use the stars to find their north/south position (lati-
became more accurate with the spread of navigational tude) on the ocean.
manuals and the development of cartography, which
Europe’s Global Expansion 367
pass, first developed by both Chinese and Arab sailors, he turned back to Portugal before reaching India it-
along with an hourglass to mark off time and observa- self. Then in1497, Vasco da Gama landed on the west
tions about the speed of the ship through the waters. coast of India, returning to Portugal in 1499 with a
With improved ships, navigational manuals, maps, shipload of spices and cotton cloth. Da Gama’s suc-
quadrants, compasses, and hourglasses, sailors ven- cess launched the Portuguese drive into the Indian
tured farther into the Atlantic and gained knowledge Ocean. Sailors soon discovered that the best winds
of ocean sailing. By the time of Columbus, they had a for getting around southern Africa were picked up
good sense of the wind patterns on the Atlantic and far out in the Atlantic. They therefore sailed due west
were learning how to use them to travel north and of the Cape Verde Islands, found these winds, and
south as well as east and west. They had also dis- then turned around and sailed to the southeast past
carded some earlier theories about global climate. In the Cape of Good Hope. In 1500, on one of these trips,
the Middle Ages, geographers knew that when one the ships sailed farther west than usual and sighted
traveled south from Europe, it got hotter and hotter. the coast of South America. Soon the Portuguese set-
They therefore reasoned that continuing south would tled there, calling it Brazil after a local wood used for
eventually lead to parts of the earth so hot that no hu- dying cloth.
man being could survive there. Voyages down the The founder of the Portuguese Empire in Asia
coast of Africa gradually proved this theory wrong. was Alfonso de Albuquerque. Appointed governor-
general of Portuguese possessions along the Indian
The Portuguese Empire Ocean, Albuquerque sought to take over the spice
trade with Europe. He attacked local Muslim mer-
Sailors from the kingdom of Portugal, the western- chants’ ships at sea, pounding them with his superior
most state on the Iberian Peninsula, were the first Eu- shipboard cannons, and led armed expeditions on
ropeans to systematically explore Africa’s west coast. land against key trading posts. In 1510, he captured
For years, the Portuguese had resented Muslim control Goa on India’s west coast, killing the Muslim men
of the overland trade routes that carried gold from there and forcing their widows to marry his sailors to
Africa to the Mediterranean. They were also eager to establish a Portuguese community. With Goa secured,
participate in the spice trade from Asia. In 1415, they he attacked the spice-trading center of Malacca on the
captured the Muslim port of Ceuta in Morocco. Por- Malay Peninsula. In 1557, the Portuguese established
tuguese seamen then began inching down the African the first European settlement in China at Macau. Al-
coast, looking for trading partners who would sup- buquerque mixed a passion for trade with hatred of
ply them directly with gold. At the same time, they Muslims. To him, they were liars and cheats; force,
bought black African slaves from local merchants. not friendship, was the only thing they understood.
Both gold and slaves brought high prices back home,
spurring other adventurers to join in the voyages. By
the 1480s, the Portuguese had set up trading posts in
Guinea, the center of the gold and slave trade. From Guinea Area near the western bulge of Africa; in the
the start, the kings of Portugal took an active part in sixteenth century, the center of gold and slave trade.
the explorations, working closely with merchants Prince Henry the Navigator (1394–1460) Member of
and finally declaring a royal monopoly over the the Portuguese royal family who encouraged explo-
African trade. A member of the royal family, Prince rations along the coast of Africa.
Henry the Navigator, promoted the new technolo- Bartholomew Diaz (ca.1450–1500) Portuguese sailor
gies that made Atlantic sailing possible. who in 1488 rounded the southern tip of Africa and
sailed into the Indian Ocean.
Portuguese traders did not seize large territories in
Vasco da Gama (1460–1524) First Portuguese trader to
Africa. Instead, they established fortified trading posts
land in India and establish direct European trade.
along the coast where they could exchange wine,
Alfonso de Albuquerque (1453–1515) Governor-
guns, and wheat for gold and slaves. Life in these general of Portuguese possessions along the Indian
posts was difficult; the climate was harsh, and many Ocean; founder of Portuguese Empire in Asia.
traders died of tropical diseases, against which they Goa Portuguese colony on the west coast of India.
had no immunity. Nevertheless, the trade prospered, Malacca Muslim port on the Malay Peninsula where
and by 1500 Portugal was the chief supplier of gold goods from spice-growing islands farther east were
and slaves to Europeans. In 1488, Bartholomew Diaz collected and shipped westward.
made it to the southern tip of Africa, rounding the Macau Trading post on the south coast of China near
Cape of Good Hope, as he called it, and sailing into Hong Kong.
the Indian Ocean. Faced with a mutiny by his crew,
368 CHAPTER 13 Europe’s Age of Expansion, 1450–1550
His dispatches to Portugal reveal the kind of stereo- thirty-three days, landing in the Bahamas on October
typing that would feed western imaginations for cen- 12. Since the Spaniards believed they had found is-
turies to come. For Albuquerque, smashing infidel lands in the East Indies, they called the local people
control of Far Eastern commerce would allow for the Indians. Columbus then explored the islands of His-
triumphant planting of the cross of Christ in heathen paniola and Cuba, hoping to set up Portuguese-style
lands. He was the perfect crusader trader. trading posts. Finding no cities, he returned to Spain
in January 1493, leaving some men behind on His-
The Spanish Empire paniola. Following a triumphant procession across
Spain, witnessed by Bartolomé de Las Casas and his
In the spring of 1492, Christopher Columbus began family, Columbus presented Isabella and Ferdinand
preparations for his westward voyage across the At- with gold, parrots, spices, and captives, along with a
lantic. Columbus was no stranger to Atlantic waters. pineapple, which Ferdinand happily ate. This was
He had lived in Portugal for many years, marrying a modest booty, but Columbus played up the potential
Portuguese woman and sailing to the Canary Is- for future profits and managed to get royal backing
lands, the African coast, and the Madeira Islands, for three more voyages between 1493 and 1504. Las
where his wife’s family had estates. After failing to Casas’s father, excited by the sight of Columbus’s
get Portuguese backing for a voyage across the At- captives and booty, embarked on the first of them. In
lantic, he turned to Spain for help (see Choice). When 1494, Spain and Portugal, with the blessing of the
that finally came, he began collecting crews and sup- pope, signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, granting Spain
plies for the three small ships Queen Isabella had control of Central and South America except for
given him. Local sailors were reluctant to sign on, not Brazil, which went to Portugal, along with Africa and
because they thought the world was flat and they Asia. Thus the entire world was divided into two
would soon fall off its western edge (most Europeans zones for these first European empires.
knew the world was round) but because they were lo-
cal tuna fishermen already making a good living in
waters close to home. So Columbus had a hard time
recruiting the ninety men he needed, some of which, Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) Genoese sailor
in the end, were convicts. His task was made espe- and explorer who captained the first European voy-
ages to the Caribbean and South America and claimed
cially difficult because he had to work out of the lands there for Spain.
small Spanish port of Palos; the larger ports were Canary Islands Islands in the Atlantic Ocean colo-
clogged with ships carrying away the recently ex- nized by Spain.
pelled Spanish Jews. Finally, on August 3, 1492, just Treaty of Tordesillas Arrangement in 1494 between
as a ship carrying the last of the Jews sailed from Pa- Spain and Portugal drawing a north-south line west of
los, Columbus headed out of the port. the Azores; lands west of it went to Spain and lands
After reprovisioning his ships in the Canary Is- east (plus Brazil) to Portugal.
lands, in early September Columbus sailed west for
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Isabella of Castile Writes Her Last Will
and Testament
On October 12, 1504, twelve years to the day after Columbus landed in the Ba-
hamas, the dying Isabella began to dictate her last will and testament. In it she
made arrangements for her burial and the disposition of her worldly goods. She
also summed up the major achievements of her reign and asked her successors to
honor them.
Europe’s Global Expansion 369
➜ I ask and order that my body be buried in the ➜ Why would Is-
monastery of Saint Francis which is in the Alhambra in
abella ask to be
the city of Granada . . . dressed in the habit of the very
buried in a plain grave
blessed poor man of Jesus Christ, Saint Francis, in a
in Granada?
lowly grave without any bust and only a plain slab on
the ground containing an inscription.
➜ Why does Isabella “beg” ➜ In addition, because I have wanted to order a
her husband and “lord” to simplification of the laws . . . , identifying the doubtful ones and eliminating the
carry out her wishes while superfluous ones, in order to avoid doubts and any contradictions that have arisen
“ordering” her daughter and concerning them and the expenses that they might impose on my kingdoms . . . I
son-in-law to do so? beg the king my lord, and I order and enjoin the said princess, my daughter, and
the said prince, her husband, to bring together a learned and conscientious
prelate with persons who are educated, wise, and expert in law, to examine the
said laws and to reduce them into a briefer and less
cumbersome code.
➜ I command that the jewels which the said ➜ How does
princess and prince, my children, have given me be Isabella’s gift of relics
returned to them. And that the relic I have of Our to Granada relate to
Lord’s loincloth be given to the monastery of Saint her instructions for
Anthony in the city of Segovia. And that all my other her burial?
relics be given to the Cathedral in the city of Granada.
And I entreat and command the said princess, my
daughter, and the said prince, her husband, as Catholic princes, to take great care
concerning the things that honor God and His holy faith, watching over and secur-
ing the faith’s safety, defense, and glorification, since for it we are obliged to
pledge our persons, lives, and possessions as is necessary. And that they be very
obedient to the commandments of holy mother church, as they are obliged to be
its protectors and defenders. And that they will not cease the conquest of Africa
to fight for the faith against the infidels. And that they will always favor the work
of the Holy Inquisition against heretical depravity.
➜ Notice Isabella’s descrip- ➜ From the time when the Holy Apostolic See granted us the Islands and
tion of her motive for con- Mainland of the Ocean Sea . . . our first intention was, from the time we
quering new territories. To entreated pope Alexander VI, of blessed memory, who gave us the said grant, to
what degree was it shared by attempt to persuade and cause the inhabitants there to convert to our holy
the Spaniards who went to Catholic faith, and to send to the said islands and mainland prelates and members
these new territories? of religious orders and clergy, and other learned and God-fearing persons, to in-
struct the inhabitants and residents there in the Catholic faith, and to teach and
instruct them in good behavior, and to put in them the necessary diligence, taking
the care stated more fully in the letters of the grant. To this end, I most affection-
ately beseech the king my lord and I charge and com-
mand the said princess, my daughter, and the said
prince, her husband, to carry this out as their principal ➜ Why would Is-
goal with much diligence. ➜ They must not in any way abella express her
allow the Indians, the inhabitants, and the residents in concerns for the
the said islands and mainland to suffer any injury to Indians in her will?
their persons or property, but must be well and justly
treated. And if they have received any injury, they must
set it right.
370 CHAPTER 13 Europe’s Age of Expansion, 1450–1550
The Taíno people Columbus encountered on the two and a half years his small force conquered the
islands of the Caribbean were friendly and provided Aztec Empire of central Mexico. The Aztecs ruled
him with food and information, but relations deterio- over many states, which had to supply men and trib-
rated when the Spaniards started to claim their land ute to the emperor in the capital of Tenochtitlán. Cortés
for Spain and rape women. Over the next twenty-five formed alliances with the most discontented states
years, as more land was seized for farms, the Taíno, and augmented his own force with their soldiers. If
now virtually enslaved, were forced to work it. Even local states refused to join the anti-Aztec coalition,
worse were the diseases, such as smallpox and in- they were intimidated by the invaders, who were
fluenza, that swept through the local population. mounted on horses, which the local people had never
Since the Western Hemisphere was isolated from Eu- seen before, wore strange body armor, and wielded
rope, local peoples had no immunity from the dis- steel swords. In addition, the noise, smoke, and fire of
eases the Spaniards brought, and millions died as Cortés’s artillery, which was also unknown to the
epidemics swept through Central and South Amer- Aztecs, panicked the enemy, as did the attack dogs
ica, often in advance of any European’s arrival. The used in battle. (The Aztecs’ only dogs were tiny, re-
Taíno, who may have numbered 300,000 in 1492, sembling modern-day chihuahuas.)
were virtually extinct by 1550, and, overall, the native In November 1519, Cortés and his allies entered
population of the Americas fell by 90 percent in the Tenochtitlán at the invitation of the emperor, Mocte-
century after Columbus’s voyages—the greatest de- zuma II, who may have been influenced by Aztec
mographic catastrophe in recorded history. traditions that prophesied the arrival by sea of a pale-
For a quarter century after 1492, few Spaniards mi-
grated to the Caribbean. Although some gold was
found, it was difficult to grow sufficient food, and
Spanish mortality rates were high as men succumbed Taíno Native people inhabiting the Caribbean islands
visited by the Spaniards in the first period of encounter
to local diseases. Columbus himself died in Spain in between Europeans and American Indians.
1506, disappointed by the meager results of his dis- Hernán Cortés (1485–1547) Spanish nobleman and
coveries. Everything changed, however, in 1519, when conquistador (conqueror) who in 1519 conquered the
a Spanish nobleman, Hernán Cortés, landed on the Aztec Empire.
east coast of Mexico with six hundred men, sixteen Aztec Empire Federation of states in central Mexico
horses, and six cannons. ruled by an emperor from his capital, Tenochtitlán, the
Like those before him, Cortés was looking for gold. present-day Mexico City.
Unlike them, he embarked on territorial conquest; in
Europe’s Global Expansion 371
In this engraving, the Inca prince Atahualpa rises from his throne on his litter just before his capture by the
Spanish at Cajamarca. He attempts to fend off a soldier while a Spanish friar raises a cross either in blessing or
as protection against a pagan. The cannon in the foreground reminds the viewer of the withering Spanish fire
power. (Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana Venice/Dagli Orti/The Art Archive)
skinned god, Quetzalcoatl. In June 1520, Moctezuma 1531, Pizarro launched an expedition of 280 men and
died under mysterious circumstances. Although prob- 55 horses against the Inca Empire, taking advantage
ably murdered by his own people, the Aztecs blamed of a political crisis among the Inca to conquer them.
the Spaniards for his death and attacked Cortés. In the late 1520s, the Inca emperor died, a victim of
Withdrawing from the city, the Spaniards regrouped the European-induced epidemics that were raging
and made a successful assault in August 1521. Cortés though Central and South America. Two of his sons,
now controlled the Aztec Empire, and one of his first Atahualpa and Huáscar, then fought each other for
acts was to demolish the sacred pyramid in the center
of Tenochtitlán and replace it with a cathedral.
Cortés’s conquest of the Aztecs launched the first
Francisco Pizarro (ca. 1475–1541) Soldier who in 1531
New World gold rush. When news of Tenochtitlán’s conquered the Inca Empire with a small Spanish force.
capture reached Europe, along with gold from Moc- Vaso Núñez de Balboa (1475–1519) Spanish explorer
tezuma’s treasury, thousands of Spaniards flocked who crossed the isthmus of Panama in 1513 and
to Mexico in search of bounty. Among them was sighted the Pacific Ocean.
Francisco Pizarro, an illiterate laborer who had mi- Inca Empire Empire stretching from Ecuador to north-
grated to Hispaniola in 1502 and served in expedi- ern Chile and from the Pacific Ocean to the upper
tions to Central America, including Vaso Núñez de Amazon River.
Balboa’s trek across Panama to the Pacific Ocean. In
372
ARCTIC OCEAN
GREENLAND
Cartier, 1534-41
Cabot, 1497
Amsterdam
Newfoundland Antwerp
1497 97
NORTH Quebec Cabot, 14
1608
EUROPE
AMERICA 4-41
Cartier, 153
1519 1519 Puerto Rico Cape Verde Is. CAPE INDIA 1517
Jamaica Hispaniola ARABIA Bombay
Acapulco 1456 VERDE Goa Bay of
1492 1444 1510 PHILIPPINES
Cartagena Aden 1513 Bengal
Trinidad
GU
SP 1498 ETHIOPIA Calicut
1498 Ceylon
IN
PACIFIC Panama A 1505
EA
M NI
A SH AFRICA 8 152
149
1519
IN
GOLD COAST Malacca 1509 1
Quito
as
Sumatra
14
1498
lu
97
INDIAN New Guinea
o
PE
SOUTH 11
Lima M 15
RU
Java
152
1535
2
AMERICA OCEAN
Mozambique
IL
AZ
Potosí ATLANTIC MADAGASCAR
BR
1500
Rio de Janeiro
1516 2
152 AUSTRALIA
152
0 Santiago OCEAN
Buenos Aires Cape of Good Hope
1535
Strait of
Magellan
Cape Horn
MAP 13.3 World Expansion, 1492–1535 By 1535, Europe’s worldwide sea-lanes were well estab-
lished, following the voyages of Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, and Ferdinand Magellan. Com-
pare the size of Spain and Portugal with the size of their overseas empires.
Exploration, Expansion, and Eurepean Identity 373
control of the empire. Arriving during the civil war ous lives. They had no private property and no money,
sparked by the sons’ rivalry, Pizarro played the broth- and hence no reason to be greedy. They lived in har-
ers against each other. He used his horses, cannon, and mony with nature and each other, solving disputes
steel swords to slaughter over three thousand Inca without need of laws and courts. They waged war,
soldiers at Cajamarca in present-day Peru after Ata- but only for just cause. In a word, the Indians were
hualpa had unwittingly led them into an ambush. what Europeans ought to be. And so, in the end, these
Atahualpa was taken prisoner. Huáscar was murdered accounts were really about Europe, with the Indians
in 1532, and a year later Atahualpa was also. Pizarro providing a way for moralists to condemn abuses in
then set up a third brother as a puppet emperor. their own society.
Cortés’s conquest of the Aztecs and Pizarro’s of the Alongside the picture of the “good Indian,” an im-
Incas finally produced the precious metals that had age of the “bad Indian” soon emerged. Indians were
driven the search for direct trade routes to Asia. It accused of eating disgusting things like spiders and
was silver, however, rather than gold, that flowed in worms. Because they wore no European clothes, they
ever-increasing quantities toward Spain from mines were accused of engaging in what Europeans thought
at Zacatecas in Mexico and Potosí in present-day were the vilest kinds of sexual behavior, including
Bolivia, both started in the 1540s. Following Ferdi- homosexuality and intercourse with animals. They
nand Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe in had no true religion but worshiped satanically in-
1519–1521, the magnitude of Columbus’s voyages spired idols. Worst of all, they practiced human sacri-
and subsequent Spanish conquests began to sink into fice and cannibalism. Both the good and bad pictures
the European consciousness. of the Indians wove together bits of accurate informa-
tion with misinformation and a host of European fan-
tasies and fears, and both were believed. Gradually,
however, the negative picture gained ground, and by
Exploration, Expansion, and the mid-sixteenth century, arguments were made that
European Identity the Indians were not really human beings but “natu-
ral slaves.”
➜
How did Europeans come to terms with the peoples The theory of the natural slave went back to the
of Africa and the Americas, whom they perceived as not Greek philosopher Aristotle, who stated that there
like them?
were creatures resembling human beings who never-
➜
dian” theory provoked a response from Bartolomé de sons qualified to determine whether Indians were
Las Casas. Las Casas was also an influential member fully human. And he argued eloquently that they
of Charles V’s court who had known both Ferdinand were. Las Casas admitted that the Indians often be-
and Isabella. After 1492, he followed his father to the haved “badly,” but he explained that this did not
Caribbean, where he became a landowner, with many prove a lack of humanity. Their behavior resulted
Indians working for him. But his true calling was to from evil customs that had taken root in their soci-
the church, and he became the first man to be ordained eties. In the past, Christianity had corrected Greek
a priest in the Americas. Las Casas’s experiences as a and Roman errors, and it would also correct Indian
landowner had shown him just how brutally the In- ones. In 1552, following his debate with Sepúlveda,
dians were exploited, and as a priest he campaigned Las Casas published his Brief Account of the Destruc-
for their better treatment. In 1542, he persuaded tion of the Indies, a fiery description of Spanish brutal-
Charles V to stop the worst abuses by issuing the ity in the New World that was widely read and
New Laws for the Indies. In 1545, Las Casas was con- influenced many Europeans.
secrated a bishop and sent to Guatemala to introduce
the New Laws, but local landlords’ opposition to the
reforms forced him to return to Spain. When Las
Casas read Sepúlveda’s attack, he demanded to face New Laws for the Indies (1542) Laws issued by
him in a debate. Charles V that attempted to stop Spanish exploitation
Las Casas argued that men like himself, who had of New World populations.
observed Indian culture directly, were the only per-
Exploration, Expansion, and Eurepean Identity 375
Las Casas’s arguments were thoroughly Euro- African slaves had persisted throughout the Middle
centric. He believed in the superiority of European Ages. These stereotypes condemned Africans as ugly,
civilization and thought that the Indians’ conversion lazy, sexually promiscuous, stupid, and evil smelling.
to Christianity was the only way to save them from Christians had also long identified the color black with
eternal damnation. His recognition of their full human- sin and the Devil and the color white with purity. The
ity and his demands for a just treatment of them, along combination of these Muslim and Christian stereo-
with his sense of the superiority of European culture types laid the foundations for arguments about the
and religion, gave voice to many of the principles that racial inferiority of blacks to whites that were to have
guided European colonial expansion in subsequent a long and vicious history.
centuries. Finally, Las Casas, aware of the labor short- Columbus, who had lived on the Madeira Islands
age in the Americas created by the decline in local pop- before coming to Spain, took sugar-cane plants with
ulations, urged his fellow Europeans to import African him on his return to the Western Hemisphere in 1493.
slaves to fill the gap, a position he later regretted. When settlers realized that cane grew well in Brazil and
the Caribbean islands, plantations were established
The Labor of Africans there, and the transatlantic importation of African
slaves began. For the next three hundred years, more
New World slavery had its origins in Portuguese ex- than 11 million Africans were carried across the At-
ploration of Africa. Beginning in 1420, the Portuguese lantic in one of the largest forced migrations in history.
settled on Atlantic islands off Africa’s west coast, Europeans justified African slavery in various
while the Spanish occupied the Canary Islands. The ways. Some appealed to Aristotle’s theory of natural
islands’ volcanic soil was ideal for growing sugar slaves, while others cited Christian scripture, which
cane, and large plantations were established to pro- showed that both the Israelites and the first Chris-
duce it. During the Middle Ages, honey was Europe’s tians owned slaves. Others turned to Genesis and ar-
chief sweetener. Medieval Europeans had known of gued that Africans were the descendants of Noah’s
sugar, which was imported in small quantities from son Ham, cursed as a slave because he had seen his
Muslim lands and used as medicine or a sexual stim- father drunk and naked. In a world that believed all
ulant. With the colonization of the Atlantic islands, human beings were slaves to sin, the idea that some
sugar became a European-controlled commodity and were slaves to other men was easily accepted. In ad-
the demand for it rose rapidly. At first, the planta- dition, Europe’s hierarchical and patriarchal social
tions’ workforce consisted of Portuguese settlers as order, in which wives, children, and servants were
well as indentured servants fulfilling the terms of subject to the male head of household, made slavery
their contracts and slaves from the eastern Mediter- seem like an extension of the general structure of so-
ranean and sub-Saharan Africa. By 1500, however, ciety. As a result, few Europeans questioned it.
black African slaves predominated. For years, tribal Slavery in the Western Hemisphere differed in im-
warfare in West Africa had involved the capture and portant respects from the kind practiced in European
enslavement of enemies. Portuguese traders bought and Muslim lands. First, slaves were increasingly
these slaves from Africans because they were rela- thought of as black and African. Earlier forms of slav-
tively cheap and could be forced to do the harsh work ery had been colorblind, since people of many differ-
on the island plantations that free Europeans eventu- ent racial and ethnic communities had been enslaved.
ally rejected.
Some African rulers opposed the Portuguese slave
trade, but coastal merchants found it economically Eurocentric Idea that Europe and European culture are
profitable and even invested in the sugar plantations. either superior to or more important than the lands
Over the sixteenth century, tens of thousands of and cultures of other peoples.
slaves were brought to the Atlantic islands. Because Atlantic islands The Azores, the Cape Verde Islands,
they came from parts of Africa where agriculture was the Madeira Islands, and São Tomé, where the Por-
tuguese used African slaves to cultivate sugar for the
widespread, they were familiar with field work and European market.
could be trained to handle sugar cane. Soon the is-
plantation A large-scale agricultural enterprise pro-
lands were the main sugar producers for Europe, ducing goods for the European market, often using
sending sugar to Antwerp and other markets. slave labor.
The Portuguese and Spanish not only pioneered the indentured servants Servants who agreed to compul-
use of African slaves in a plantation system, they also sory service for a fixed period of time, often in ex-
adopted stereotypes about Africans developed first change for passage to a colony.
in the Muslim world, where a trade in sub-Saharan
376 CHAPTER 13 Europe’s Age of Expansion, 1450–1550
In the Americas, most slaves worked on plantations Shakespeare used common anti-Jewish stereotypes to
or, after silver was discovered in the Spanish Empire, construct Shylock. But two details were his own: Shy-
in mines. This work was in contrast to European and lock’s plea to be treated as a human being and the
Muslim slavery, in which many different types of renunciation of his religion by force. These both com-
work were performed by slaves. Most important, plicate the stereotype of the wicked and hated Jew.
slavery was increasingly considered a lifelong status Like Shylock, Caliban in The Tempest is a complex
and one that children inherited from their parents, character. He was “king” of the island where he lived
thus creating a perpetually enslaved class of persons. alone until Prospero, the deposed duke of Milan, was
The idea that one was “born” a slave, not “made” one exiled there with his daughter. At first, Prospero be-
by capture or some other force, fitted in with Euro- friended Caliban, teaching him to speak like a human.
pean ideas of Africans’ racial inferiority. But when Caliban attempted to rape his daughter, he
turned against him, enslaving him and calling him “a
The Problem of “the Other” born devil, on whose nature nurture can never stick.”
Prospero also calls himself “lord” of Caliban’s island.
At the end of the sixteenth century, the new peoples Shakespeare had read European accounts of Native
Europeans had encountered in their expeditions for Americans. References in The Tempest show that he
trade and wealth were so broadly recognized that the drew on them when he created Caliban, who has all the
great playwright of the English Renaissance, William qualities of a natural slave—he is physically deformed,
Shakespeare, put them on stage in his dramas. In without speech until taught by a European, and a
Shylock the Jew, Caliban the slave, and Othello the would-be rapist who must be ruled by force. Through-
African, Shakespeare provides insights into Euro- out the play Caliban uses his newfound speech to curse
peans’ thoughts about “the other.” These unforget- Prospero while plotting to murder him. He is danger-
table stage characters reveal traditional stereotypes ous and despicable. And yet, when Caliban describes
but also portray the playwright’s sense of their hu- the beauties of his island, which Prospero has seized
manity and the injustices done to them. from him, Shakespeare gave him some of the most
In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare used tradi- beautiful lines in the play, and they are in poetry. Shake-
tional Christian stereotypes of the Jew to create Shy- speare normally reserved poetic lines for high-born or
lock, a miserly moneylender who proclaimed his noble characters, while the low and bad ones speak
hatred of Christians and wanted to destroy the Chris- prose. Caliban, like Shylock, embodied stereotypes of
tian merchant Antonio. When Antonio’s finances fal- the hated “other.” But, like The Merchant of Venice, there
ter, Shylock agrees to loan him money, but at a price—a are occasions in The Tempest when Shakespeare cast the
pound of his flesh if he fails to repay. This gruesome stereotypes aside to show the humanity of the injured
demand echoed traditional Christian fantasies and character, if only for a moment.
fears, like those that had surfaced at La Guardia in In Othello, Shakespeare returned to Venice for the
Spain, where Jews were accused of killing a child for setting of his play. The title character is an African ex-
magical purposes. The Christians of Venice repay Shy- slave serving as the mercenary commander of Venet-
lock’s hatred in kind, spitting on him and calling him ian forces on Cyprus to defend the island against the
“dog” and “the devil in the likeness of a Jew.” “malignant and turbaned Turk.” Shakespeare again
When Antonio goes broke, Shylock demands his used current stereotypes to create Othello, who is de-
pound of flesh—to use as fish bait. But just at this scribed by other characters in the play as having thick
point, Shakespeare gives Shylock one of the most fa- lips and being “sooty,” “lascivious,” “an old black
mous speeches in the play: ram,” and “ignorant as dirt.” He also drew on a con-
temporary account of Africans in English that called
Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew affections, pas-
them savage, jealous, and easily deceived. The play
sions? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison
us, do we not die?
Here, Shakespeare shows Shylock not as a monster
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) England’s greatest
but as a man crushed by Christian slander and con-
playwright, author of The Merchant of Venice, The Tem-
tempt, and his words cut through the mutual hatred pest, Othello, and many other plays and poems.
like a cry. Nevertheless, Shylock continues to demand “the other” Religious, ethnic, racial, or other outsiders
his payment. In the end, he loses in court; Antonio who are feared and hated because they are said to
keeps his flesh, and Shylock must surrender half his embody all that a community rejects as bad or
fortune to his daughter, who has run away with a inhuman.
Christian. Then he is forced to convert to Christianity.
Summary 377
revolves around Othello’s growing belief that his In Shakespeare’s plays, debates about “others,”
beloved Venetian wife, Desdemona, who is white, carried on in learned circles by Las Casas and Sepúl-
has been unfaithful to him. Once convinced of Desde- veda, were presented to a wider audience in vividly
mona’s infidelity, Othello flies into a wild, jealous dramatic form. Like Las Casas, Shakespeare wrestled
rage. In the end he strangles his wife. When he learns with the problem by starting with assumptions of his
that she was, in fact, innocent, he kills himself. Oth- own culture’s superiority. But also like him, Shake-
ello is a great sinner, guilty of rage, murder, and sui- speare could argue that the hated and savage “other”
cide. But he is not the villain of the play. That label was part of humanity. Medieval people had identi-
goes to Iago, who is white, Christian, and Venetian. fied themselves as Christians and thought of the
Out of jealousy and hatred for Othello, Iago seduces “other”—that is, Jews and Muslims—mainly in reli-
the “Moor” into believing that Desdemona is an adul- gious terms as people who had heard of but rejected
teress. He is one of Shakespeare’s greatest villains— the Christian gospel. Now “others” came to include
intelligent, crafty, and supremely evil. In the end, Indians and African slaves, who had no prior knowl-
Othello the black outsider is a tragic hero, while Iago, edge of Christianity, and the problem of understand-
the white insider, is led offstage in chains. ing who they were became acute.
How did Europe’s economic expansion create a be careful to respect their subjects’ rights and tradi-
global economy? tions, even as they sought to increase their control
➜
What strategies did European rulers use to increase over them. Successful government involved cooper-
control over their territories? ating and negotiating with local elites, whether no-
➜
What factors shaped the formation of Europeans’ bles, landowners, or town fathers, in order to develop
individual and collective identities and those of the
peoples they encountered in global expansion?
working relations with them. Rulers like Ivan IV, who
tried to govern despotically, could throw their soci-
eties into turmoil, but their extreme policies usually
The growth of Europe’s population, which began af- met with failure.
ter 1450, stimulated an economic expansion based on One trend in government was the attempt to forge
increasing agricultural activity and the growth of more centralized states. The means to this end varied.
new trading networks. From 1450 to 1550, most ur- In Spain, a policy to respect the political indepen-
ban and rural workers benefited from a rise in wages, dence of Castile and Aragon was balanced against the
although rates of pay were sharply different for men creation of a new, more homogeneous national iden-
and women because of prevailing notions about the tity. In France and England, it involved the introduc-
relative value of men’s and women’s work. The gen- tion of standardized languages. In many states, it
dered distribution of wages echoed the general patri- involved tying rulers as borrowers to subjects as
archal organization of society. Both urban and rural lenders. It also involved administrative centralization
communities were headed by men. In addition, these in the hands of experts.
communities were arranged hierarchically from the The creation of empires after 1450 was the most
better sort to the lesser sort. dramatic example of Europe’s age of expansion. For
Although many communities became less econom- Portugal and Spain, empire building was directly
ically self-sufficient as they were linked to large-scale linked to trade. The creation of empires had enormous
trading networks, a strong sense of community iden- consequences for both Europeans and non-Europeans.
tity and mutual responsibility characterized Europe’s For Africans, it had the disastrous effect of expanding
villages, towns, and cities. The community was con- and extending the trade in slaves from the small At-
ceived of as an organic whole in which anyone’s fate lantic islands to the huge plantation economies of the
was everyone’s business. This view explains Euro- New World. In the New World, it involved not only
peans’ commitment to public hospitals and welfare conquest but also the destruction of whole societies,
378 CHAPTER 13 Europe’s Age of Expansion, 1450–1550
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Christopher Columbus
Cristoforo Colombo, a Genoese sailor, died before the full impact of his voyages was understood in Europe.
He certainly could not have known how famous he would become—or that he would be a symbol for all
that later generations admired or condemned in the complex encounter between the “New World” and
Europe that his voyages set in motion.
Curiously, this Italian who sailed for a Spanish Catholic monarch became a hero for nineteenth-century
Americans, most of whom were staunchly Protestant. In their eyes, Columbus embodied all the virtues they
most admired in themselves. He seemed to represent the rugged individualist whose contempt for hide-
bound traditionalists arguing that the world was flat led him on a heroic adventure across the unknown
frontier of the Atlantic. This way of thinking reached a climax in 1892, when President Benjamin Harrison
issued a proclamation for a national observance of the four-hundredth anniversary of Columbus’s “discov-
ery” of America.
In the first half of the twentieth century, Columbus was returned to his ethnic roots and became the darling
of Americans of Italian descent, who campaigned for an annual national holiday in his honor. In 1937,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had recently won a landslide reelection victory with many Italian Amer-
ican votes, created the present holiday. (In 1971, the observance was changed to the second Monday in
October to give workers the chance for a three-day weekend.)
In the second half of the twentieth century, Columbus became a contested symbol. Italian Americans con-
tinued to venerate him, but so did Hispanics, claiming that his voyages were “a thoroughly Spanish event.”
In 1996, both groups organized rival Columbus Day parades in New York City. On the other hand, Scandi-
navians complained that Columbus was a latecomer and called for a holiday honoring the first Norse “dis-
coverers,” who landed in North America around the year 1000. All three groups have also had to compete
with Native Americans’ counterimage of Columbus as the man who brought devastating disease, followed
by slavery, to the peoples of the Western Hemisphere. In 1992, on the five-hundredth anniversary of his
voyages, a protest holiday, Indigenous Peoples Day, was observed in some places by Native Americans and
their supporters. Although seventy towns or districts in the United States are today named in honor of
Columbus, the Genoese sailor continues to be a contested figure for people with different ethnic loyalties
and conflicting historical memories.
Suggested Readings
Cameron, Euan, ed. Early Modern Europe: An Oxford History. Musgrave, Peter. The Early Modern European Economy. New
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. A recent general account. York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999. A recent survey.
Kamen, Henry. Empire: How Spain Became a World Power, Phillips, William D., Jr., and Carla Rahn Phillips. The Worlds of
1492–1763. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2003. Detailed Christopher Columbus. New York: Cambridge University
account of Spanish empire building in the Western Hemisphere. Press, 1992. Excellent on Columbus’s life and times.
Websites 379
Postma, Johannes. The Atlantic Slave Trade. Westport, Conn.: Zinsser, Judith P., and Bonnie S. Anderson. Women in Early
Greenwood Press, 2003. An excellent introduction. Modern and Modern Europe. Washington, D.C.: American His-
Riasanovsky, Nicholas V. A History of Russia. 6th ed. New torical Association, 2001. A brief introduction.
York: Oxford University Press, 2000. The standard account in
English.
Websites
For sections and links to readings on many of the topics dis- More than a thousand images relating to the slave trade and
cussed in this chapter, Internet Modern History Sourcebook, slave life, The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the
at www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook03.html Americas: A Visual Record, at www.hitchcock.itc.virginia
A detailed listing of products traded in the emerging world .edu/Slavery/index.php
economy, Trade Products in Early Modern History, at
www.bell.lib.umn.edu/Products.html
380
CHAPTER
Reform in the
Western Church,
1490–1570
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Ignatius Loyola
Avignon
Ghetto,
1516 Black Sea
PA
Pisa O
L ST
Marseilles Florence
PORTUGAL ANDORRA Girolama Savanorola T
Ávila T
ATES
Teresa Madrid
of Ávila O
Corsica M
Lisbon Barcelona
Toledo Rome A Constantinople
Roman Inquisition N
SPAIN established, 1542
Valencia Naples E
Sardinia NAPLES M
Seville Balearic Is. P I
R E
Granada
Sicily
ALGIERS
TUNIS
Me
OTTOMAN dite
rrane
EMPIRE an Sea 0 200 400 Km.
381
382 CHAPTER 14 Reform in the Western Church, 1490–1570
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Teresa of Ávila Chooses to
Reform the Carmelites
In 1535, a twenty-year-old woman, defying her father,
secretly left her family’s house and entered a convent of
the Carmelites, a religious order founded in the Middle
Ages. There, as “Teresa of Jesus,” she did not cease to
follow her heart—challenging the male church authori-
ties who oversaw orders of nuns, urging the Carmelites to
adhere to poverty, and inaugurating a renewal of church
life based in prayer and a personal union with God. Her
accomplishments are testimony to the power of one
woman’s persistence and the strength of personal convic-
tion even in an era dominated by an authoritarian church
hierarchy.
Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada was an unlikely candi-
date for a nunnery. She was born in 1515 to a wealthy
Spanish family, aristocratic in status but also suspect for
its recent conversion to Catholicism from Judaism. Many
Teresa of Ávila Spaniards thought that Jewish ancestry was a blot that not even Christian baptism
Teresa of Ávila, one of the could wash away. But Teresa’s commitment to Christianity was genuine; even as a
Catholic Church’s great re- child she showed signs of the choice she would make later in life. She liked to
formers, reinvigorated her “play church” with her brothers and sisters, pretending to be a holy hermit living
religious order, the in a cave. She even dreamed of a trip to North Africa, where she hoped Muslims
Carmelites, and wrote spiri- would chop off her head and make her a Christian martyr.
tual works that were quickly As a nun, Teresa contended not only with her Jewish background but also with
recognized as masterpieces stereotypes that cast women as weak, the playthings of the Devil, and therefore
of devotion. As a woman, especially prone to error and sin. Clerical enemies dismissed her as a “silly little
she faced huge obstacles woman” who had no business writing about monastic reform and the life of
because women were prayer. In a clever response, Teresa accepted these charges but turned them upside
thought to be unsuited for down, arguing that her ideas and plans must have come directly from God, since
such serious work. But she she herself was so weak, ignorant, and sinful.
won over even her fiercest At the same time, Teresa undertook a drastic reform of the Carmelite
opponents and at her death Order, which had not strictly obeyed its own rules concerning separation from
was recognized as one of the the world. With support from the bishop of Ávila, her hometown, Teresa saw
pillars of the Roman Catholic that it did. The nuns were to become the Discalced, or “Barefoot,” Carmelites,
Church. (Institut Amatller giving up shoes for sandals and living a life of poverty. These reforms also
d’Art Hispanic) provoked strong opposition, but she pursued them with firmness and
common sense. Although she suffered from ill health, she traveled all over
Spain seeking support from the rich and powerful. She regularly rose at five in
the morning but often stayed up past midnight to write letters to those who
could help or harm her cause. The turning point came when she won the
support of the Spanish king, Philip II. Fourteen Carmelite convents accepted her
reform program.
Like Catherine of Siena, Teresa was a mystic. Beginning in 1554, she started to
Introduction 383
experience visions of Christ during her prayers. “His Majesty,” as she called Jesus,
appeared to her frequently and spoke to her in her heart, as one friend to another.
When Teresa told her father confessor and other male clergymen of these visions,
they were alarmed and ordered her to write them down in detail so they could
examine them for errors. She obeyed. These writings, which described her visions
and offered advice on how to pray, soon brought her to the attention of the Span-
ish Inquisition. But she was able to convince the inquisitors and others that there
was nothing heretical or devilish in her experiences or writings.
Soon after Teresa died in 1582, her friends collected her writings and published
them. The recently invented printing press, which could rapidly spread an author’s
works throughout Europe, made Teresa famous. She was immediately recognized
as a masterful guide for Catholics who sought a more perfect life of prayer and a
closer union with God. In 1612, she was declared a saint of the Catholic Church.
But the gender expectations of her age, which classified women lower than men,
even shaped the decrees proclaiming her sainthood. She was labeled a “virile
woman” with a “manly soul,” as male clerics believed that, before Teresa could
become an object of public devotion, she had to be made manlike. But her life
and writings carried a different message. Here was an intelligent, capable woman
who counteracted deep prejudices to renew the life of her religious order, write
treatises on prayer that became instant classics of Christian spirituality, and lead
church reform. In 1969, Teresa was the first woman to be proclaimed a doctor, or
authoritative teacher, of the Roman Catholic Church.
Chronology
1494 Savonarola institutes moral reforms in Florence 1536 Calvin publishes Institutes of the Christian
Religion
1516 Jewish Ghetto is established in Venice
1540 Pope approves Jesuits
1517 Luther condemns church indulgences
1541 Calvin initiates reform in Geneva
1521 Luther is excommunicated and declared an
outlaw in the empire 1545 Council of Trent opens
1522 Ignatius of Loyola becomes a church reformer 1549 Francis Xavier introduces Christianity
into Japan
1524 Peasants’ War breaks out in Germany
1555 Peace of Augsburg allows Lutheranism
1525 Luther marries Katherine von Bora
1558 John Knox introduces Calvinism into Scotland;
1527 Henry VIII breaks with pope Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
1535 Catholic and Lutheran rulers slaughter Anabaptists 1563 Council of Trent ends
at Münster
Teresa of Ávila becomes a nun
What developments prepared the way for the church dence in Avignon and the Great Schism. Although the
reform of the sixteenth century?
papacy successfully countered conciliarism’s chal-
➜
These two prints attack Pope Alexander VI. The left image, the first a viewer would see, shows the “official”
Alexander in his papal robes, carrying a ceremonial cross and wearing the papal triple tiara. The caption reads
“Alexander VI Supreme Pontiff.” After lifting up the first image the viewer would see the right image of the
“real” Alexander, a hideous, hellish monster. The caption reads “I am the pope.” (University Library Bern,
Switzerland. Biblia. (lat.) Interprete Sebastiano Castalione, Basel; Johannes Oprinus, 1550, sign. Hosp. 44)
time, laymen and -women in the Netherlands joined mand for preaching. Traditionally, preaching had
clergy to form the Brothers and Sisters of the Com- been the task of religious orders like the Franciscans
mon Life. The brothers and sisters tried to live the life and Dominicans. When parish priests began to preach,
of Jesus’s first disciples—a life of poverty while caring these orders resented their intrusion, and tensions led
for the sick and feeding the hungry. Their activities to charges of incompetence and immorality from both
and their intense personal devotion to Jesus offered sides. Friars complained that parish priests were badly
religious comfort to a generation hungry for spiritual educated, while parish priests accused the friars of
renewal. Their devotion also prompted a growing preaching to lure women into confession and then
popular interest in the life of Jesus and in the Bible and
a greater demand for preachers who could talk about
scripture and describe Jesus’s life and death. Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life Religious
Although the popes did not respond vigorously to community founded in the Netherlands that cared for
rising demands for spiritual leadership, the lower the needy, following the example of Jesus.
clergy did. By 1500, many clergymen were better ed- pulpit Raised and enclosed platform for preaching.
ucated and more effective in performing their duties parish priests Clergymen in charge of church life in
than they had been in the Middle Ages. Some in- the basic local unit of the church, the parish.
stalled pulpits in their churches to respond to the de-
386 CHAPTER 14 Reform in the Western Church, 1490–1570
use them sexually. Although many of these accusa- hostility, Savonarola called for a general council of
tions were exaggerated, they fed a growing belief that the church to judge Alexander, thus resurrecting the
the clergy as a whole, not just the pope, was corrupt. theology of the conciliar movement that Rome had
In the absence of strong papal leadership, rulers in tried to quash. This was too much for the pope; in
many parts of Europe tried to meet their subjects’ re- 1498, at Alexander’s instigation, a church court con-
ligious expectations while strengthening their own demned Savonarola. He was then tortured and burned
control over the church in their lands. Ferdinand and at the stake.
Isabella in Spain, along with Francis I of France, Savonarola’s dictatorship, which had widespread
showed what determined rulers could do in reform- popular support, mixed Christian reform with a strong
ing perceived abuses and regulating relations with dose of local patriotism and a belief that a truly Chris-
the pope. Their efforts inspired others to look to the tian Florence could prosper in this world. It expressed
state as an agent of religious reform. a yearning for Christ’s return to earth as judge of the
Finally, the printing revolution that swept over Eu- living and the dead that was as old as Christianity it-
rope during the fifteenth century allowed for fast re- self. It also reflected the traditional Christian view that
production of inexpensive texts and illustrations in earthly and heavenly things were inseparable; right
large numbers. It was in the Rhineland and the relations with God led to an orderly, prosperous com-
Netherlands that printing first became widespread. munity life. Savonarola’s commitment to a purified
In the fifty years between 1450 and 1500, more books Christian community, his belief in a coming day of
were produced using the new technology than dur- reckoning with God, and his sense that religion and
ing the previous thousand years. After 1500, church all other aspects of life were tied together reappeared
reformers quickly exploited the possibilities of rapid, regularly in the later church reform movements of the
widespread dissemination of their views that the sixteenth century.
printing press made possible.
Humanism and Church Reform
God’s Wrath and Church Reform
Humanism also contributed to the movement for
Fear of God’s wrath, which lay behind movements church reform, thanks to Desiderius Erasmus of Rot-
like the medieval flagellants, continued to inspire terdam, the greatest Christian humanist of his gener-
movements of reform. In the 1490s, a Dominican friar ation. The illegitimate son of a priest, Erasmus lost
in Florence, Girolamo Savonarola, denounced cor- both his parents to the plague when he was a child.
ruption in the city and church. He proclaimed that a His new guardians sent him to various schools, in-
divine day of reckoning was just around the corner cluding one run by the Brothers of the Common Life.
on which the church would be judged and then re- Later, he complained about the brothers’ harsh rou-
newed. Condemning the Florentines’ worldliness, he tine, but their piety deeply influenced him. When his
organized “burnings of vanities.” In a frenzy of com- guardians insisted that Erasmus become a monk, he
munal purification, people tossed their fancy clothes joined a religious order and was ordained a priest.
and jewels onto public bonfires along with playing The monastic life, however, was not to his taste, and
cards, gambling tables, and pornographic pictures. in 1516 he obtained papal permission to live outside
For Savonarola, this was the first act in a divinely his monastery. Although he attended the University
scripted drama in which Florence would become a of Paris and lectured at Cambridge University in Eng-
truly holy Christian city. He proclaimed that reform land, he was never drawn to the academic life. Reject-
would increase Florence’s wealth and prestige and ing both the monastery and the university, he set
would inaugurate a purification of the church through- himself up as an independent scholar and traveled
out the world. Savonarola also prophesied that a widely throughout western Europe. Erasmus shared
French army would invade Italy and win an easy vic- the humanists’ interest in studying the pagan and
tory over the Italians. When, in fact, the French king Christian literature of antiquity. His writings com-
Charles VIII invaded in 1494, many Florentines be-
lieved that Savonarola’s prophesy had come true,
and his prestige in the city soared. For the next four Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498) Italian Dominican
years he was Florence’s spiritual dictator. friar who tried to carry out church reform in Florence.
Savonarola denounced not only the “vanities” of Desiderius Erasmus (1469–1536) Dutch humanist,
the Florentines but also Pope Alexander VI’s sexual theologian, and textual scholar whose writings influ-
immorality. Angered by the attack, Alexander looked enced the movement for church reform.
for ways to silence him. Faced with mounting papal
Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, 1517–1550 387
➜
How was Martin Luther’s reform agenda similar to and
Catholicism, including the pope’s preeminence. different from that of his predecessors?
Erasmus’s version of reformed Christianity cen-
➜
What was the impact of Luther’s reforms?
tered on what he called the philosophy of Christ, which
was found in the ancient sources of Christianity—the By the time Erasmus was a well-established critic of
scriptures and the commentaries of the early church the church, another reformer, Martin Luther, had
fathers. Erasmus believed that the fathers, who were emerged and was carrying the reforming agenda in
closer in time to Christ than his own generation, were new directions. Eventually, Luther argued that re-
also closer to the original meaning of scripture. There- form of the church required a complete rejection of
fore, people should follow the example of Christ in the Roman pope, and rupture with Rome, therefore,
the Gospels as the fathers presented it. Erasmus ar- became the central feature of his movement. Histori-
gued that if certain practices were not found in these ans call reformers who broke with the pope Protes-
early sources, like confession to a priest or clerical tants. With the establishment of Lutheran Protestant
celibacy, they were not essential to Christianity. churches in north Germany and Scandinavia, the reli-
Erasmus believed that education was the way to gious unity of western Europe was shattered.
get people to accept the philosophy of Christ. He had
huge faith in the power of education to change people’s Luther’s Challenge to the Church
lives; study did not simply make people informed or
skilled—it made them good. He therefore told teach- Martin Luther was a broad-faced German monk from
ers that they should teach the young by persuasion, peasant stock with a sharp tongue and a brilliant mind
not fear, and should avoid whipping bad students whose father had wanted him to become a lawyer.
unless absolutely necessary. Since education was to Like Savonarola, Luther was troubled by fears of sin,
teach the philosophy of Christ based on the scrip- God’s wrath, and judgment. In the summer of 1505,
tures, Erasmus prepared an accurate printed edition the fears came to a head when he was caught in a vi-
of the New Testament in its original Greek and made olent thunderstorm, during which a bolt of lightning
a correct translation into the more familiar Latin. threw him to the ground. He cried out in terror, “Help
During his visit to England, Erasmus met the Eng- me Saint Anne! I shall become a monk!” After Luther
lish lawyer and humanist Sir Thomas More. More gave up the law and took monastic vows, the head of
was famous for his Utopia, a witty account of a fic- his monastery ordered him to study theology, and in
tional country where there was no private property, 1508 he was appointed professor of New Testament
men and women saw each other naked before mar- studies at the new University of Wittenberg.
riage to show that they were physically sound, and For the next seven years, Luther studied the Bible.
the incurably ill were encouraged to take their own He had become a monk to lessen his fears about his
lives. More, a devout Catholic, was not advocating sinfulness before God, but the old doubts continued
these practices (utopia in Greek means “no place”). to haunt him. He carefully observed the monastic life
His intentions were to amuse his readers and to un- and regularly confessed his sins, but the promise of
mask the stupidity and greed of his own society. God’s forgiveness, which came with the priest’s ab-
More also served in the English king’s government as solution, seemed hollow, since he continued to feel
chancellor, the highest judicial official in the realm.
His service appealed to Erasmus, who believed that
Europe’s rulers should be agents for church reform.
Thomas More (1477–1535) English lawyer and hu-
By the time Erasmus died in 1536, the Protestant manist, author of Utopia and friend of Erasmus.
Reformation was well under way. Although he re- Martin Luther (1483–1546) German monk who led a
mained a Catholic, his emphasis on scripture as the church reform movement in Germany that became the
foundation of Christianity, his call for Christians to Lutheran form of Protestantism.
return to their ancient roots for standards of belief absolution At the end of confession, words spoken by
and action, and his faith in the power of education to a Catholic priest, acting as God’s agent, that grant
make a better world were all embraced by reformers forgiveness of a person’s sins.
after him.
388 CHAPTER 14 Reform in the Western Church, 1490–1570
while humans had free will in the sense that they and ordinary Christians. To gain support, Luther
could choose what they ate for breakfast, when it printed four thousand copies of his appeal. They sold
came to doing things that were good in God’s eyes, out in a few days.
they had no free will—their sinfulness always made In 1521, Charles V, who had remained in Spain
them choose unrighteousness and made them inca- during these confrontations, made his first trip to
pable of doing good works. Justification therefore Germany as emperor and summoned Luther to an-
had no connection to good works. It was simply other Imperial Diet in the city of Worms. Asked di-
God’s gift to human beings that made them righteous rectly to renounce his teachings, Luther refused,
even though they were still sinners. Christians were arguing that scripture alone was the only authority
simply to trust in this gift and the additional gift of he would obey. He concluded dramatically, “Here I
faith that God alone made them righteous. Luther stand. May God help me! Amen.” The emperor then
based his position on the apostle Paul, who had writ- declared him an outlaw, and Luther went into hiding.
ten, “He who through faith is righteous shall live” The local ruler of Wittenberg, who had embraced
(Romans 1:17). Luther’s theology, shielded him from the imperial
Tetzel came to the vicinity of Wittenberg selling authorities. Luther continued to develop his theol-
indulgences to fund the building of the new Saint ogy, arguing that in the Gospels, Christ had instituted
Peter’s Church in Rome. He even had a slogan to mo- only two sacraments, baptism and Communion, not
tivate potential buyers: “When the coin in the change the other rites that Catholics considered sacraments.
box rings, the soul from Purgatory springs!” When Soon afterward, Luther began to translate the Bible
Luther heard of this, he was outraged. Tetzel stirred into German, using Erasmus’s edition of the Greek
up the issues of works, grace, faith, and righteous- New Testament to make the ancient scriptural sources
ness before God that had preoccupied Luther for of Christianity available to ordinary men and women.
years. Luther’s response was to pen the Ninety-five He also composed hymns like “A Mighty Fortress Is
Theses, propositions attacking indulgences, which Our God” for people to sing, thus bringing them di-
were quickly printed up and distributed throughout rectly into community worship and strengthening
Germany. They caused a sensation. At first the pope dis- their sense of God’s presence among them. And he
missed Luther as just another “drunken monk,” but, continued to publish his protests; some three hun-
as the seriousness of his challenge to indulgences sank dred thousand copies of his works were printed and
in, a gulf opened up between Luther and the papacy. distributed throughout the empire.
er
Bremen El mainly in the center and
Od
be
BRANDENBURG POLAND southwest of the Empire.
Celle
Eventually, it spread to the
Hanover
S
Magdeburg
W
Goslar
ar
A
ta
L
R Göttingen Nordhausen Torgau
E Ru
H hr Frankenhausen Oder
T Mühlhausen SAXONY
E Leipzig
N Cologne Eisenach Erfurt
SILESIA
R hi
Gotha Weimar
Zwickau
ne
H O L Y R O M A N E M P I R E
Frankfurt
LUXEMBOURG Schweinfurt
le
s el Mainz Main
Mo Würzburg Bamberg Prague
Kitzingen BOHEMIA
Worms
Windsheim
Nuremberg
V lt
Rothenburg
ava
Schwäbisch-Hall Weissenburg
Heilbronn
Regensburg
E
Schwäbisch-Gmünd Nördlingen
Strasbourg Esslingen
A N C
Danube
Reutlingen D a nu b e
Ulm Augsburg BAVARIA
Rottweil
Biberach Munich
Freiburg-im-Breisgau
Y
F R
Memmingen
Mulhouse Ravensburg Kaufbeuren
R
Kempton
A
Waldshut
Constance Isny
Inn
G
Lindau
AUSTRIA
N
U
SWISS
TYROL
H
CONFED.
0 50 100 Km.
0 50 100 Mi.
ones. In the cities of southern Germany and Switzer- life should be regulated by what they called the pure
land, local religious or political leaders encouraged gospel, which stressed the equality of all Christians
men and women from the middle ranks of urban so- and rejected the idea that clergy or members of reli-
ciety to support reform. These were hardworking gious orders were somehow more genuinely Chris-
people who resented their exclusion from the ruling tian than laypeople. A number of specific reforms
elite and thought of themselves as the backbone of flowed from the idea of the pure gospel. The commu-
the town on whom its collective well-being depended. nity, not the local bishop, would appoint clergy.
After 1520, they produced a flood of printed pamphlets Preachers were to preach on the Bible and nothing
that, like Luther’s, were circulated throughout Ger- else. If disputes arose about the correct interpretation
many and constitute a kind of sixteenth-century pub- of scripture, the community would decide who was
lic opinion poll. It shows that Luther’s criticism of the right. Acceptance of the pure gospel, which called for
pope and his priests was widely accepted. In the de- love of neighbor and commitment to the common
centralized political world of Germany, papal taxes
and clerical exemptions from them were often easily
imposed and deeply resented. As a result, urban re- pure gospel Reform program of German Protestant
formers attacked the privileges of the Catholic clergy, reformers in the cities of the empire endorsing some of
demanding that they be taxed like all other citizens. Luther’s reforms but rejecting others.
The urban reformers also believed that community
Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, 1517–1550 391
good, would reinvigorate the collective identity and mined whether Protestantism would be adopted in
social solidarity of city dwellers. The reformers were, their territories. Rulers also introduced Lutheran re-
therefore, particularly receptive to Luther’s theology forms in Denmark and Sweden. The state’s increasing
of the authority of scripture alone and the priesthood leadership in reform was partly a backlash following
of all believers. Faced with the demands of these ur- the Peasants’ War, as princes and city councils de-
ban reformers, which were often introduced with a cided that a popular reformation by peasants or the
wave of rioting, local municipal authorities had to de- urban middle classes was too dangerous to tolerate.
cide what to do. Since they were concerned with But Luther, under Erasmus’s influence, had also pre-
maintaining public order, they more or less willingly pared the way by calling on rulers to carry out reform.
went along with the reforms. As the empire split into hostile Catholic and
Events in the Swiss city of Zurich show how urban Lutheran states, the emperor Charles V looked on
reform progressed. There, a local priest, Huldrych in dismay. Although he wanted to stamp out the
Zwingli, after reading Erasmus’s attacks on corrupt Lutheran movement, he was only one of many impe-
clergy, urged the town council to inaugurate reform. rial princes, and he was never able to implement his
Zwingli was supported by many townsfolk who be- policy, largely because of distractions from warfare
lieved that both the material and spiritual welfare of with the Turks in the east and the French in the west.
the city depended on a purifying reform of the church. Between 1531 and his abdication in 1556, Charles
Luther’s actions influenced Zwingli, but he went be- tried many solutions to the problem of growing reli-
yond Luther when he banished images of Christ and gious disunity in the empire: gaining time with a truce
the saints from the churches and argued that the bread between the competing factions; calling for a general
and wine of Communion were not the body and blood church council to resolve the matter; trying to estab-
of Christ but simple memorials of Jesus’s Last Supper lish a dialogue with the Lutherans; and, finally, in
with his disciples. Protestant reform thus started to 1546, going to war against the Lutheran princes. None
take different and sometimes conflicting paths. of these strategies worked, and in 1555 he turned the
By1523, there were signs that urban reform was at- problem over to his younger brother, the archduke
tracting rural followers. Calls for religious renewal to Ferdinand, who accepted the Peace of Augsburg in
create a more just Christian community also appealed that year. It acknowledged Lutheranism as a religious
to German peasants, many of whom were experienc- option in the empire and allowed the rulers of each
ing economic hard times following crop failures and imperial state to determine whether the state would
landlords’ demands for more rent. Invoking the pure be Lutheran or Catholic. If the ruler chose Lutheran-
gospel, peasants demanded that their payments to ism, Catholics were free to emigrate to a Catholic
landlords be lowered, that serfdom be abolished, and state, and vice versa. In fact, emigration was often im-
that they have greater access to common lands. Dur- possible because of family or economic reasons, and
ing the summer of 1524, violence broke out in the secret Catholic or Lutheran communities developed
Peasants’ War, which engulfed much of southern in a number of states. Thus, dissenting German Chris-
Germany. In May 1525, an imperial army defeated a tians were forced into a situation rather like that of
peasant force and massacred five to six thousand the Jews and Moors after their expulsions from Spain
rebels. After that, the uprising collapsed. and Portugal—convert, leave, or practice one’s reli-
The war shocked Luther, who had a firm respect gion in secret. State rulers now took the lead in reor-
for social order and obedience to civil authorities. In a ganizing the church, policing the behavior of clergy,
pamphlet, Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of and maintaining Christian morality in the general
Peasants, he urged the troops to “smite, slay, and population. In Catholic states, they still had to share
stab” the rebels. Because of the radical nature of its
demands, historians have often regarded the Peasants’
War as a revolution, though a failed one. It testified to
Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531) Swiss reformer who
a widespread hunger for fundamental religious and
accepted some of Luther’s theological points but re-
social reform that touched hundreds of thousands of jected others.
ordinary men and women by the mid-1520s. Peasants’ War Uprising, 1524–1525, in southern Ger-
The years after 1525 saw the continuing spread of many inspired by Protestant calls for a reform of
Luther’s reforms, but the dynamic behind them had church and society.
changed. No longer were church-based reformers the Peace of Augsburg First major treaty, 1555, to accept
leaders in the movement, and no longer were Ger- the split in western Christianity between Protestants
man cities in its vanguard. Now the princes of the and Catholics.
empire, like the dukes of Saxony and Bavaria, deter-
392 CHAPTER 14 Reform in the Western Church, 1490–1570
government of the church with the pope. In Lutheran receiving or responding to such a call. Soon these rad-
ones, they ruled largely unchecked. Thus, the Peace icals were being denounced as Anabaptists, since
of Augsburg permanently shattered the religious they insisted on being rebaptized as adults in a true,
unity of Germany and established a pattern of Chris- voluntary baptism.
tian religious pluralism that would be one of the hall- Anabaptism first emerged among the craftsmen of
marks of European life in subsequent centuries. the Swiss city of Zurich. They preached adult bap-
tism, called for a separated church, and refused to
honor customary civic obligations like paying church
taxes, holding public office, or serving in the militia.
The Protestant Reformation They even began to hold all their material goods in
Across Europe, 1520–1570 common, inspired by the first-century church in Jeru-
salem, which had implemented this form of Christian
➜
What were the similarities and differences among the communalism, as described in the New Testament
reform programs of Luther, the Anabaptists, and Calvin?
book of Acts. Anabaptist separatism was thus deeply
➜
the clergy were placed above ordinary church mem- assured believers that, in the end, God would tri-
bers to teach and administer discipline in the commu- umph over sinners’ opposition to him.
nity. His insistence that the church alone should appoint Calvin’s opportunity to put his theology into prac-
the clergy was closer to traditional Catholic practice tice came in 1541, when the town council of the little
than the procedures adopted in Lutheran lands, where city-state of Geneva called him to reform the local
the state controlled clergy recruitment. But Calvin church. For the next fourteen years, he argued, threat-
joined Luther in increasing worshipers’ personal par- ened, and maneuvered to get a reform to his liking.
ticipation in church services by translating the book Calvin’s cause was helped by an influx of religious
of Psalms into French and setting the Psalms to sim- refugees from his native country who fled to Geneva
ple tunes that the congregation could sing. to avoid persecution by the French government.
Calvin also agreed with Luther that everyone in a These Frenchmen, solidly behind their fellow coun-
given territory should belong to the same church. tryman’s agenda, were able to take over Geneva’s
But, because of his belief in the doctrine of double government in 1555. It was then that Calvin finally
predestination, he did not think that all church mem- gained full control over the church.
bers were necessarily saved. Predestination taught Because Calvin thought of the church in territorial
that before the world was created, God foresaw that terms, everyone in Geneva had to conform to church
human beings would sin and thereby merit damna- standards. To enforce reform, he created the Consis-
tion as the just punishment for their sin. God then de- tory, a body made up of Calvinist ministers and mem-
creed that some of these sinners were predestined for bers of the city government. The Consistory scrutinized
Hell while others were predestined for Heaven. Those every aspect of Genevans’ behavior, imposing fines
predestined for Hell suffered just punishment for or imprisonment for infractions. Everything people
their sins, testifying to God’s justice. Those predes- said or did was to be supervised and controlled. Like
tined for Heaven were forgiven their sins and would the advocates of the pure gospel, Calvinists in Geneva
be reunited with God, testifying to God’s mercy. were trying to forge a new Christian identity based
Calvin often argued that probably only one in a hun- strictly on Protestant religious principles.
dred would be saved. Like Luther, he believed that Throughout the period of Calvin’s rule in Geneva,
sin had corrupted people’s wills so that they could do religious refugees from all over Europe continued to
nothing that contributed to their salvation. Therefore, stream into the city. It is estimated that between 1550
they were saved not through any merit or works of and 1562 about seven thousand of the city’s ten thou-
their own but solely as a result of God’s loving kind- sand inhabitants were foreigners. These refugees,
ness. Although a person’s good works did not earn
salvation, Calvin taught that they were a sign that
double predestination Belief that God has predes-
God had chosen the person as one of the elect des- tined some human beings for damnation and others
tined for salvation. Since impulses to act as good for salvation.
Christians were an assurance of salvation, Calvinists the elect Those whom God has chosen (elected) for
were quick to nurture their desire for church and salvation.
state reform. Calvin also argued that hard work and Consistory Assembly made up of Calvinist ministers
thrift were signs of election. He believed that the doc- and members of city government that enforced Calvin-
trine of double predestination explained why some ist standards of behavior in Geneva.
people refused to join the reformed churches. It also
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
The Pastors of Geneva Establish Rules for
Proper Christian Conduct
Beginning in 1541, the reformed clergy of Geneva, under the guidance of John
Calvin, published rules governing the behavior of clergy and laity in Geneva.
Calvinism’s great strength lay in its ability to forge strong bonds and loyalties be-
tween members of a Calvinist community. This could be done by rewarding behav-
The Protestant Reformation Across Europe, 1520–1570 395
ior that conformed to Calvinist community norms while punishing behavior that
did not. It could also be done by trying to reconcile quarreling members of the
community. The rules of 1541 provided guidelines for carrying out all aspects of
Calvinism’s community building agenda.
Source: The Register of the Company of Pastors of Geneva in the Time of Calvin,
ed. and trans. Philip Edgcumbe Hughes (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1966), pp. 38–39, 56–59. All rights reserved.
396 CHAPTER 14 Reform in the Western Church, 1490–1570
many of whom were nobility, wanted to introduce ened by organized persecution from Catholic author-
Calvin’s reforms into their homelands, and their sta- ities, were prepared to resist rulers if they opposed
tus was particularly important for Calvinism’s future Calvinist reform. This position directly conflicted
success. To meet the refugees’ needs, Calvin founded with Luther’s views about obedience to rulers.
a training institute for future Calvinist pastors, the
Genevan Academy, where men were taught the theol-
Reform in England
ogy of the Institutes and the best ways to form church
communities, especially under persecution. Calvinists in Scotland introduced religious reform
from the bottom up. To the south, in England, it was in-
The Spread of Calvinism troduced from the top down. In 1521, King Henry VIII
published a treatise condemning Lutheranism. Shortly
Calvinism was the most dynamic form of Protestant- thereafter, the pope granted him the title Defender of
ism after 1550, becoming an international movement the Faith in recognition of his service to Catholicism.
with headquarters in Geneva as missionaries left the Twelve years later, however, Rome excommunicated
city to establish Calvinist communities in their native Henry, a surprising turn of events that occurred be-
lands. The first to return home were the French. In cause succession problems were plaguing the king.
France, most Calvinists were recruited from the urban When the pope refused to grant Henry an annul-
middle class, but members of powerful noble fami- ment from Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of Fer-
lies also converted. It was often the women in these dinand and Isabella, the king turned to the English
families who convinced their relations to embrace clergy. With their support, he divorced Catherine and
Calvinism. For example, Jeanne d’Albret introduced married her lady-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn, who was
Calvinism into the tiny kingdom of Navarre, on the bor- already pregnant with his child. Anne gave birth to
der between France and Spain. By 1560, about 10 per- Henry’s second daughter, Elizabeth. When the pope
cent of the overall French population was Huguenot, learned of Henry’s action, he excommunicated him.
as the French Calvinists were called, while about 50 In retaliation, Henry, in the Act of Supremacy, pro-
percent of the nobility had embraced the new faith. claimed himself “the only supreme head on earth of
As the Huguenots’ numbers grew, confrontations with the church of England,” a title still held today by
Catholics also increased, and soon France was on the British monarchs. In 1536, Henry, still in search of a
verge of civil war. male heir, had Anne convicted of adultery and be-
In the Netherlands, Protestantism was fiercely re- headed. Following her execution, Henry married
sisted by Charles V. Unlike in Germany, where he was four more times, finally having a son, Edward, by his
often checked by other powerful imperial princes, fourth wife. All three of Henry’s children were to rule
Charles governed the Netherlands directly as the lo- England, as Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth I.
cal prince, and no powerful noble factions emerged Although Henry VIII broke with Rome, he had no
to promote the Protestant cause. When the Lutherans intention of breaking with traditional Catholicism.
and Anabaptists tried to establish communities in
the Netherlands, Charles’s government effectively re- Jeanne d’Albret (1528–1572) French noblewoman who
pressed them. By the time he abdicated in 1556, some introduced Calvinism into the kingdom of Navarre.
five hundred dissidents had been executed for heresy. Huguenots (from German, “confederation”) French
Nevertheless, Calvinist missionaries began to infil- Calvinists, so called because they formed a network of
trate the region, establishing secret communities, and, Protestant churches.
like France, the Netherlands was moving toward John Knox (1505–1572) Leader of Calvinist reform of
armed clashes between Protestants and Catholics. the church in Scotland.
In 1558, John Knox, returning from Geneva, suc- Presbyterian Form of church organization used in the
cessfully introduced Calvinist theology into his na- Calvinist Church of Scotland in which ministers
known as presbyters or elders were church leaders,
tive Scotland and created a Presbyterian form of
eliminating bishops.
church administration that eliminated bishops. Knox
Henry VIII (r. 1509–1547) King who broke with the
had the help of powerful nobles who opposed the pope over his divorce from Catherine of Aragon and
rule of Mary, Queen of Scots, widow of the French marriage to Anne Boleyn, launching the English
king Francis II and a committed Catholic. In 1559, Reformation.
Knox published The First Blast Against the Monstrous Act of Supremacy Henry VIII’s declaration that
Regiment of Women, in which he attacked Mary and the king of England was the earthly head of the
argued that female rule was unnatural. Knox’s attack English church.
appealed to Scottish Calvinists, whose leaders, hard-
Catholic Reform, 1500–1570 397
Throughout his reign, he resisted any attempt to turn also feared popular agitation if reform went too far. It
the English church into a Protestant one. Neverthe- was Elizabeth’s accomplishment to make England
less, the rift with the pope opened the door to more Protestant while keeping Catholic opposition fairly
radical reform, which actually began under Henry. well contained. As her reign progressed, more and
The greatest change came when the king ordered the more Anglicans identified with the queen’s theologi-
abolition of English monasteries and the confiscation cal middle way, seeing it as a distinctively English so-
of their lands on the grounds that the monks and lution to the huge rift between Protestantism and
nuns in them were too closely tied to the pope. Most Catholicism that had engulfed the western church.
of these lands were then sold to aristocrats to pay for By 1570, religious warfare between Catholics and
England’s foreign wars, and these new owners—who Protestants had broken out in France and the Nether-
constituted the kingdom’s political, social, and eco- lands. These developments ruled out the possibility
nomic elite—thus had a vested interest in keeping of any reconciliation between the rival forms of
Roman Catholicism out of England. So Henry’s di- Christianity on the continent, where, for the next
vorce had huge consequences he had not intended. eighty years, there would be armed conflict between
When Henry died in 1547, he was succeeded by his Protestants and Catholics.
son, Edward VI. Because the boy was a minor, a Re-
gency Council, controlled by Protestant noblemen,
was created to govern in his name. In 1552, the coun-
cil instituted a compromise form of Protestantism in Catholic Reform, 1500–1570
the English church when it imposed the Book of
➜
Common Prayer, a blend of Lutheran and Calvinist What did Catholic reformers want to change in
the church?
theology. Now congregations could participate di-
➜
follow him. Ignatius’s emphasis on training the will tants in print and from the pulpit, but they welcomed
to follow Christ was based on the traditional Catholic them into their schools in hopes of converting them.
view that both human effort and God’s grace brought Like the Protestants, the Jesuits and other Catholic
about a person’s salvation. This view contrasted with reformers also promoted new forms of devotion for
Luther’s and Calvin’s belief in the deep sinfulness of the laity. One of the most popular was the recitation
human wills. of the rosary. Combining traditional veneration for
For Ignatius, strengthening the will involved a Mary with meditation on Christ’s life, death, and
form of prayer called meditation, in which one con- Resurrection, the rosary was a widely used means for
centrated on a scene from Jesus’s life as recounted in instructing ordinary Catholics in the church’s teach-
the Gospels, breathing the air, feeling the heat, and ings, heightening their sense of spiritual union with
becoming part of the crowd in order mentally to meet God and forging a strong sense of Catholic identity.
Jesus face to face. Thus Ignatius, like Luther and In 1556, when Ignatius of Loyola died, the Jesuits had
Calvin, turned to the Bible for inspiration. But he almost a thousand members. Seventy years later, they
never embraced their doctrine of scripture alone. In had fifteen thousand members across the globe and
fact, part of the Exercises laid down “rules for think- ran 450 schools.
ing with the church.” As a Catholic, Ignatius looked
to church tradition and papal authority, as well as Reform in the Papacy
scripture, for religious guidance.
As Ignatius formulated the Exercises, he also mod- The pope who recognized the Jesuits was Paul III.
ified his future plans, deciding that more education Paul cautiously embraced church reform, and his
was necessary to be a successful missionary in the reign proved a turning point for the Catholic Church.
Holy Land. He, therefore, enrolled in a Spanish ele- One of his first reforms was to appoint a special com-
mentary school (as a nobleman, he had learned how mission to evaluate papal administration. The com-
to fight, but not how to read and write). Later he mission’s secret report, issued in 1537, argued that
transferred to the University of Paris, where he began corruption in the church was caused mainly by abuses
his studies in 1528, the year John Calvin entered law of papal power. Paul tried to ignore the report, but it
school. In Paris, he joined seven fellow students to was smuggled out to a local printer who made it pub-
found the Society of Jesus. In 1537, they were or- lic, once again demonstrating the power of the print-
dained priests and set off for Venice, intending to sail ing press. Shortly thereafter, Luther published it with
for the Holy Land. Once again, the trip was canceled, his own scathing comments. Publicly, Paul appeared
this time because of a war between Venice and the unruffled by the uproar, but privately he began ap-
Turks. In 1540, the pope officially recognized the Je- pointing reformers to the College of Cardinals, the
suits, and Ignatius moved to Rome. From there he ran body charged with the election of future popes.
the order in a highly centralized way, rather like a In 1542, Paul established the Roman Inquisition.
general running his army. He also placed the order at Modeled on Ferdinand and Isabella’s Spanish Inquisi-
the pope’s disposal. From then on, it expanded rap- tion, it investigated and punished heretics in Catholic
idly and became the single most important reforming lands. In 1549, another instrument of repression was
order in the church. Like the Capuchins, it concen- set up, The Index of Prohibited Books, which listed
trated on active service in the world. works Catholics were forbidden to read. Eventually,
The Jesuits’ most successful service was in educa- many of Erasmus’s works appeared on it. The creation
tion. They founded secondary schools throughout of the Roman Inquisition and the Index signaled a
the Catholic world, for boys from the middle and up- change in outlook for the Catholic Church. Faced
per classes. They believed that, by instilling a deep
sense of Catholic identity in these future social and
political leaders, they could reinvigorate Catholicism
meditation Form of mental prayer developed by Ig-
and push back Protestantism. The Jesuits did not
natius that concentrated on a scene from the life of
charge students tuition; instead, they expected local Jesus as recounted in the Gospels.
authorities to finance their schools and thereby build Paul III (r. 1534–1549) Most important reforming pope
community involvement in their educational pro- of the Catholic Church.
gram. They also gave Ignatius’s Exercises to students College of Cardinals Body charged with the election
and their families, as well as to interested local clergy. of new popes.
The Jesuit schools were spectacularly successful. The The Index of Prohibited Books A list of books that
quality of instruction was so good that even some Catholics were forbidden to read.
Protestants went to them. The Jesuits attacked Protes-
400 CHAPTER 14 Reform in the Western Church, 1490–1570
In this engraving of the Council of Trent, cardinals, bishops, and papal representatives are shown on either side
of the Council’s Chancellor, who sits at a desk while the king of Spain’s representative speaks. Representatives
of other Catholic rulers are seated in the center. Behind them is a crowd of observers. (Courtesy of the Trustees of
the British Museum)
Catholic dioceses for the training of new clergy. It from the old system, including an assassination at-
also ordered bishops to visit every church in their tempt, Borromeo was remarkably successful in mak-
diocese to make sure that the buildings were in good ing Milan a showcase of reform. He died in 1584, at
repair, that services were properly conducted, and that age forty-six. In 1610, the pope proclaimed him a
the clergy were living moral lives. Another decree Catholic saint.
reaffirmed the traditional position that all women in Borromeo showed the way for reforming bishops
religious orders were to stay within their convents, elsewhere in the Catholic world. A hundred years af-
separated from society. In 1564, the pope accepted all ter the Council of Trent, that world had been largely
Trent’s decrees while announcing that he alone had transformed. The Catholic Church was more central-
the authority to interpret them. ized than ever before. Vigorous leadership after 1534
The reforms of Trent were implemented, slowly strengthened the position of the Roman popes, while
and unevenly, throughout the Catholic world. The centralized and dynamic orders like the Capuchins
greatest gains were made in dioceses where the bishop and Jesuits spread new ideals and practices to Catholic
was a committed reformer. One of the first successes communities all over the globe. Religious devotion
came in the northern Italian city of Milan, where the
archbishop, Carlo Borromeo, founded a diocesan
seminaries Schools for the training of the Chris-
seminary, set up Sunday schools to teach the young tian clergy.
the basics of Christian belief and practice, and estab- diocese Territory presided over by a bishop of
lished religious associations for laymen and -women. the church.
He also gained control over local religious orders, Carlo Borromeo (1538–1584) Catholic archbishop of
conducted thorough visitations throughout the dio- Milan who implemented the reforms of the Council of
cese, and cared personally for the sick and needy. De- Trent in his diocese.
spite strong opposition from people who profited
402 CHAPTER 14 Reform in the Western Church, 1490–1570
intensified as Teresa of Ávila’s treatises on prayer Thus, in Peru, local people went to church—after pro-
were more and more widely read. Finally, a reformed tecting the building by smearing animal blood on its
Catholic identity was further advanced when the foundations, an old Inca ritual. This modified Latin
church issued new books for worship services that American Catholicism still exists, illustrating the
put Catholics literally on the same page throughout complexity of the encounter that took place as the
the year; all over the Catholic world, on any given Catholic Church established itself in the Americas.
day, people in church read and heard the same words In Asia, Portuguese missionaries led in spreading
during worship. Like the Muslims, whose worship Catholicism. One of the first was Francis Xavier, who
was always in Arabic, the Catholics also shared a with Ignatius of Loyola had founded the Jesuits. Xavier
common religious language, Latin. was active in India and Japan, using as his base the
Portuguese trading post at Goa. In 1549, he also trav-
Catholic Missions Overseas eled to Japan and stayed two years, leaving behind a
small Christian community made up of Jesuits and
The Catholics were the first Europeans to embark on Japanese converts. This mission’s success depended
overseas missionary activity in the Americas and East on the Japanese political elite. Some local rulers sup-
Asia, believing that converts there could make up for ported the missionaries in hopes of strengthening
the souls lost in Europe to the Protestant “heresy.” their commercial ties with the Portuguese. For their
Some also thought that spreading Christianity over- part, the Jesuits were careful to respect Japanese cus-
seas meant the end of the world was near, since toms by dressing appropriately, bathing frequently,
Christ’s command “to make disciples of all nations” and eating only locally acceptable foods. The result
(Matthew 28:19) would finally be realized. was the establishment of a Christian community that
In the Americas, Spanish missionaries debated the numbered some 250,000 by 1600, or about 0.5 percent
best strategy for Christianizing the local people. Some of the total population. But after 1593, when Spanish
followed Bartholomé de Las Casas in trying to pro- missionaries arrived from the Philippines, quarrels
tect them from harsh treatment by fellow Europeans with the Portuguese caused the missionary effort to
and to preserve those features of their pre-Christian collapse in the face of imperial rivalries. In 1616, the
cultures that were compatible with Christianity. Oth- Japanese government began suppressing Christianity
ers believed that local peoples were so lacking in hu- and ultimately executed almost forty thousand men,
man reason that they should be viewed as stubborn women, and children, some by crucifixion. Japan
unbelievers, like Jews and Muslims. They should be then closed its doors to the west. Christianity was
forced to learn Spanish and live in settlements that re- driven underground, where it survived for centuries
produced European life, thereby replacing their old as a secret religion passed on in families and local
values and customs with European ones. communities from generation to generation.
If missionaries in the Americas disagreed over The Jesuits also initiated missionary activity in
strategies for converting local peoples, they all agreed China. In 1552, Francis Xavier arrived there but died
that the process of conversion should be in European shortly after landing on an island near Hong Kong. The
hands. Only in the eighteenth century did the church real founder of the Chinese mission was an Italian Je-
start to train large numbers of Indian men for the suit, Matteo Ricci, who was born in the year Xavier
clergy. Before then, even the most well-disposed priests died. Ricci learned Mandarin, dressed in Chinese
doubted that the Indians were ready to lead the church clothes, and emphasized the similarities between
on their own. This attitude resulted from three factors: Catholicism and the traditional Chinese philosophy of
bewilderment at the complexity and strangeness of the Confucianism. Like the Jesuits in Europe, Ricci concen-
Indians’ cultures, a paternalistic sense of the church’s trated on Chinese political and social elites, hoping for
obligation to protect or correct local peoples, and a conversions in powerful places. He eventually resided
racist sense of the innate superiority of Europeans. at the imperial court in Beijing, where he gained a few
Local peoples reacted to the missionaries’ activi- converts, though most refused baptism. Thus, Ricci’s
ties in various ways. Some tried to resist any changes influence in China was small, but his influence in Eu-
in traditional culture. Others, particularly those who
came from the old Indian elite, converted fairly easily Francis Xavier (1506–1552) Jesuit who led Catholic
to both Christianity and European customs. Many, missions in India and Japan.
however, found a middle way. They adopted those Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) Italian Jesuit missionary in
aspects of Catholicism and European culture that China who sent new information on Chinese civiliza-
seemed useful and melded them with their older be- tion back to Europe.
liefs and practices, creating a new religious identity.
Reformation and Society 1517–1570 403
➜➜
How was religious reform put into practice?
How did the actions of ordinary men and women shape
the outcomes of reform?
Catholic reformers sometimes endorsed education uted by the municipal government. Only those iden-
for both boys and girls, often for the same reasons as tified by the authorities as “deserving” would receive
Protestants. A new Roman Catechism, published in help, thus restricting aid to those who were truly un-
1566, taught young people throughout the Catholic able to work because of age, disability, or sickness.
world how to recite the Lord’s Prayer, the creeds, and People who simply chose not to work would be left to
the Hail Mary. Nevertheless, Catholics established fend for themselves.
even fewer schools for girls than the Protestants; a The guiding principle behind Luther’s ordinance
late-sixteenth-century educational survey in Venice was his rejection of good works as a means toward
listed 4,600 boy students but only 30 girls. Catholics, salvation. No longer were people to think that giving
too, thought that cooking, sewing, and other house- to the poor helped to save them. Charity was simply
hold activities, all requiring little formal education, a free act of love performed by Christian people for
were women’s usual work, although they continued the benefit of other Christians. Luther’s reform was
to see life in a religious order as another option. rooted in his theology, but his decision to turn poor
Catholic boys fared better than girls, since efforts relief over to the city government had profound con-
were sometimes made to educate more of them than sequences: from then on, the state, not the church,
before. For example, the Piarists, a religious order was responsible for care of the destitute.
founded in 1597 by a blacksmith’s son, established Catholic reformers also argued that the state should
primary schools for poor boys so they could meet the assume the task of poor relief. In 1526, Juan Luis
entry qualifications for the more advanced Jesuit Vives, a Spanish humanist living in the Netherlands,
schools. Since Piarist schools were free, the poor argued that municipal governments should adminis-
would be given an equal chance with the rich for a ter all funds for the poor. Vives’s work won the sup-
quality education. The Piarists met with opposition port of other Catholics, but his proposals were never
from people who thought that the lowborn should fully implemented in Catholic lands. The old practice
stay where they were. Overall, both Catholic and of individual giving to the poor was too strong to be
Protestant reforms of elementary education, along swept away completely, as the success of the begging
with the availability of printed reading material, has- Capuchins shows. Moreover, the idea that charity
tened the spread of literacy throughout Europe. was a praiseworthy good work was reinforced by the
Council of Trent. As a result, Catholics tended to cre-
Poor Relief ate a variety of different systems for poor relief. State
authorities administered some funds, religious confra-
In Europe, the number of poor people grew during the ternities collected and distributed others, and private
sixteenth century, rising to nearly half the population individuals continued to give. Like the Lutherans,
in the hardest-hit urban and rural areas. It is, therefore, Catholics usually tried to distinguish between the de-
not surprising that Protestant and Catholic reformers serving and undeserving poor.
called for a rethinking of the problem of poverty. The Calvin’s program for the poor resembled both
outcome was a change in attitudes about the poor and Luther’s and Vives’s, since the government of Geneva
the ways communities should deal with them. took responsibility for the needy. Calvin believed that
In the Middle Ages, the poor were given sacred all wealth came from God and was to be used for the
significance. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus identi- benefit of the community as a whole. Thus the state
fied the hungry, the naked, and the sick with himself. should tax the rich for the benefit of the poor. He also
Anyone, therefore, who cared for them was also car- thought that poverty was a sign of God’s anger over
ing for him. As a result, charity toward the needy sin, but he did not place the sin simply on the shoul-
made up a major portion of the good works medieval ders of the poor themselves. If there was poverty, it
people performed; they looked after the sick and dy-
ing and provided food and shelter for the destitute.
Hail Mary Roman Catholic prayer praising Mary
Above all, they gave to beggars. These practices came and asking her to pray to Jesus on behalf of the one
under attack from both Protestants and Catholics reciting it.
during the sixteenth century. Piarists Catholic religious order dedicated to the edu-
As early as 1522, Martin Luther issued an ordi- cation of poor boys.
nance governing poor relief in Wittenberg. It out- literacy Ability to read and write.
lawed all public begging and mandated that care of Juan Luis Vives (1492–1540) Spanish Catholic human-
the poor was to be transferred from private individu- ist living in the Netherlands who supported a state
als or groups to the city. Funds for poor relief were to takeover of relief for the poor.
be collected in all the city’s churches and then distrib-
Reformation and Society 1517–1570 405
was because the community as a whole had sinned. social unit, the family. All men and women, including
Like Luther and Vives, Calvin was shifting poor relief the clergy, were now to be married, and religious or-
from the church to the state. In the long run, state ad- ders, which promoted celibacy, were to be abolished.
ministration of poverty programs was to be a central In 1525, he set the example by marrying an ex-nun,
feature of the modern European world. Katherine von Bora. Marriages were to be public
events, and they had to be sanctioned by the couple’s
Family Life parents, not just the future spouses themselves. In
these ways Luther narrowed the freedom of choice
A third area in which Protestant and Catholic reform- for couples. In another way, however, he expanded it
ers tried to introduce new social attitudes and prac- by allowing for divorce under special circumstances.
tices was family life. As with primary education and Although divorces were frowned on and expensive
poor relief, communities accepted some reforms while to obtain, they could be granted for such reasons as
modifying or rejecting others. The result was a meld- adultery, male impotence, a spouse’s refusal of sexual
ing of old and new that resulted from a prolonged relations, desertion, and conviction of a capital crime.
contest between reforming elites and ordinary people. Finally, Luther ordered the closure of brothels, argu-
In the western Catholic Church during the Middle ing that men could control their sexual impulses and
Ages, family life was based on the institution of mar- confine their sexual activities to marriage. Luther’s
riage. The church taught that the purpose of marriage reform of marriage served as a model for most other
was twofold: to provide an outlet for sexual impulses Protestant churches, although some modified various
and to bring children into the world. Both purposes points. For example, the Church of England forbade
were considered acceptable but not ideal. The highest divorce, while the Anabaptists often insisted on com-
state for Christians was that of permanent sexual ab- munity, not just parental, approval of marriages.
stinence expressed in a life of celibacy, following the Protestant reform brought changes to the lives of
example of Jesus and the apostle Paul. Thus clergy- husbands and wives. On the one hand, those Protes-
men, monks, and nuns were thought to live a better tants who married were no longer viewed as second-
kind of Christian life than married people. For the class Christians, since the old ideal of a celibate life
married, sexual intercourse was permissible only be- was no longer accepted. In addition, marriage was
tween husband and wife, only on certain days, and viewed more positively than before. Its purpose was
only in certain positions. Of course, there were many to increase affection and cooperation between spouses,
who failed to live up to these ideals, and some clergy- not just to provide an outlet for sexual impulses or to
men even expected that people would find it impos- bring babies into the world. Women were viewed as
sible to observe them. Thus many city governments real partners with their husbands in running a house-
established brothels, arguing that men, especially, were hold, increasing their honor in society. On the other
incapable of controlling their sexual passions and hand, women lost some of their older religious options,
that use of brothels was better than rape and adultery. since they could no longer enter a women’s religious
Marriage itself was considered a sacrament that the order. From then on, their adult roles were limited to
bride and groom administered to each other through those of spouse or spinster. Even legal prostitution as
the exchange of vows. The free consent of the partners a choice was taken away when brothels closed.
to marriage was thus required. The Council of Trent Catholics also reformed marriage practices, al-
also required that the marriage take place in public though they kept more of the old ways than Protes-
before witnesses, including the priest in the parish tants. Marriage was still viewed as a sacrament. In
where the agreement to marry had taken place. Mar- addition, the free consent of bride and groom re-
riages contracted secretly were not recognized as bind- mained the only essential act leading to marriage;
ing on the couple. Once a proper marriage had taken parental consent was encouraged but not required.
place, it would last until the death of one of the Marriages could not be secret; they had to take place
spouses, since divorce was prohibited. It was also in public before a priest. Divorce was still not allowed.
widely agreed that after marriage, the husband was The best one could hope for in a failed marriage was
head of the family, with his wife and all others subject either a permanent separation or an annulment de-
to him. claring that the marriage had never really existed.
As in other areas of life, Martin Luther swept away While Catholics differed from Protestants on the mat-
many of these traditional attitudes and practices. He ter of divorce, they both agreed that marriage existed
declared that marriage was not a sacrament but sim- for something more than the release of sexual passion
ply a God-given social institution. He saw it as the and the production of offspring. It was also the place
foundation of all social order, since it created the basic where individuals could find companionship and
406 CHAPTER 14 Reform in the Western Church, 1490–1570
servants. Cases they had previously settled in Jewish Papal States. They were also allowed to live in other
law courts were now transferred to the state’s law states in Italy, often on terms more favorable than
courts, run by Christians. Jews could no longer serve those offered by the popes. While Rome shaped its
as physicians to non-Jews, a role traditionally played policy for religious reasons, the other states took eco-
by Jewish men in the Middle Ages. Now, their eco- nomic considerations into account. They wanted Jew-
nomic activity was confined to the secondhand clothes ish settlements for commercial reasons, since Jews
trade. Finally, they continued to be publicly identified had good business connections in the Muslim world.
and shamed by the yellow badges they were forced to
wear on their clothing. The pope intended to humili- Ghetto Originally, a district in Venice where Jews were
ate the Jews, isolate them socially, and attack them allowed to settle in the sixteenth century.
economically. But Jews were not expelled from the
What motivated the leaders of church reform, created a blueprint for reform that was implemented
whether Protestant or Catholic? over the next hundred years throughout the Catholic
➜
How did Protestant and Catholic reform reshape the world. Finally, Catholics inaugurated the first over-
religious identities of both Christians and non-Chris- seas missions by western Christians. Missionaries of-
tians in western Europe and overseas?
ten tried to impose European values on converts as
➜
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Media Revolutions
The first modern media revolution took place in the second half of the fifteenth century with the invention
of printing using movable type. Studies of printed material in the sixteenth century show that most publica-
tions dealt with religious matters. Catechisms, prayer books, Bibles, and saints’ lives were turned out in ever-
increasing numbers. Not only were more religious texts produced in shorter time, mistakes in texts were
produced in a different way. When a scribe made one copy of a manuscript, his mistakes were in that copy
alone. When the printing press churned out many identical copies of a single work, mistakes were repeated
over and over again. In England, for example, a printer was summoned before a church court on the charge
of blasphemy because of a mistake in his edition of the Bible. His text read, “Thou shalt commit adultery.”
The use of print media to promote Catholic or Protestant reform meant that, for the first time, reading skills
were necessary for the mass of Europeans. The ability to read and write therefore became a central aspect
of European identity. Historians measure the growth of literacy by noting the percentage of personally
signed documents in the surviving sources. By this indicator, literacy spread gradually throughout Europe in
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, first in the northwest and then in the south and east.
Beginning in the late nineteenth century, when literacy was widespread in all parts of Europe, media revolu-
tions followed each other in rapid succession. The silent motion picture and the phonograph, which were
invented at about the same time, emphasized different channels of communication—sight and sound. In
the early twentieth century, radio expanded sound communication even further. Then the two were united
in the talking motion pictures. After World War II, the development of television brought sight and sound
into the home. Now it was possible to get the daily news or enjoy a story without having to use reading
skills, and some critics complained that people’s reading ability would decline.
Today, communication via e-mail, online newspapers, and audiovisual streaming in real time links millions of
people around the globe in radically new ways. But the Internet revolution is only the latest in a series of
media revolutions that have changed people’s lives. Compared to the Internet revolution, the printing revo-
lution looks pretty primitive. But, in its time, its impact was equally profound.
Suggested Readings
Donnelly, John Patrick. Ignatius of Loyola: Founder of the Je- Tracy, James D. Europe’s Reformations, 1450–1650. 2nd ed.
suits. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2004. A good biography. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. Good general coverage.
Hsia, Ronnie Po-chia. The World of Catholic Renewal, 1540– Wiesner-Hanks, Merry. Christianity and Sexuality in the Early
1770. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. A Modern World. New York: Routledge, 2000. A wide-ranging
comprehensive guide to Catholic reform in Europe and overseas. study that examines the impact of church reform on ordinary
Kittelson, James M. Luther the Reformer. Minneapolis: Augs- people.
burg Publishing House, 1986. A readable biography. Williams, Rowan. Teresa of Avila. New York: Continuum,
McGrath, Alister E. A Life of John Calvin. Malden, Mass.: 1991. A brief account of Teresa’s life and thought.
Blackwell Publishers, 1990. A biography that places Calvin’s
life and thought within the larger context of church reform.
Websites
Basic information and many links to more specialized topics, Illustrations of important Reformation people, Reformation
Internet Modern History Sourcebook / Reformation Europe, at Picture Gallery—People, at www.mun.ca/rels/reform/pics/
www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook02.html#Protestant people/people.html
More basic information and links, The Reformation Guide,
at www.educ.msu.edu/homepages/laurence/reformation/
index.htm
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410
CHAPTER
A Century of War
and Wonder,
1550–1650
CHAPTER OUTLINE
North DENMARK
Austrian Hapsburg lands IRELAND
Sea JUTLAND
Copenhagen Baltic
Spanish Hapsburg lands SCHLESWIG
Dublin Sea Vilna
Other German states PRUSSIA
LübeckP Danzig
OMERA NIA
Swedish lands by 1648 ENGLAND Hamburg
UNITED
Ottoman and Tributary States PROVINCES V is
London BRANDENBURG tu l
Amsterdam Berlin a
Boundary of Holy Roman Empire Magdeburg Warsaw
Essen
Major battle E Breitenfeld
Antwerp Cologne 1631
lb
SPANISH Lützen 1632
e
R hi
SAXONY SILESIA
Siege NETHERLANDS Dn ie
White Mountain 1620 POLAND- per
ne
Rocroi LOWER
1643 UPPER PALATINATE
Prague LITHUANIA
PALATINATE Dn
Paris BOHEMIA i e st
er
ATLANTIC Nantes Nördingen 1634 MORAVIA
Vienna
BAVARIA
OCEAN L oire
FRANCHE-
Augsburg 1529 D
Salzburg AUSTRIA a n u be
FRANCE COMTÉ
Zurich
Buda
Pest
SWITZERLAND Trent
Geneva HUNGARY CRIMEA
TRANSYLVANIA
SAVOY R
EP
ON T
U B Venice SLAVONIA
MILAN LIC
DM
OF
Eb
r
VEN
IC E
Belgrade Black
IE
GENOA
P
o
Sea
SPAIN
A
TUSCANY PAPAL
dr
PORTUGAL STATES at
i
TRIPOLI CYRENICA
EGYPT
411
412 CHAPTER 15 A Century of War and Wonder, 1550–1650
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Jacques Callot Publishes “The
Miseries and Misfortunes of War”
In 1633, Jacques Callot, nearing the end of his life and suffering from a
painful stomach disorder, published eighteen large etchings depicting
“The Miseries and Misfortunes of War.” Military scenes had always been
part of his artistic repertory, but the “Miseries” were something differ-
ent. With them, the respected portrayer of elite life in early-seventeenth-
century Europe revealed himself as one of the most powerful protesters
against the dark side of war.
Callot was born in 1592 into a noble and devout Roman Catholic fam-
ily in the duchy of Lorraine. His artistic talent was apparent at an early
Removed due to copyright age, and in his teens he joined a band of gypsies heading south to Rome,
where he worked as an assistant in a printshop specializing in religious
permissions restrictions.
images at a time when the campaign against Protestantism gripped the
city. The papacy urged the Catholic faithful to come to Rome to rein-
force their faith through visits to the tombs of saints and the city’s mag-
nificent churches. When they left, these pilgrims were eager to take
Jacques Callot home souvenirs, and prints like Callot’s of the famous paintings they had seen in
churches were especially prized.
Jacques Callot was one of
In 1611, Callot moved to Florence to serve the grand duke Cosimo II and his
the greatest artists and print-
mother, the grand duchess Christine, who, like Callot, was from Lorraine. Cosimo’s
makers of his generation.
court was one of the most brilliant and intellectually distinguished in Europe, and
Born into a noble family, he
Florence was filled with artists and scientists in the grand duke’s employ. Here
spent his early years docu-
Callot perfected his etching technique using the extra-hard varnish Italian violin
menting the pageants and
makers put on their instruments. This varnish allowed Callot to prepare his copper
festivities of European rulers
printing plates by cutting fine, clear lines with his etching needle. The result was a
in works that pioneered
remarkably detailed and precise etching ready to pick up ink for printing. In
remarkable new techniques
Florence, Callot continued to produce religious prints, but he also documented
of fine line etching and were
the lives of the grand dukes and their lavish court—scenes of operas, precision
printed on the new printing
marching, and tournaments. Soldiers also figured prominently in these works be-
press. In his last years, Callot
cause the rulers of the time were expected to project an image of warrior power.
produced scenes portraying
Callot’s soldiers were dashing and heroic, mounted on prancing horses and glitter-
the horrors of war that have
ing with finely polished armor.
inspired generations of anti-
In 1621, Cosimo II died, and the grand duchess Christine, reducing state expen-
war protesters. (Lucas
ditures, dismissed Callot and other court artists. Callot returned to his father’s
Vorsterman, Flemish, 1595–
house in Lorraine, which, in 1630, the French invaded. They invaded again in 1632
1675, Portrait of a Man
and in 1633, when they finally annexed the duchy to France and demanded an
[Jacob Callot]. Princeton
oath of loyalty from all locally prominent people, including Callot.
University Art Museum. Gift
The invasion of Lorraine brought the harsh facts of warfare directly into Callot’s
of Junius S. Morgan. x1934-
family. Plague swept through the duchy, brought in by French soldiers, and Callot’s
367a. © 2007 Trustees of
father fell victim to it. It was in this context that Callot decided to create his “Mis-
Princeton University)
eries and Misfortunes of War.” The series of prints were published in 1633. The
first shows an army recruiter luring men to sign up with promises of good pay. A
Introduction 413
fierce battle scene follows, and then come five prints showing the cruelty of sol-
diers against civilians as troops pillage a farm, attack a monastery, burn a village,
and seize a stagecoach. In these scenes people are stabbed, shot, and burned alive.
The next prints show the tables turned on the soldiers, who are tortured and killed
by their commanders for military crimes such as desertion. Here men are tied to a
rope and hurled earthward from a great height, shot by a firing squad, torn apart
on a rack, or burned at the stake, while others hang by their necks like human
fruit on the branches of a great tree. We then see wounded and mangled soldiers
crowding a hospital, people dying by a roadside, and peasants attacking soldiers in
revenge for their atrocities. The series ends with a conqueror rewarding his troops,
implying that the horrors, now celebrated as a “victory,” will start all over again.
Callot presented his prints without any commentary, intending that his artistic skill
alone should carry his bitter message; the moralizing lines now seen on many of
them were added later.
In 1635, at the age of forty-three, Jacques Callot died in a Lorraine that was
ravaged by wartime disease and famine. But his prints endured. They struck home
to many of his generation who, like him, were deeply committed Christians,
whether Catholic or Protestant, and who were also appalled by the horror and
futility of the warfare that had torn Europe apart for nearly a century.
Chronology
1540s Spain’s silver mines in the Americas open 1603 James VI of Scotland becomes James I of En-
gland and Ireland
1555 Peace of Augsburg allows Lutheranism
1610 Louis XIII becomes king of France
1556 Philip II becomes king of Spain;
Ferdinand I becomes Holy Roman emperor 1618 Thirty Years’ War begins
1558 Elizabeth I becomes queen of England 1625 Charles I becomes king of Scotland, England, and
Ireland
1559 Francis II becomes king of France
1629 Peace of Alès ends French Wars of Religion
1562 French Wars of Religion begin
1642 English civil war begins
1564 Maximilian II becomes Holy Roman emperor
1643 Louis XIV becomes king of France
1566 Calvinists rebel in the Netherlands
1648 Peace of Westphalia ends Thirty Years’ War
1571 Spain defeats Turkish navy at Battle of Lepanto
1649 England becomes a republic
1572 French Catholics attack Protestants in Saint
Bartholomew’s Day Massacre 1659 France and Spain sign Treaty of the Pyrenees
1588 Spanish Armada attacks England 1660 Monarchy is restored in the British Isles
1589 Henry IV becomes king of France 1665 Sabbatai Sevi proclaimed the Jewish Messiah
1598 Edict of Nantes grants religious toleration to 1667 War ends in Poland
Huguenots
Europe’s Economy and Society tions in France and England. At first, the French and
English were content to conduct raids against Span-
➜
What were the effects of overseas empire building and ish shipping. In 1523, a French ship sized three ships
global trading on Europe’s economy?
loaded with Moctezuma’s personal treasure and the
➜
present-day Virginia. In 1625, the English colonized the sugar cane, cauliflower, cabbages, lemons (originally
Caribbean island of Barbados and imported African from Asia), and figs to the Western Hemisphere, along
slaves to work sugar plantations there. The French with the European rat. Horses, cattle, pigs, goats, dogs,
state also sponsored colonial ventures in America. In sheep, and chickens came as well, changing forever the
1608, Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Que- animal population of the Americas. Later European ar-
bec on the Saint Lawrence River as the center of the rivals unknowingly brought weed seed with them in
new colony of Canada. In 1683, a French nobleman, the form of Kentucky bluegrass, daisies, and dande-
Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle, led an expedition lions, as well as the European honeybee. The European
from the Great Lakes down the Mississippi River to ox pulled plows through soils that had been too heavy
the Gulf of Mexico and claimed the lands along the to turn over with the Indians’ hand-held tools.
river for France, naming them Louisiana in honor of Trade with Asia also brought more new products
the French king, Louis XIV. At the very end of the cen- to Europe. The first shipment of tea from China ar-
tury, France claimed the western half of the island of rived at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and
Hispaniola and established sugar plantations there. rice, a staple in some Asian diets, was soon widely
The Dutch also established sugar plantations in the grown in Italy. By the end of the century, coffee, na-
Caribbean as, like the English and French, they seized tive to the Arabian Peninsula, was grown in the East
islands originally claimed by Spain. In Asia, the Dutch Indies and then shipped to Europe. Soon it would
attacked the Portuguese and gradually replaced them also be grown in the Americas. The rich prized Asian
as the major power in the spice trade. ebony wood for furniture and delicate Chinese porce-
Establishing colonies and attacking empires were lains for their collections of rare items. At a less exotic
costly adventures involving large investments and level, Chinese zinc and Indian tin were imported in
high risks. To raise the necessary money, Europeans ever-increasing quantities. Thus, the entry of new
developed a new form of business organization, the states and private companies into Europe’s overseas
joint-stock company, in which individuals pooled trade expanded the global trading networks linking
their capital and received stock shares in proportion America, Europe, and Asia that had begun in the six-
to the size of their investment. The joint-stock tech- teenth century. The result was the beginning of a new
nique raised huge sums of money but limited the risk era in Europe’s economic life based on commerce.
factor for each investor. Jamestown was founded by a
joint-stock venture, the Virginia Company. The English A River of Silver
East India Company, founded in 1600, established
trading posts on the subcontinent of India, while the Spain’s silver mines in the Americas, opened in the
Dutch United East India Company, founded in 1602, 1540s, produced huge quantities of precious metal that
was profitable for more than a century. flowed to Europe and Asia. Contemporary official es-
Nowhere were the effects of trade and colonization timates of silver exports from the Spanish Empire place
more far reaching than in the exchange between Eu- the figure at some 17,800 tons, but smuggling and un-
rope and the Western Hemisphere. In the century af- official exports may have pushed it as high as 29,000
ter Columbus’s voyages, many new food items were tons. This amount would have tripled silver supplies
introduced into Europe: chili peppers, beans, pump- in Europe, where the metal was used mainly as money;
kins, squashes, tomatoes, peanuts, chocolate, maize, when news of silver’s discovery reached Europe,
and potatoes. Maize and potatoes were to become Charles V’s credit rating soared. The most productive
staples in the diets of southern and northern Euro- mine was in present-day Bolivia at San Luis de Po-
peans, respectively. These strange foods provoked tosí. The other main source was at Zacatecas in north-
doubt and debate. Some argued that people should ern Mexico. Gold and emeralds were also mined.
eat only foods mentioned in the Bible. Others won- The silver of Potosí was either minted into coins or
dered if potatoes and peanuts, which grew under-
ground, should be fed to animals but not to humans,
Louisiana French colony in the Mississippi valley
who were higher up in the ladder of creation. To- named after King Louis XIV.
bacco, cultivated early in Virginia, provided a satisfy-
joint-stock company Company in which individuals
ing New World smoke, sniff, or chew after a New pool their capital and receive stock shares in propor-
World turkey dinner, washed down with rum, an al- tion to the size of their investment.
coholic drink made from American-grown sugar. East India Company English joint-stock company
The exchange brought even more dramatic changes founded in 1600 to establish trading posts on the In-
to the Americas. On his second voyage, Columbus dian subcontinent.
brought wheat, melons, onions, radishes, grapevines,
416 CHAPTER 15 A Century of War and Wonder, 1550–1650
melted into bars and then transported to the Peruvian fects on Europeans’ day-to-day lives. Several factors
port of Lima. From there it went by ship to Panama, explain this price revolution. The New World silver
where it was hauled overland to the Caribbean for flowing into Spain soon spread through Europe, since
transfer to Spain. Some silver from northern Mexico the Spanish government sent it out of the country in
was also carried to the Caribbean while the rest went the form of coins to pay for the costs of warfare in
to Acapulco on the Pacific, where it was loaded onto Italy, the Netherlands, and elsewhere, which never
the Manila galleon, a large, square-rigged sailing seemed to stop. As silver coins became more and
ship sent to the Philippine Islands to purchase Chi- more common, the value of the metal in them de-
nese silks and porcelains. The galleon’s annual round clined, and their purchasing power diminished. To
trip was the single most profitable voyage in the counteract the declining value of silver, people with
Spanish Empire, and the millions of silver coins used things to sell raised their prices.
to pay for trade goods flooded Southeast Asia, where The continuing rise in Europe’s population after
they became the standard international currency. 1450 also caused the price revolution. At first, popu-
The silver for Europe, along with goods from China, lation growth stimulated the economy and led to in-
was collected once a year by armed Spanish ships that creased agricultural and commercial activity, which
arrived in the Caribbean in late summer. After winter- benefited many urban and rural workers. By the mid-
ing there, they joined up in Havana for the voyage sixteenth century, however, as population continued
home. This was the most perilous part of the trip, since to grow, Europe was experiencing a crisis of overpop-
the fleet’s valuable cargo made it subject to seizure by ulation that put pressure on the ability of people to
independently operating pirates or privateers com- sustain themselves. For example, in agriculture, the
missioned by the governments of Spain’s enemies. growing population required that more and more
If the Spanish fleet managed to dodge attacks and land had to be cultivated. By about 1550, good land
survive storms at sea, it headed for Seville, Spain’s was running out, and cultivation moved to marginal,
largest and richest city. In theory, all precious metals less productive land. This process is evident in the lit-
from the Americas had to be registered with the port tle French village of Langlade. Vineyards were con-
authorities and then taxed, but smuggling, bribery, verted into wheatfields, and hilly land, once thought
false declarations of value, and other techniques were too poor for cultivation, was cleared and planted
routinely used to evade this requirement. Neverthe- with wheat. But these efforts were still not enough to
less, the government quinto, or fifth tax on gold and meet the surge in population. The result was an inad-
silver, made up a quarter of the royal income. Other equate food supply and a rise in food prices.
goods were stored on the wharves, but few merchants The rise in the price of food led, in turn, to two
gathered there to buy them. Instead, goods were other developments: first, fierce competition for food-
shipped north to the trading centers of Antwerp and producing acreage caused land prices to rise sharply,
Amsterdam. Thus, Seville never became a major hub and second, a glut of workers in need of jobs caused
in the global commercial network but served simply wages to decline. The impact of declining wages might
as a transit point for Spanish overseas riches. have been offset if rural workers could have raised
Despite the sizable sum provided by the royal enough food for themselves on their own plots, but
quinto, Charles V and then his son, Philip II, found most could not because their landholdings were too
that the ruling of their lands created costs even the
river of silver from the New World could not com-
pletely pay. So Philip, like his father, borrowed. Dur- Manila galleon Spanish sailing ship that carried Span-
ing his reign he overextended himself, borrowing ish silver from Mexico to exchange for Chinese silks
more than he could repay and declaring bankruptcy and porcelains in the Philippine Islands.
four times. Each bankruptcy created a financial crisis Seville Spain’s largest city and government-mandated
throughout Europe. Lenders disappeared, and ex- port for all goods going to or coming from the
Spanish Empire.
penses piled up until a renegotiation of Spain’s debt
Philip II (r. 1556–1598) King of Spain, the most power-
was worked out. The crisis solved, lenders returned— ful ruler in late sixteenth-century Europe and leader of
until the next bankruptcy. the Catholic crusade against Protestantism.
inflation Process by which the cost of goods and ser-
A Revolution in Prices vices increases and the value of money declines.
price revolution Rise in prices for land, food,
Around the middle of the sixteenth century, Europe and other basic necessities in mid-sixteenth-
experienced inflation, a sharp rise in prices for land, century Europe.
food, and other basic necessities that had major ef-
Europe’s Economy and Society 417
Belief in witches was long standing, but it was only standards for accusing and trying them had been too
in this period that a sustained campaign against them lax. Some people also believed in newly proposed sci-
was launched. After 1550, a stereotype of the witch entific views of the world that questioned the Devil’s
emerged. Witches were said to be cunning folk who active intervention in human affairs. Thus, a sense of
sold their souls to the Devil. In their obscene night rit- fairness, along with doubts about Satan’s power, won
uals, called witches’ Sabbaths, they sacrificed infants out over the fear of the Devil’s subversion of society
to Satan, engaged in cannibalism, and performed dis- by means of witchcraft.
gusting sexual acts. In a world where most people’s
lives were increasingly insecure, fear of bad magic sky-
rocketed, encouraging people to accuse their neighbors
of satanic witchcraft. As many as 200,000 witchcraft The Fate of Spain
trials were held all over Europe, most leading to convic- and the Flourishing
tions. The number of trials varied from place to place.
Where lawyers and church officials had strict standards
of the Netherlands
for accepting accusations or were skeptical of them,
➜➜
What were Philip II’s successes and failures?
there were fewer trials. In England, for example, legal What explains the success of the Dutch economy?
procedures prohibiting torture to procure confessions
lowered the rates of self-incrimination. Rates were In 1550, Spain, with its silver and empire, was the
also low in Spain, where the Inquisition held that the most powerful state in Europe. Philip II dominated
Devil had no power to seduce people into witchcraft. international affairs, making war on Muslims and at-
The greatest number of trials—three-quarters of all tempting to eliminate Protestantism throughout his
known cases—occurred in the Holy Roman Empire, lands. Philip also sought to defend the western Medi-
in areas where local officials, rather than state or terranean from the Ottomans while making war on
church authorities, were in charge of the process. There, his own Moriscos and laying the grounds for their ex-
community leaders, clergymen, and other members pulsion from the Iberian Peninsula. His greatest fail-
of the local social elite, fearing social disorder and ure came in the Netherlands, where his attempt to
panicked by their belief in Satan’s subversion of soci- crush Protestantism provoked a rebellion during which
ety, carried out wholesale prosecutions of people ac- the northern provinces declared their independence.
cused of witchcraft. These provinces, now organized as the Dutch Repub-
The vast majority of those accused were older lic, soon dominated the European economy.
women, most of whom were widowed or single and
therefore lacked male protection. Some had served as Philip II
midwives. Most were poor, but some controlled their
own property. Those who were quarrelsome or sexu- In 1556, Philip II succeeded his father, Charles V, as
ally independent were seen as transgressors against head of the Habsburg dynasty. Despite Charles’s
prevailing patriarchal values. Women accused of grant of the Holy Roman emperorship to his younger
witchcraft were, therefore, associated with dangerous brother, Ferdinand I, Philip ruled over a vast assem-
activities, or seen as an economic burden to their bly of territories: Castile, Aragon, and Granada in
communities, or envied for their material wealth, or Spain; the Netherlands; Franche-Comté on the Rhine;
despised as violators of the community’s norms of be- Naples, Sicily, and Milan on the Italian peninsula;
havior. Their trials often involved torture to get them Spanish America; and the Philippine Islands (named
to confess their activity and then more torture to force after him) in East Asia. His global empire was the
them to name accomplices. In cities, torture often pro- wonder of the world, and he was the most powerful
duced a chain reaction of accusations. As the numbers ruler of his age.
of accused grew, the victims bore less and less resem- Philip used marriage to increase his political
blance to the stereotypical poor-woman witch: men, power. His short-lived first wife, Mary of Portugal,
the rich, and children were named. On average, half allied him with the other great imperial power of his
of those convicted were executed, while the rest were time, while his second wife, Mary Tudor of England,
imprisoned or subject to other forms of punishment.
Beginning in 1650, witch trials declined dramati-
cally, as more and more centralized states took juris- Habsburgs Dynastic family originating in Austria that
diction away from local authorities. Lawyers also provided many rulers there and in the Netherlands,
worked to end persecutions. Although most lawyers Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire.
still believed in witches, they also believed that legal
The Fate of Spain and the Flourishing of the Netherlands 419
The Turks also established contact with the Moris- rampage across the country, destroying Catholic
cos. Following Ferdinand and Isabella’s conquest of churches and religious images. Philip now decided
Granada in 1492, its Muslim population, now called on a military solution.
Moriscos, had been forced to convert to Christianity. In 1567, a Spanish army marched north to subdue
Then Christians seized their lands and sought to stamp the Protestants. Its commander, the duke of Alba,
out their culture along with their religion. Speaking then tried and executed more than a thousand peo-
Arabic and bathing on Fridays, along with traditional ple. To pay for his army, Alba also imposed a tax on
dancing and eating couscous, were forbidden as signs the Netherlanders. Both Protestants and Catholics
of heresy. Faced with this repression, the Moriscos condemned it and rebelled when it was not with-
rose up in 1569. The revolt lasted two years and in- drawn. Then, in 1572, Calvinist exiles in England re-
volved thirty thousand rebels joined by four thou- turned home and joined the rebellion, seizing the
sand Turks and North Africans. Each side outdid the country’s northern provinces and electing William of
other in cruelty, since each believed that its enemy Orange as their leader. The general rebellion in the
was God’s enemy. The revolt was put down in 1571, Netherlands forced Philip to recall Alba in 1573.
but hatred remained on both sides. Finally, in 1609, In 1575, Philip declared a bankruptcy that delayed
Philip’s son, Philip III, ordered all three hundred pay for his troops in the Netherlands. In response, his
thousand Moriscos expelled from Spain. Many went army mutinied and sacked Antwerp, destroying prop-
to North Africa, while some went to northern Greece erty and leaving eight thousand dead. This “Spanish
and Constantinople. The expulsion of the Moriscos Fury” signaled the end of Antwerp as Europe’s lead-
was the last step in the dismantling of the cultural ing commercial hub. Finally, in 1579, Philip’s new
and religious diversity that had characterized me- military governor was able to consolidate Spain’s rule
dieval Spain. Some Spaniards hailed the expulsion as in the southern provinces, thereafter known as the
a purification of the land, but others, like the great Spanish Netherlands. But the northern provinces were
novelist Miguel de Cervantes condemned it. In Don lost when rebels there forced the Spanish army to re-
Quixote, Ricote, an expelled Morisco, laments, “Wher- treat by opening the dikes that kept the sea out, flood-
ever we are, we weep for Spain, because we were ing large parts of the country. Having declared their
born there and it is our native land.” independence from Spain, the northern provinces re-
In 1571, the last year of the Morisco revolt, Philip constituted themselves as the United Provinces, or
destroyed the Turkish navy at Lepanto off the coast Dutch Republic.
of Greece; 195 ships in the Turkish fleet of 230 were Queen Elizabeth I of England had aided the Dutch
captured or sunk, thirty thousand Turks were killed Protestants, and Philip decided to attack her. In 1588,
or wounded, and three thousand were taken pris- he sent the Spanish Armada—130 ships and thirty
oner. Although the Turks assembled another fleet in thousand men—to join with his loyal forces in the
1572 and continued to harass the coasts of Italy and Spanish Netherlands and then conquer the island
Sicily, their dominance of the Mediterranean had kingdom. The Spanish met a slightly larger and much
been weakened. Then, in 1580, Philip became ruler of faster English fleet in the English Channel, where
Portugal and its empire when the Portuguese king
disappeared on a crusade in Morocco against the
Muslims. Philip was now at the height of his power. Moriscos Muslims in Spain who were forced to con-
vert to Christianity or leave.
Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish writer and
The Revolt in the Netherlands critic of Philip II who wrote Don Quixote.
Even as Spanish might awed Europe, Protestant Lepanto Naval battle won by Spain over the Ottomans
in October 1571.
forces in England and the Netherlands were rising to
challenge it. Protestantism had not spread to Spain, toleration Recognition of the right to hold dissenting
beliefs.
but it had to the Netherlands, the Habsburgs’ richest
William of Orange (1533–1584) Calvinist nobleman,
territory. Charles V had tried without success to elim- also known as William the Silent, who led the Protes-
inate it there, and Philip tried as well, with even tant rebellion against the Spanish in the Netherlands.
worse results. Philip viewed his Protestant subjects as United Provinces/Dutch Republic Northern Nether-
damnable heretics, but at first he recognized that lands provinces that successfully threw off Spanish
their growing numbers required a political solution. rule.
Therefore, in 1566, on the advice of his court theolo- Spanish Armada Unsuccessful armed fleet sent by
gians, he granted religious toleration to the Protes- Philip II in 1588 to conquer England.
tants. Shortly thereafter, militant Calvinists went on a
The Fate of Spain and the Flourishing of the Netherlands 421
Ypres
Brussels renouncing the sinful world by joining religious or-
e
LIMBOURG
ARTOIS ROMAN ders or giving one’s wealth to the church or the poor.
Valenciennes BISHOPRIC
Cambrai HAINAUT
NAMUR OF LIÈGE Like Luther, he believed these acts were useless for
Cateau-Cambrésis
EMPIRE
salvation. Instead, he urged people to treat their ordi-
DUCHY OF nary work as a divine calling through which they
FRANCE
LUXEMBOURG could serve God with diligence and to avoid sinful
idleness, luxury, and waste. When giving this advice,
Me
use
This engraving from 1647 shows fluteships in a Dutch harbor. The fluteship’s deck is narrower than the bulging
hull below it, which will be filled with the goods shipped in what the Dutch called the “mother trade” between
Dutch ports and Baltic ports in the east. (Courtesy, Stichting Atlas van Stolk [Historisch Museum Het Schielandhuis,
The Netherlands])
for agricultural use. Dutch cities grew and with them timber for its navy and grain for its food-hungry ter-
a demand for servants, carpenters, masons, and other ritories in Italy. So the Spanish swallowed their prin-
urban workers. High literacy rates and lax censorship ciples and traded.
created a demand for books, news sheets, and pam- The Dutch also entered the East Asian trade. In
phlets offering a wide range of opinions on often- 1602, the government licensed the United East India
controversial subjects like religion. These, in turn, Company to set up trading posts from Persia to Japan.
called for printers and engravers. Shipyards employed Because Portugal was ruled by Spain after 1580, the
others, while the ships they built needed crews. In Dutch aimed to reduce Spanish power by supplant-
fact, ships and shipping did the most to stimulate ing Portuguese traders in Asia. After the Portuguese
the economy. were driven out, the company dominated the spice
After 1550, the Dutch became the best shipbuilders trade with Europe. It also dominated the inter-Asian
in Europe. They also created an international trading trade, picking up cotton cloth in India and trading it
network and used their ships to move their goods. elsewhere for goods like porcelain and silk that were
The success of Dutch shipbuilding and trade rested then sold in Europe. After the Japanese government
on the fluteship, a large-hulled boat with a shallow began persecuting Japanese Christian converts and
draft. Fluteships carried salt, herring, and cloth east shut off contact with the outside world, the Dutch
to Poland and other Baltic ports and brought back
grain and timber. Some of the imports were used lo-
cally, while the rest were sold abroad. Interestingly, fluteship Merchant ship with an enlarged cargo
Spain was one of the Dutch Republic’s best cus- hold and shallow draft used in Dutch trade with
tomers. Although at war with the rebels for much of eastern Europe.
the time, Spain could not do without Dutch-shipped
The Fate of Spain and the Flourishing of the Netherlands 423
SCANDINAVIA
Timber Iron
North Sea Tar Copper
Herring Pitch Fur
THE
Wool BALTIC
Amsterdam Wheat
ATLANTIC Rye
DUTCH REPUBLIC
OCEAN FRANCE EUROPE ASIA
Wine
NORTH
AMERICA Azores Wool
Tulips JAPAN
Tobacco
CHINA
Canton Nagasaki
Canary Is. Tea Silk
Silk Amoy
Chinsura Porcelain Luxury goods
West Indies Calcutta Macau Port Zeelandia
Tobacco Bombay INDIA
Goa
Madras Cloth Manila PACIFIC
Curaçao Cape AFRICA PHILIPPINES
Verde Is. Cochin Negapatam
Slaves Ceylon Colombo OCEAN
Stabroek Cloves Borneo
(Georgetown) GUIANA Malacca
Sugar Cinnamon Camphor, Pepper, Sandalwood
Equator Moluccas Equator
Mombasa Spices
DUTCH Pepper Macassar New
BRAZIL Zanzibar Sunda Strait Batavia Guinea
Java Timor
(1630–1654) INDIAN OCEAN Tea
SOUTH Sugar Teak
AMERICA Mozambique
Madagascar
Homeward
trade Mauritius NEW HOLLAND
(Unknown except for
West Coast)
Capetown
Dutch trade routes Provisioning
Station
Areas under Dutch control
Ports under Dutch control 0 1500 3000 Km.
Other major ports
Spices Goods shipped to the Netherlands 0 1500 3000 Mi.
MAP 15.2 Dutch Commerce in the Seventeenth Century By the seventeenth century the Dutch
had developed a complex global trading network. They took over Europe’s East Asia trade from the Por-
tuguese, dominated the European seaborne trade routes, traded with their New World colonies, and
became the major trading partner with the Portuguese in Brazil.
alone were allowed a trading post there. In 1621, the teria in the human mouth, and spermatozoa. As one
Dutch government also chartered the Dutch West In- scientist put it, the microscope opened a world “in
dia Company, which set up posts in Curaçao on the which you will find wonder heaped upon wonder,
Caribbean and Surinam on the South American coast. and will be amazed at the Wisdom of God manifest in
Soon the Dutch were trading with Brazil, exporting a most minute matter.”
European goods to the colony and importing African The hub of Dutch life was Amsterdam in the
slaves in return for sugar. Dutch settlers also founded province of Holland. By the early seventeenth cen-
the colony of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island tury, Amsterdam had replaced Antwerp as Europe’s
at the mouth of the Hudson River. chief commercial and banking center. Because the
republic’s commercial activity spread across Europe
Dutch Civilization and the world, involving people in complex, long-
distance economic activity, the Dutch can be seen as
Science flourished in the Dutch Republic, where sci-
entific experimenters tried to develop practical de- Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723) Dutch scientist
vices that would aid people in their worldly callings. who perfected the microscope to see and describe the
The Dutch scientist Anton van Leeuwenhoek, who world of microorganisms.
perfected the magnifying lenses of the microscope, Amsterdam Capital of the Dutch province of Holland
was the first to describe the world of microorganisms, and commercial center of the Dutch Republic.
drawing the protozoa he found in rainwater, the bac-
424 CHAPTER 15 A Century of War and Wonder, 1550–1650
François Dubois’ painting of the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, August 24, 1572, graphically depicts the
chaos of this event. Note the killings, the corpses, the raised swords and clubs, the blood on the ground, and the
men on horseback. The barking dog, at center left, seems to give voice to the violence. (Musée Cantonal des
Beaux-Arts de Lausanne, Switzerland/ The Art Archive)
non-European waters into which the Dutch sailed. nearly seventy years. In the end, the Protestants were
And, like the flower, the shells call to mind the beauty granted limited religious toleration, but their at-
of creation. tempts to create their own semi-independent political
communities within France failed. The Holy Roman
Empire also experienced a religious war. The German
Political Contests and More war lasted fewer years than the war in France, but it
brought non-German states into the fighting, and its
Religious Wars destruction was far greater. The peace settlement
ending the war granted religious toleration to Calvin-
➜
continuing presence of heretics in the kingdom. Henry’s movement. Catholics found their leader in the new
heir was his nine-year-old son, Louis XIII, who, once emperor, Ferdinand II, a fervent Catholic who prayed
king in his own right, resumed war against the Hugue- privately every morning for an hour before dressing
nots. In 1629, he issued the Peace of Alès, which dis- and attended two morning Masses, during which he
mantled the Huguenots’ fortified towns and ended frequently knelt to kiss the ground five times in
France’s Wars of Religion. But the religious toleration honor of Christ’s five wounds on the cross. His deter-
granted the Huguenots in 1598 was reaffirmed. mination to put an end to Protestantism launched the
Thirty Years’ War, the most devastating conflict of the
The Habsburg War Against Islam seventeenth century. At first confined to Bohemia, it
soon engulfed the Holy Roman Empire and drew in
Charles V had put his younger brother Ferdinand in many European states as it went through Bohemian,
charge of the Holy Roman Empire before his abdica- Danish, Swedish, and French phases.
tion in 1556. Thirty years earlier, Ferdinand had also In 1617, after he was elected king of Bohemia, Ferdi-
been elected king of Hungary and Bohemia after the nand II ordered Protestant churches closed in two Bo-
previous king died fighting the Ottoman Turks. hemian towns. Enraged Protestants confronted two of
While Ferdinand had full control of Austria and Bo- Ferdinand’s officials in Prague, the capital of the king-
hemia, the Turks conquered most of Hungary, leaving dom, and threw them out of an upper-story window.
only the northern part in Habsburg hands. Even that Surprisingly, they survived. Catholics claimed they
was threatened when the Turks, marching up the had been wafted gently to earth on angels’ wings,
Danube River, tried in 1529 and again in 1532 to seize while Protestants protested that a pile of dung had
all of Hungary and the city of Vienna in Austria. For broken their fall. This “defenestration of Prague”
Ferdinand, a devout Catholic, the Turks posed a prompted a Bohemian rebellion, which Ferdinand sub-
greater threat than the Protestants. dued with help from the Spanish Habsburgs. Ferdi-
Thus, during Ferdinand’s reign, and that of his son nand seized rebel lands and gave them to Habsburg
Maximilian II (r. 1564–1576), various kinds of Protes- supporters. Believing that religious dissent polluted so-
tants increased their followings in all Habsburg lands. ciety and offended God, he banned Protestant worship,
Lutherans predominated in Austria, while Lutherans ordering Protestants to convert or leave. In 1627, a sub-
and Calvinists flourished in Bohemia, and Calvinists dued Bohemian Diet declared that the Crown was no
and Unitarians gained converts in Habsburg Hungary. longer elective, but rather hereditary in the Habsburg
“In affairs of religion everyone does as he pleases,” one family. The abolition of elective monarchy marked the
Catholic complained. After Maximilian died in 1576, high point in Ferdinand’s reconquest of Bohemia.
effective Habsburg rule declined, as a contest between
his two sons encouraged the great nobles who con-
Louis XIII (r. 1610–1643) King of France who made
trolled the representative assemblies, or diets, to seek war on the Huguenots and took France into the Thirty
increased political independence. Their model for good Years’ War to weaken France’s political rival, Spain.
government was Poland-Lithuania, where the nobil- Peace of Alès Treaty in 1629 that ended France’s reli-
ity elected the king and had the right to rebel against gious wars, allowed Huguenots freedom of worship,
him if he violated his coronation oath. In the Polish but took away their fortified towns.
Diet, each noble had the right to veto a measure and Unitarians Christians who denied the traditional
thus “explode” the diet. They were also free to govern doctrine of the Trinity.
their serfs without royal interference and to choose diets In the Holy Roman Empire under Habsburg rule,
between Catholicism and some form of Protestantism. representative assemblies dominated by the great
When new war with the Turks broke out in 1593, the nobility that sought increased control of government.
nobility in the Habsburg lands demanded more reli- Poland-Lithuania Kingdom formed in 1569 from two
previously independent states; included modern
gious freedom and greater local control of government
Poland, the Baltic states, Belarus, and most of Ukraine.
in return for funds for the war.
Ferdinand II (r. 1619–1637) Habsburg emperor who
reestablished Catholicism in Bohemia and Austria but
The Thirty Years’ War failed to do so in the empire as a whole.
Thirty Years’ War General war, 1618–1648, between
As Protestantism grew in Habsburg lands, the German Protestant princes and their foreign allies
Catholics launched a counteroffensive. As early as against the Habsburgs, who were allied with Catholic
the 1590s, Jesuits from Italy rallied Catholic commu- princes.
nities, which soon established a militant anti-Protestant
428 CHAPTER 15 A Century of War and Wonder, 1550–1650
Thieving soldiers are executed in this etching from Jacques Callot’s Miseries of War. A priest blesses the men as
they are led up a ladder to be hung. A caption describes the executed as “infamous lost souls . . . hung like
unhappy fruit.” (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY)
The Habsburg victory in Bohemia had repercussions troops continued to fight the Habsburgs. Almost all
throughout Europe. The Spanish branch of the family the fighting was done on German soil, and the devas-
used it to seize the Palatinate, a state on the Rhine tation was terrible. The Thirty Years’ War made the
River, and thereby expand its control of the “Spanish region’s economic decline immeasurably worse. Over-
Road” that led north from Habsburg, Italy, to the all, the population of the empire fell between 15 and
Spanish Netherlands. Soon the king of Denmark en- 20 percent as the warring armies disrupted agricul-
tered the war as leader of the Protestants. But he was ture, sacked villages and cities, and spread disease
defeated and driven out of the empire in 1629. Victo- among the civilian population. In areas of the worst
rious, Ferdinand II supposedly reaffirmed the 1555 fighting, such as Bohemia and the southern Baltic coast,
Peace of Augsburg but in reality sought to strengthen population declined by 50 percent as people died or
Catholicism, not only in Habsburg lands but through- fled. Cities fell into debt because of the huge bribes
out the Empire. At this point, the Swedish phase of they paid the warring armies, whether friend or foe,
the war began, when the Lutheran king of Sweden, in hopes of averting pillaging by the troops.
Gustavus II Adolphus, assumed leadership of the
Protestant cause.
Gustavus Adolphus was a seasoned warrior, hav- The Peace of Westphalia
ing already fought the Danes, the Russians, and the The war finally came to an end in 1648 with the Peace
Poles. His chief concern was to expand Swedish power of Westphalia. It amended the 1555 Peace of Augsburg
in the Baltic, as he feared that a Catholic Habsburg to allow rulers to choose Catholicism, Calvinism, or
victory in Germany would threaten his interests. But
his death in battle in 1632 spread confusion. When
Ferdinand, realizing he would never be able to eradi- Gustavus II Adolphus (r. 1594–1632) King of Sweden
who led Protestant forces against the Habsburgs until
cate Protestantism, offered toleration for Lutherans, his death in battle in 1632.
the war entered its French phase. Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642) Louis XIII’s chief
Although Louis XIII and his chief minister, Cardi- minister, who persuaded Louis to enter the Thirty
nal Richelieu, were devout Catholics, they feared Years’ War against Ferdinand II.
that Ferdinand’s reconciliation with the Protestants Peace of Westphalia Peace in 1648 ending the Thirty
would increase the power of France’s long-standing Years’ War, allowing states in the Holy Roman Empire
Habsburg enemy. They, therefore, entered the war, to establish their own foreign policies and state religion.
and for the next eleven years, French and Swedish
Political Contests and More Religious Wars 429
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Simplicius Simplicissimus Encounters Some
“Merry Cavalrymen”
Jacques Callot was not alone in commenting on seventeenth-century warfare. In
1669, a German innkeeper, Johann von Grimmelshausen, who had fought as a
soldier in the Thirty Years’ War, published Simplicius Simplicissimus (Simplest of
Simpletons), a tale that mixes humor and horror in equal measure. It went
through three editions in 1669 alone. In the excerpt that follows, young Simplicius/
The Simpleton, while working as a shepherd for his father, meets a band of caval-
rymen and accompanies them to his home. Here he tells us what happened next.
➜ Why does the author use ➜ Though I hadn’t intended to take the peace-loving reader into my father’s home
these remarks to set up what and farm along with these merry cavalrymen, the orderly progress of my tale
follows? requires me to make known to posterity the sort of abysmal and unheard-of cruelties
occasionally perpetrated in our German war, and to testify by my own example that
all these evils were necessarily required for our own good by the kindness of our
Lord. For, my dear reader, who would have told me that there is a God in heaven if
the warriors hadn’t destroyed my [father’s] house. . . .
➜ What effect in the reader ➜ The first thing these horsemen did in the nice black rooms of the house was to
does the author try to create put in their horses. Then everyone took up a special job, a job having to do with
when he mixes his account of death and destruction. Although some began butchering, heating water, and render-
pillaging with humor? ing lard, as if to prepare for a banquet, others raced through the house, ransacking
upstairs and down. . . . Still others bundled up big bags of cloth, household goods,
and clothes, as if they wanted to hold a rummage sale somewhere. What they did
not intend to take along they broke up and spoiled. Some ran their swords into the
hay and straw, as if there hadn’t been hogs enough to stick. . . . Some shook the
feathers out of beds and put bacon slabs, hams, and other stuff in the ticking, as if
➜ Why does Grimmelshausen they might sleep better on these. ➜ They flattened out copper and pewter dishes
order the details of the pil- and baled the ruined goods. They burned up bedsteads, tables, chairs, and benches,
laging in the way he does? though there were yards and yards of dry firewood outside the kitchen. Jars and
crocks, pots and casseroles, all were broken, either because they preferred their meat
broiled or because they thought they’d eat only one meal with us. In the barn, the
hired girl was handled so roughly that she was unable to walk away, I am ashamed
to report. They stretched the hired man out flat on the ground, stuck a wooden
wedge in his mouth to keep it open, and emptied a milk bucket full of stinking
manure drippings down his throat; they called it a Swedish cocktail. He didn’t relish
➜ What is the point of this it and made a very wry face. By this means they forced him to take a raiding party
sentence?
to some other place where they carried off men and cattle and brought them to our
farm. . . . I can’t say much about the captured wives, hired girls, and daughters be-
cause the soldiers wouldn’t let me watch their doings. But I do remember hearing
➜ Thinking back on this pitiful screams from various dark corners and I guess that my mother and our Ursula
account, why would Grim-
had it no better than the rest. ➜ Amid all this horror I was busy turning a roasting
melshausen describe the
split and didn’t worry about anything, for I didn’t know the meaning of it. ➜ In the
destruction of a clearly pros-
afternoon I helped water the horses and that way got to see our hired girl in the
perous, well-supplied peasant
barn. She looked wondrously messed up and at first I didn’t recognize her. In a sickly
household?
voice she said, “Boy, get out of this place, or the soldiers will take you with them.”
Source: The Adventures of Simplicius Simplicissimus by Hans Jacob Christoffel van Grimmelshausen.
A modern translation with an introduction by George Schultz-Behrend, second revised edition.
Rochester, New York: Camden House, 1993. Reprinted with permission.
430 CHAPTER 15 A Century of War and Wonder, 1550–1650
Lutheranism as their state religion. Thus, Ferdinand to control state churches. Like their counterparts on
II’s dream of reestablishing Catholic dominance in the continent, Protestant Scots and English believed
the empire died forever. Like the Peace of Alès in that their communities should be united by a single
France almost twenty years earlier, the Peace of West- church. Gradually, however, a party formed that called
phalia ratified a grudging recognition that the state’s for toleration of different forms of Protestantism, but
religious unity had been shattered and that new ways not of Catholicism. In Ireland, where Catholics pre-
of forming community and community identity would dominated, English and Scots prejudice led to a bru-
have to be found. tal conquest of the island that established Protestant
Important political changes also occurred. The em- control. Conflict over religion also involved a strug-
pire’s boundaries were altered: the Swiss Confedera- gle between the English monarch and Parliament for
tion and the Dutch Republic were now placed outside control of policy, which led to revolution in England,
the empire and recognized as independent states. the execution of the king, and the establishment of a
Within the empire, states were granted the right to republic. In 1660, the republic came to an end and the
develop their own foreign policies without the em- monarchy was restored.
peror’s approval. Both France and Sweden took im-
perial territory. Sweden gained control of the southern Elizabeth I
Baltic shore, while France received three important
bishoprics on its eastern frontier. Elizabeth I was one of England’s ablest and most pop-
Although France ended its war in Germany in 1648, ular rulers. At five feet ten inches, she was exception-
war against the Habsburgs continued, with fighting be- ally tall for her time, and her flaming red hair, along
tween France and Spain along the borders of the Span- with her trim, athletic body, caught everyone’s atten-
ish Netherlands and the Pyrenees Mountains. In 1659, tion. Elizabeth was a shrewd ruler who played on her
the two countries signed the Treaty of the Pyrenees. womanhood, challenging contemporary views about
France extended its rule along the eastern Pyrenees and women’s weakness with her own force of will and
took important cities in the Spanish Netherlands. To political skill while instilling fear in anyone who
celebrate the peace, the king of Spain agreed to the mar- challenged her. She was exceptionally well educated,
riage of his eldest daughter, Anne, to the young king of speaking French, German, and Italian as well as read-
France, Louis XIV, who had succeeded Louis XIII in ing Latin and Greek with ease. When Philip II, anxious
1643. Spain, exhausted by decades of warfare, never re- to continue his English alliance, proposed marriage,
gained the position it held under Philip II. France was the “virgin queen” turned him down, as she did every-
now the most powerful state in Europe. one else, saying, “I am wedded to England.” Her sub-
Europeans were to fight many more wars after the jects hailed her as Good Queen Bess.
Treaty of Westphalia, but religious motivations for In addition to promoting a moderate form of Protes-
conflict were never again as strong as they had been tantism in England, Elizabeth faced two problems—
in the century before 1648. Now, states formed diplo- the power of Spain and opposition in Ireland. Philip
matic and military alliances to advance their political II’s attempt to assert strong Spanish and Catholic con-
and economic agendas while curbing those of their ri- trol over the Netherlands threatened English economic
vals, thereby creating an unstable and ever-shifting interests there, since the Netherlands had long been
balance of power that prevented any one state from the main market for English wool exports. Thus, in
overwhelming the others. 1585, Elizabeth sent an army to aid the Dutch rebels
against Philip. The next year, she sanctioned Sir Fran-
cis Drake’s raids on Spanish colonial shipping. The
English now identified themselves as pro-Protestant,
Reformation and Revolution in anti-Catholic, and anti-Spanish. Thus religious, eco-
the British Isles nomic, and political issues deepened the rift between
Spain and England, thereby ending the medieval al-
➜
What were the relations among the English, Scots, and Treaty of the Pyrenees Treaty in 1659 ending the wars
Irish in this period? between France and Spain and leaving France the most
powerful state in Europe.
England experienced a golden age during the reign of balance of power Long-time European diplomatic aim
Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch. But during the for a distribution of power among several states that
seventeenth century, the British Isles experienced re- would prevent the dominance of any one state.
ligious wars when different Protestant groups fought
Reformation and Revolution in the British Isles 431
liance between the two countries that had led to the James. Mary’s religion also caused problems in newly
marriage of Catherine of Aragon to Henry VIII. Calvinist Scotland, and in 1568 she fled to England af-
Rivalry with Spain also influenced developments ter nobles deposed her and seized James. Elizabeth
in Ireland. Like her father and grandfather, Elizabeth promptly imprisoned Mary because her Catholicism
was determined to strengthen English control of the made her a magnet for those who favored the old
island. But her attempts were met with a local rebel- church. Rumors of Catholic plots swirled around
lion led by Catholics, who received Spanish help, in- Mary for years. In 1587, when the rumors seemed to
cluding the failed Spanish Armada of 1588. In the stick, Elizabeth had her beheaded.
end, Elizabeth triumphed and transferred vast tracts
of Irish land to loyal English Protestants, thus consol- The Early Stuart Monarchs
idating the conquest of the kingdom.
Elizabeth’s England saw a flowering of literature, In 1603, Mary Stuart’s son, James VI of Scotland, suc-
known as the English Renaissance. William Shake- ceeded the virgin queen as James I of England and
speare wrote many of his plays during her reign, per- Ireland, and, for the first time, the separate kingdoms
forming them at court and in his own theater, the of Scotland and England were ruled by the same per-
Globe. Shakespeare’s contemporary, Christopher Mar- son. James had an excellent mind and published ten
lowe, wrote equally popular plays, including The Jew works, including a Counterblast to Tobacco that de-
of Malta, which explored themes Shakespeare devel- nounced smoking as “loathsome to the eye, hateful to
oped in The Merchant of Venice, and The Massacre at the nose, harmful to the brain, [and] dangerous to the
Paris, about the Saint Bartholomew’s Day slaughter lungs.” His greatest literary achievement was to
during France’s religious wars. Marlowe’s greatest sponsor a new translation of the Christian Bible for
play is Doctor Faustus, about a man who sells his soul use in the Anglican Church. Published in 1611 and
to the Devil in return for power and knowledge. known as the King James Version, it has shaped the
Poetry also flourished in Elizabeth’s reign. Edmund English language down to the present.
Spenser continued the tradition of epic poetry that Two issues dominated James’s reign and that of his
stretched back to Dante Alighieri, Virgil, and Homer in son, Charles I: religion and relations between king and
his Fairie Queene, an elaborate allegory celebrating Parliament. Henry VIII and Elizabeth had used Parlia-
Protestant England’s struggle with Catholicism and ment to implement the English Reformation, thereby
Spain. Spenser’s friend and fellow poet Sir Walter
Raleigh also extolled Elizabeth and Protestant Eng-
land in verse. Both Raleigh and Spenser actively pur- English Renaissance Flowering of English literature
during Elizabeth I’s reign.
sued politics. As a young man at court, Raleigh became
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) England’s greatest
a favorite of the queen, who commissioned him to at-
playwright, author of The Merchant of Venice, The Tem-
tack Spanish shipping. In 1587 he founded a short- pest, Othello, and many other plays and poems.
lived colony on Roanoke Island off present-day North Christopher Marlowe (ca.1564–1593) Playwright in
Carolina, and in 1595 he led the first English expedi- Elizabeth I’s reign, author of the play Doctor Faustus
tion into South America, sailing up the Orinoco River and a contemporary of William Shakespeare.
in search of a fabled kingdom ruled by El Dorado, a Edmund Spenser (1553–1599) Poet and author of the
man covered in gold. No gold was found, but his ac- epic poem The Fairie Queene.
count of the expedition established him as a master of Sir Walter Raleigh (ca.1554–1618) Privateer, explorer,
the literature of discovery and exploration. When Eliz- poet, and favorite of Elizabeth I.
abeth began her conquest of Ireland, both Raleigh and Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (r. 1542–1587) Cousin of
Spenser joined her forces and were rewarded with es- Elizabeth I and heir to the English throne whose
tates confiscated from the rebels. Catholicism led to her execution.
Elizabeth’s refusal to marry was based more on James VI/James I (r. 1567/1603–1625) Son of Mary,
political calculation than on personal preference; she Queen of Scots, king who ruled in Scotland as James
VI from 1567 and in England and Ireland as James I
feared the challenges to her power and independence from 1603.
that submission to a husband might bring. As the King James Version of the Bible Translation of the
years passed, however, the problem of succession be- Bible sponsored by King James I for use in the Church
came acute since her heir was her cousin, Mary Stu- of England and published in 1611.
art, Queen of Scots, the Catholic widow of King Charles I (r. 1625–1649) King of England, Ireland,
Francis II of France and a relative of the Guises. After and Scotland who was beheaded by order of Parlia-
Francis’s death, Mary had returned to Scotland, ment in 1649.
where she married a Scots nobleman and had a son,
432 CHAPTER 15 A Century of War and Wonder, 1550–1650
giving it a permanent place in the country’s political be a voluntary association, founded Plymouth Colony
life. But the exact nature of Parliament’s authority was in 1620. In 1629, Puritans founded the Massachusetts
disputed. Both James and Charles believed that God Bay Colony, while English Catholics emigrated to
appointed kings to rule and that they were account- Maryland in the 1630s. Unlike the colonies of Spain
able to Him alone. But they also knew that Parliament and Portugal, the English settlements were not di-
had a traditional right to raise taxes. For its part, Par- rectly sponsored by the state. Instead, they began as
liament believed the king could formulate state pol- commercial ventures, like the Virginia Colony, or as
icy, but it claimed the right to criticize policy. James religious havens.
rejected this right. Parliament, he said, was no place James died in 1625, and his son became king as
“for every rash and hair-brained fellow to propose new Charles I. Like his father, Charles had an unshakeable
laws of his own invention.” At stake in these conflicts belief in his right to rule as he pleased. He also shared
was a fundamental political issue: Should Parliament his father’s views about Parliament. Between 1625
simply express opinions, or should it have a voice in and 1629, the king clashed with parliamentary lead-
policymaking? Traditions of strong kingship, stretch- ers who criticized his policies and refused to grant
ing back to the Middle Ages, favored the king, but Par- him money for his wars against Spain and in support
liament’s power to grant or withhold taxes enabled it of the Huguenots, questioning the success of his cam-
to assess the policies its taxes would finance. James paigns and criticizing the men in charge of them. Fi-
and Charles leaned toward royal absolutism, while nally, in 1630, Charles decided to govern without
Parliament favored a theory of limited royal rule. Parliament and did not convene it for ten years.
Religion regularly divided king and Parliament. Charles ruled well enough on his own for most of
Like Elizabeth, James was a moderate Protestant, but the 1630s. One policy, however, provoked growing
he was married to a Catholic. His moderation and his opposition—reform of the Anglican Church. In 1633,
wife raised suspicions among the Puritans, Calvinists the king appointed William Laud archbishop of Can-
who thought that the Anglican Church was not com- terbury; Laud introduced new church ceremonies
pletely reformed. Puritans wanted no bishops, no and ordered the clergy to adhere strictly to Eliza-
church ceremony, more sermons, policing of people’s beth’s 1559 Book of Common Prayer. The Puritans
behavior, and an effective Protestant foreign policy. were outraged, seeing Laud’s program as an attempt
Their suspicions of James were overcome in 1605 to reintroduce Catholic practices. Some of them left
when the government discovered a Catholic plot to for North America, where they joined their fellow Pu-
blow up the king, along with Parliament. Thereafter, ritans in Massachusetts. Others waited for a chance to
James followed Elizabeth in treating English Catholics turn on Laud. Laud’s position was further weakened
as traitors. when he stated that the clergy alone, not the local
Anti-Catholicism also shaped English policy in laity, would control church affairs. He also ordered
Ireland. In 1597, another rebellion broke out in Ulster, the restoration of church lands that the laity had
in the northeastern part of the island. It ended just as taken over. These policies angered a large group of
the plot to blow up the king and Parliament was dis- landowners with seats in Parliament, who now had
covered. In the anti-Catholic backlash, the lands of economic and political reasons, as well as religious
the rebel Catholic leaders were confiscated and given ones, for opposing the king and his archbishop.
to English owners, who then colonized them with Charles and Laud were not content to revamp the
some one hundred thousand Scottish Protestants. The Church of England. In 1637, the king imposed the Book
Catholic Irish, viewed as “savages,” were driven onto of Common Prayer, along with bishops, on the Pres-
marginal lands. Later, habits learned in Ireland were byterian Church of Scotland. In response, in 1639, the
transferred to North America, where settlers drove
Indian “savages” off the lands they then farmed. Ul-
ster was England’s first successful colony.
In North America, the Virginia Colony boomed Puritans Calvinists who wanted to eliminate bishops
and favored more sermons, policing of people’s behav-
when tobacco was grown for export. James I may have ior, and a strong Protestant foreign policy.
hated the “pernicious weed,” but his subjects loved it
Ulster Northeastern part of Ireland colonized by Scots
and Virginia’s economic success was assured. Begin- and English Protestants after England’s defeat of the
ning in the 1620s, other colonies were founded, this local Catholics.
time by religious dissidents upset with the monar- William Laud (1573–1645) Archbishop of Canterbury
chy’s support of Anglicanism and persecution of who enforced Charles I’s unpopular religious policies
Catholics. The Pilgrims, Protestant Separatists who, through royal courts.
like the Anabaptists, believed that the church should
Reformation and Revolution in the British Isles 433
In this woodcut print of the execution of Charles I, the blindfolded king, his hat set to the side, puts his
neck on the chopping block and waits for the executioner’s ax. An Anglican clergyman prays while
armed guards and a crowd look on. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Scots rebelled. Charles, now at war with his Scottish ing bishops in the Church of England. At this point,
subjects, needed funds for an army. In 1640, he re- another Catholic rebellion broke out in Ireland, and
summoned the English Parliament and demanded several thousand Protestants were massacred in Ulster.
money from it. In 1642, Charles demanded money from Parliament
for an army to subdue the Irish. When Parliament re-
fused and started to form its own army, Charles de-
Civil War, Revolution, clared war on Parliament.
and the Commonwealth England had now fallen into civil war. For the next
seven years, the king and his supporters fought Par-
The new Long Parliament was filled with men angry liament’s army. Troops of both sides damaged crops
at Laud and the king. It passed a bill stating that the and disrupted trade, while cold temperatures ruined
king could not dissolve Parliament without its own the harvests of the late 1640s. By war’s end, popular
permission (which Charles signed, probably inadver- rebellions against both sides had broken out in vari-
tently). Parliament removed Archbishop Laud and ous parts of the country.
sent him to prison. It also passed an act requiring the In 1643, Parliament reorganized the Church of
king to call Parliament into session on a regular basis. England along Presbyterian lines and then executed
In 1641, Charles was forced to sign a treaty with the Laud. In 1645, Charles, finally defeated in battle,
Scots that gave the Scottish parliament a role in the ap-
pointment of royal ministers and conceded the Scot-
tish parliament’s right to oversee policy. The English Long Parliament English Parliament that sat from
Parliament promptly demanded the same concessions, 1640 until 1660.
and when Charles refused, it proposed a bill abolish-
434 CHAPTER 15 A Century of War and Wonder, 1550–1650
surrendered to the Scots, who turned him over to the summoned from exile and crowned Scottish king in
English Parliament in 1647. In 1648, the army purged 1650. Cromwell then invaded Scotland, forced Charles
Parliament of those favoring monarchy, and the re- to flee, and established the rule of the English Parlia-
maining members brought the king to trial on charges ment there. When Cromwell returned from Scotland,
of treason and murder for his role in the civil war. he quickly dominated the new English Common-
Charles denied the court’s legitimacy, proclaiming that wealth, as the republic was called. Cromwell believed
“the king cannot be tried by any superior jurisdiction that God had called him to leadership and guided his
on earth.” But Charles was convicted and publicly actions. In this he was exactly like the king he had
beheaded in London on January 30, 1649. When the helped to execute.
executioner’s ax fell on his neck, a huge groan went In 1651, Parliament attempted to break the Dutch
up from the crowd surrounding the scaffold, for it shipping monopoly with the Navigation Act, which
was a momentous event. Never before had an Eng- required overseas goods destined for England to be
lish court of law removed a monarch or the English carried in English ships or ships of English colonies.
people killed their king. Civil war had become revo- The next year, Cromwell supported a war against the
lution. England was now a republic. Dutch, telling them that “the Lord has declared
Even as the civil war raged, the English engaged in against you.” The war was short, and the act did little
an unprecedented debate over the nature of the state to limit Dutch trade, but it signaled England’s rise as
and the role of ordinary people in political life. a commercial power and marked the beginning of
Charles’s growing unpopularity led many to go be- government control of the emerging English Empire.
yond older arguments about the king’s relation to In 1653, Cromwell took the title of Lord Protector.
Parliament. The Levellers wanted to establish a dem- Parliament continued to meet, but Cromwell and the
ocratic republic in England and allow all men to vote. army actually ruled. In 1655, after suppressing a royal-
Women activists supporting the Levellers petitioned ist rebellion, Cromwell established a military dictator-
Parliament on their behalf. Even more radical were ship. Press censorship was instituted, and traditional
the Diggers. Responding to economic hard times, local officials were replaced by major generals who ran
they rejected the institution of private property and local government and carried out a moral reform of so-
supported a form of communal ownership. Levellers ciety along strict Calvinist lines. Although Cromwell
and Diggers were always in a minority, but the very ruled as a Calvinist-inspired dictator, he abolished the
fact that they gave public voice to their ideas for re- requirement that everyone attend Calvinist church ser-
form stimulated popular thought about the nature vices, proclaiming, “I meddle not with any man’s con-
of England’s social order and raised questions about science.” He did, however, ban Anglican and Catholic
the political and economic identities of English men services for political reasons. By the 1650s, growing
and women. numbers of Protestants shared Cromwell’s embrace of
limited toleration.
Oliver Cromwell Cromwell was offered a crown by some followers
who wanted him to become King Oliver. He refused it.
One of Parliament’s generals in favor of Charles’s ex- When he died in 1658, his son Richard became the new
ecution was Oliver Cromwell. In 1649, Cromwell led lord protector. Richard, however, did not have his fa-
an army to put down the rebellion in Ireland, where ther’s political skills and soon retired to his country
disruptions from fighting and crop failures had pro- estates. His departure left England leaderless. Once
duced widespread famine; the Irish population fell
by almost 40 percent. Cromwell’s invasion delivered
the final blows. His army massacred thousands, 80 Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) General on Parliament’s
side in English civil war who eventually established a
percent of agricultural land was transferred to the
military dictatorship in England.
Protestant minority, Catholicism was outlawed, and
Charles II (r. 1650/1660–1685) Son of Charles I, crowned
twelve thousand rebels were deported as penal slaves king of Scotland in 1650 but ruled there only after 1660,
to Barbados and other English colonies in the West In- when he was crowned king of England as well.
dies. For the next two hundred years, English Protes- Commonwealth Name of the English republic from
tant control of Ireland was assured. 1649 to 1660.
With Ireland subdued, Cromwell turned to Scot- Navigation Act (1651) Parliamentary act requiring
land. Despite their differences with Charles I, most overseas goods destined for England to be carried in
Scots favored the continuation of monarchy. After the English ships or ships of English colonies.
king’s execution, Charles II, Charles I’s elder son, was
Christian Reform, Religious Wars, and the Jews 435
again, a general stepped in; George Monck marched ganizing this trade. They also played an important
his army on London and negotiated the return of King role as moneylenders. By the end of the seventeenth
Charles II, along with the House of Lords, the Church century, Polish Jews numbered some 450,000, or
of England, and all its bishops. Oliver Cromwell’s about 4.5 percent of Poland’s population and 75 per-
corpse was dug up and publicly hanged. cent of Jews worldwide.
In 1660, it seemed that England’s troubles had come Whether they lived in towns or the countryside,
full circle. Anglican monarchists viewed the post-1660 Jews were governed by local councils made up of
regime as a simple “restoration” of older ways. But in prominent community members, who often dressed
the wake of the Anglican Church being outlawed, a and acted like non-Jews. Like the Christian population,
king executed, and a republic created, the merits of ab- Jewish communities were hierarchically organized. At
solutist monarchy and limited constitutional govern- the top were a few rich and socially prominent people
ment had been debated. There had been calls for as well as rabbis and Talmudic scholars. Below them
democracy, communal ownership of property, and re- were craftsmen, peddlers, and shopkeepers. Lower
ligious toleration. The debates and the conflicts un- still were the poor. Most Polish Jews were separated
leashed during the civil war and revolution would from the larger Christian population not only by reli-
shape the future of the English-speaking world. gion but also by culture. Like the Arabic-speaking
Moriscos of Spain, they spoke their own distinctive
language, Yiddish. Aware of their minority position,
Christian Reform, Religious the Jews worked hard to maintain a strong sense of
community solidarity that fostered a distinctive Jewish
Wars, and the Jews identity. At times, however, internal tensions threat-
ened to fracture the community, as when rich Jews
➜
Dutch Republic. Although this community was smaller whom they were also at war. The Russians signed a
than the ones in Poland and Bohemia, it played a cru- peace treaty in 1667 that gave them the eastern half
cial role in the booming Dutch economy. Its original of Ukraine.
members were Sephardim who had economic ties to The devastation caused by two decades of warfare
merchants in the Iberian Peninsula, the Spanish Em- was immense. The Polish economy was disrupted,
pire, and Brazil. The Dutch West India Company ex- and food shortages occurred, followed by periods of
ploited these contacts to develop trade with Spain famine. Predictably, armies of all sides spread disease,
and to push into the profitable trade with the New and epidemics ravaged a population already weak-
World. Some four thousand Portuguese Jews eventu- ened by disruptions in the food supply. At the begin-
ally settled in the Dutch colonies. ning of the war, the Cossacks slaughtered Catholics,
France and England also permitted new Jewish Jews, and signers of the Union of Brest-Litovsk indis-
settlements. French kings permitted expelled Por- criminately. These atrocities rivaled Ivan the Terrible’s
tuguese Jews to settle in some cities as part of their mass executions and matched the worst incidents
struggle with Habsburg Spain. In England, Oliver during the French Wars of Religion. Like the French
Cromwell fostered a growing Jewish community in slaughters, those in Poland were intended to ritually
London. Like many Protestants, Cromwell believed degrade the bodies of a socially polluting enemy.
that the conversion of the Jews to Christianity, along Eventually, all warring sides committed atrocities,
with the destruction of the Antichrist (that is, the and all Poles were victims of them, but Polish Jews
pope), would usher in the Second Coming of Christ. suffered disproportionately. The lucky ones fled to
He, therefore, welcomed the visit of an Amsterdam Jewish communities in western Europe. Others fled
rabbi who came to London seeking formal recogni- south into Muslim lands, where they were enslaved
tion of a Jewish community there. The rabbi also had and then sold in Constantinople. In all, some forty to
a religious agenda; for him, Jews had to settle in all fifty thousand Jews, a quarter of Poland’s Jewish
parts of the world as a prelude to the coming of the population, perished in the war.
Jewish Messiah. Although formal recognition of an
English Jewish community was not forthcoming, as Sabbatai Sevi
merchants and clergy resisted, Jews were allowed un-
officially to settle in London and engage in trade. In some Jewish circles, 1648 was widely held to be the
year in which the Jewish Messiah would appear to
War in Poland gather the exiled children of the Covenant, lead them
into the land of Israel, and rebuild the Temple in Jeru-
In 1648, the year of the Peace of Westphalia, war salem. The greeting “Next year in Jerusalem!” gave
broke out in Poland-Lithuania when Cossacks, war- voice to this longing for restoration, which grew more
riors protecting lands bordering on Muslim territory, intense after the expulsions from Spain and Portugal
rebelled in Ukraine. The rebellion was provoked in and the slaughters in Poland. But the Messiah did not
part by a decision to reduce the number of Cossacks appear. Then, in 1665, a twenty-nine-year-old Jew,
in the Polish army and in part by religious clashes— Sabbatai Sevi, proclaimed that he was the Messiah.
the Polish Cossacks were Russian Orthodox, while Sevi grew up in Izmir, a commercial center on the
the kings of Poland were Roman Catholics. Catholic- western coast of Turkey. From an early age, he ex-
Orthodox tensions were particularly high in the sev- celled in Jewish religious studies and was eventually
enteenth century after the Union of Brest-Litovsk, ordained a rabbi. Before Sevi claimed to be the Mes-
which united bishops in Polish Ukraine with the Ro-
man Catholic Church, despite Orthodox Christian
opposition.
Cossacks Warriors organized locally to protect frontier
The Cossack revolt of 1648 inaugurated nineteen lands bordering on Muslim territory; also used by
years of warfare. Like the Thirty Years’ War, it started Polish kings and Russian tsars as fighting forces.
as a local dispute but was soon internationalized when Union of Brest-Litvosk Agreement in 1596 uniting
both Sweden and Russia joined in. In 1655, Sweden, Orthodox bishops in Polish Ukraine with the Roman
fresh from territorial gains during the Thirty Years’ Catholic Church.
War, hoped to amass more lands on the Baltic’s south- tsar (in Russian, “Caesar”) Title of the rulers of Russia.
ern shore. The Russian tsar also used the war for ter- Sabbatai Sevi (1626–1676) Jew from Izmir of Sephardic
ritorial gain. The Swedes withdrew in 1660 after ancestry who proclaimed he was the Messiah.
receiving territory from the king of Denmark, with
Christian Reform, Religious Wars, and the Jews 437
siah, he had wandered around the Ottoman Empire other men had claimed to be the Messiah, but none at-
from Greece to Egypt. He experienced dramatic shifts tracted the following that Sevi gained. News of him
in his mental state, ranging from deep depression to spread quickly along trade routes. Soon Jews in the
frenzied exaltation. He also fell into religious ecstasies Ottoman Empire and Europe were performing the
that some believed revealed his Messianic status. penitential acts prescribed for the time of the Mes-
Although it has been speculated Sevi suffered from siah’s arrival and saying prayers for Sevi in their wor-
bipolar disorder, there were also historical reasons ship. People said that Sevi was about to seize the
for Sevi’s intense spiritual experiences, for they were sultan’s crown or that he performed miraculous cures.
at the heart of the Jewish mystical tradition centered In their own way, these proclamations were like con-
on the kabbala that Spanish Jews had developed dur- temporary Christians’ belief in the Second Coming.
ing the late Middle Ages.
In 1665, after his return to Izmir, Sevi openly pro-
claimed that he was the Messiah and started to gather
followers. He dressed in royal robes and ordered kabbala (from Hebrew, “tradition”) Field of Jewish
changes in Jewish worship, turning fast days into mysticism dating to the twelfth century but of greater
feasts and altering synagogue services as signs of the interest in the sixteenth century.
dawning End Time of Jewish restoration. In the past,
438 CHAPTER 15 A Century of War and Wonder, 1550–1650
Both Jews and Christians shared a hope for a decisive ever, continued to believe that Sevi was the Messiah.
divine event that would right all wrongs and usher in His conversion was part of his Messianic strategy,
a golden age of peace and prosperity. The economic they thought, by which he burrowed like a worm into
hard times after 1550, along with a seemingly endless Islam with the aim of destroying it from the inside
cycle of war, slaughter, and religious conflict, height- out. Some of his followers also converted to Islam
ened these expectations in both communities. and established communities that lasted into the
In 1666, Sevi set out for Constantinople. Before he twentieth century.
arrived, the Turks arrested him for disturbing the The furor over Sabbatai Sevi marked a turning
peace and jailed him. His followers were allowed to point in Jewish history. Following his apostasy, any
visit, and he continued to act as the Messiah and even claim of Messiahship was severely scrutinized. Forms
signed his letters, “I am your God Sabbatai Sevi.” In of Judaism that emphasized present faithfulness to
September, Sevi was brought before the sultan and the Law and focused less on the mystery of the Mes-
threatened with execution. He then converted to Is- siah’s future appearance gained ground. Neverthe-
lam, and the sultan named him Mehmet Efendi, gave less, the kabbalistic traditions that had inspired Sevi
him a pension, and appointed him a doorkeeper in continued to serve as a rich matrix for future mystical
the royal palace. He died ten years later. movements within Judaism.
As news of Sevi’s apostasy spread, shocked con-
gregations throughout the Ottoman Empire and Eu-
rope erased his name from their records. From the
beginning, many Jews had doubted Sevi’s claims and apostasy Act of renouncing one’s religious beliefs.
had been appalled at his self-deification. A few, how-
ern and central Europe was shattered, despite fierce Sabbatai Sevi turned many Jews away from a belief
attempts on all sides to preserve it. that their deliverance was at hand. Like the Chris-
Europe’s Jews were allowed once again to settle in tians, they now lived in a religiously fractured world.
the west, where some benefited from the global trad-
ing networks established in the sixteenth century. But ➜
Thinking Back, Thinking Ahead ➜
Jews were still often despised and sometimes suf-
fered catastrophic losses, like the ones occurring in Once the principle of religious toleration was
Poland after the Cossack rebellion of 1648. Some accepted, what changes would people eventu-
Jews, like some Christians, hoped for divine deliver- ally make in their understanding of religious
ance from the troubled times. But the rapid rise and and political allegiances?
shocking betrayal of the self-proclaimed Messiah
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
War Stories
This chapter opens and ends with a war story. War stories have been told in the western world for thou-
sands of years. Some early ones are found in Homer’s Iliad and the monuments of Egyptian pharaohs. From
the beginning, war stories have been told with words and images. Homer wrote his stories in verse, while
the pharaohs had workers carve battle scenes on the walls of their mortuary temples. Homer’s warriors lose
battles and die in them. In his temple, the pharaoh never loses.
Over the last hundred and fifty years, war stories in ever-greater numbers have circulated more and more
quickly during conflicts. In the nineteenth century, American reporters wrote stories about the great battles
of the Civil War, and Mathew Brady, following in Jacques Callot’s footsteps, took shockingly graphic photo-
graphs of battlefield carnage. In World War I and World War II, carefully edited film footage of battle was
shown weekly in newsreels to the civilian population in movie theaters. During the Vietnam War, reporters
using portable video cameras shot fighting scenes that were shown every night on network television news.
Never had scenes of war been seen so often by so many people. Their graphic detail alarmed some, who
thought that the news broadcasts weakened the country’s resolve to fight the war. During the 1991 Gulf
War television cameras and news reporters were not allowed on the battlefield. In 2003, during the war in
Iraq, the Department of Defense allowed some reporters and cameramen to be “embedded” with troops
entering Iraq. But it also banned television coverage of flag-draped coffins from Iraq arriving at Andrews Air
Force Base. Shortly thereafter, the president of the United States flew onto a navy aircraft carrier to be
televised in front of a banner announcing “Mission accomplished!” Then pictures of torture at Abu Ghraib
Prison in Baghdad appeared on the Internet.
Governments know the power of images in time of war and therefore try to control what people see. But
some images seem always to get beyond their control. On the other hand, there is always the suspicion
that images have been doctored to make a point. What lies just beyond the camera’s frame? Has some-
thing been airbrushed out or pasted in? Digital photography, which does away with the fixed film image,
makes these questions even more important and faith in the truth of pictures even more risky.
Suggested Readings
Cameron, Euan, ed. Early Modern Europe: An Oxford His- Edwards, John. The Jews in Christian Europe, 1400–1700. New
tory. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. A recent gen- York: Routledge, 1988. A good general account.
eral account. Freely, John. The Lost Messiah: The Search for the Mystical
Davies, Norman. The Isles: A History. New York: Oxford Uni- Rabbi Sabbatai Sevi. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press, 2001.
versity Press, 2001.The history of all the British Isles. The most recent account of Sevi’s life and career.
440 CHAPTER 15 A Century of War and Wonder, 1550–1650
Kamen, Henry. Spain, 1469–1714: A Society of Conflict. New Watts, Sheldon J. A Social History of Western Europe, 1450–
York: Longman, 1983. A good study of Philip II. 1720. London: Hutchinson University Library for Africa, 1984.
Schama, Simon. The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpreta- An older account with a great deal of information.
tion of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age. New York: Random
House/Vintage Books, 1997. An excellent examination of the
formation of Dutch identity in the seventeenth century.
Websites
Sections and links to readings on many of the topics discussed Information on artists and their work in the seventeenth cen-
in this chapter, Internet Modern History Sourcebook, at tury, Web Gallery of Art, at http://www.wga.hu/frames-e
www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook03.html .html?/welcome.html
On the history of Jews in early modern Europe, Internet Jewish
History Sourcebook, at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/
jewish/jewishsbook.html
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442
CHAPTER
State Building and the
European State System,
1648–1789
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Choice: Louis XIV Decides to Rule France Russia and Europe, 1682–1796
on His Own Peter the Great and Westernization
Introduction Catherine the Great and Russian Expansion
The Pugachev Rebellion and Russian Society
Absolutism in France, 1648–1740
The Sun King at Versailles The English Constitutional Monarchy,
1660–1740
Voice: Louis XIV Advises His Son The Restoration of Charles II
Forty Years of Warfare James II
A Unified French State The Glorious Revolution
Louis XV The Georges from Germany
SCOTLAND KINGDOM
Moscow
Edinburgh OF LIVONIA
N o r t h DENMARK
GREAT BRITAIN RUSSIAN
Sea Baltic
LITHUANIA
A
Swedish lands
lb
ENGLAND
SI
e
UNITED S
U
Boundary of Holy Roman Empire London PROVINCES
UR
G-
PR V is
tu l
POLAND
Utrecht EN
B a
D Warsaw
Major battle BR
AN Berlin
R hi
SAXONY Kiev
SILESIA
Dn ie
ne
e 1709
Dn
Versailles Paris PALATINATE BOHEMIA i e st
er
ATLANTIC LORRAINE
Strasbourg AUSTRIA
CE
L oire BAVARIA
OCEAN Da
SA
Vienna n u be
AL
Pest
FRANCE SWITZERLAND Buda
HUNGARY
Ga
ro SAVOY M
I RE Venice
Po LA
N PU
nn
BL
Rhone
Eb
Black
e
r Toulouse IC
GENOA OF
o
Duero VE
NI
CE
Sea
Marseilles
A
TUSCANY PAPAL
SPAIN
dr
PORTUGAL STATES at
i
MOROCCO ALGERIA rr
a
n
ea
TUNIS n
TRIPOLI OTTOM
AN EMPIR
E
1740 1756
Frederick the Great Seven Years’ War begins
becomes king of Prussia
War of the Austrian 1763
Succession begins Seven Years’ War ends
443
444 CHAPTER 16 State Building and the European State System, 1648–1789
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Louis XIV Decides to Rule France
on His Own
On March 9, 1661, France’s prime minister, Cardinal Jules Mazarin,
wracked by gout, kidney stones, and fluid in his chest cavity, died. When
news of Mazarin’s death was announced, the royal court was abuzz with
rumors about who would be next in line for the position. Within hours of
Mazarin’s death, King Louis XIV made his choice: himself. Standing be-
fore the highest officials in the kingdom he announced: “Up to this mo-
ment I have been pleased to entrust the government of my affairs to the
late Cardinal. It is now time that I govern them myself. [Monsieur the
Chancellor], you will assist me with your counsels when I ask for them. I
request and order you to seal no orders except by my command. And
you, . . . my secretaries of state, I order you not to sign anything, not even
a passport . . . without my command.”
Courtiers were astonished by Louis’ announcement. The twenty-
three-year-old seemed more interested in dancing the role of the god
Louis XIV
Apollo in court ballets and engaging in sexual escapades with young ladies-in-
Louis XIV of France embodied waiting than sitting at his desk and shuffling through reports on wool weaving in
the ideal of the vigorous, this province or sheep farming in that one. Besides, Louis’ announcement that he
state-building monarch. would rule by himself broke with family tradition. Both his father and grandfather
Throughout his long reign, had relied on strong prime ministers to help them with the affairs of state, and
he dominated European since 1643, Cardinal Mazarin had guided France skillfully through the last years of
diplomacy and warfare, and the Thirty Years’ War. In the 1640s, France seethed with unrest as taxes rose to pay
his glittering court estab- for the war and great nobles rebelled against Mazarin’s policies. There was fearful
lished standards of grandeur talk that France—like England—would slip into a civil war. Would monarchy be
that other monarchs tried to attacked in France? Would the French king be executed like Charles I? Would the
imitate. As a young man, he French Calvinists, tolerated but no longer politically independent, rise up like the
seemed more interested in Puritans and declare a republic? Mazarin had played on these fears of chaos and
the pleasures of the court bloodshed in order to keep the monarchy safe.
than in politics. In fact, how- By 1653, calm was restored, and the fourteen-year-old Louis XIV’s throne was
ever, he emerged as one of secure. Louis believed that Mazarin had saved the monarchy, and his devotion to
Europe’s ablest and most his prime minister knew no bounds. For the rest of his life, Mazarin continued to
disciplined rulers following advise the king on policy and even chose his companions, dismissing young men he
the death of his prime minis- thought unfit for association with Louis. Mazarin also amassed the largest personal
ter, Cardinal Mazarin. fortune ever known under the monarchy. On his deathbed, he gave it to the king.
(Château de Versailles/Laurie Given Mazarin’s role in guiding the French monarchy through tumultuous times
Platt Winfrey, Inc.) and the seeming frivolity of the young Louis, it is no wonder that courtiers looked
askance at the young king’s surprising decision to rule on his own. In the end,
however, Louis fooled them all. For the next fifty-four years, until his death in
1715, he refused to appoint a prime minister and directed the affairs of state him-
self. The discipline, endurance, and stamina this “bureaucrat king” showed in
running the government became legendary. Both the successes and the failures of
his very long reign rested on his determination to control all the affairs of state.
Absolutism in France, 1648–1740 445
Chronology
1640 Frederick William becomes elector 1711 Charles VI becomes Holy Roman emperor
of Brandenburg
1713 Pope condemns the Jansenists
1657 Leopold I becomes Holy Roman emperor
1713 Spain grants Britain the asiento
1660 Charles II is restored as king of England, Ireland,
and Scotland 1714 George I of Hanover becomes king of
Great Britain
1661 Louis XIV becomes his own prime minister
1715 Louis XV becomes king of France
1672–1679 Dutch War between Louis XIV and the
Dutch Republic 1727 George II becomes king of Great Britain
1682 Peter I the Great becomes tsar 1740–1748 War of the Austrian Succession ends in
a draw
1685 Louis XIV revokes Edict of Nantes
1756–1763 Seven Years’ War leads to British and
1688–1689 Glorious Revolution dethrones James II Prussian victories
1700–1721 Great Northern War between Russia 1762 Catherine II the Great becomes empress of Russia
and Sweden
1772 First partition of Poland
1701–1713 War of the Spanish Succession between
Louis XIV and most of Europe 1780 Joseph II becomes ruler of the Habsburg lands
1702 Anne becomes queen of England, Ireland, 1780s Joseph II abolishes serfdom in the
and Scotland Habsburg lands
1707 England and Scotland unite to form the kingdom 1790s Leopold II reestablishes serfdom in the
of Great Britain Habsburg lands
attended him. At midday, Louis ate alone while his politeness and beautiful manners. Courtiers com-
courtiers stood and watched. The dinner table eti- mented that they rarely saw him lose his temper. If
quette was so complicated that it took three men someone misbehaved, a simple look or short com-
seven minutes to give the king a glass of wine. When ment was enough to convey his displeasure. Like
Louis went to Mass, he sat in a balcony, looking down court etiquette, the king’s gentlemanly behavior had
at the altar, while the court, turning their backs on the a political purpose, since it reinforced a new trend in
priest, sat looking at Louis. This distinctive arrange- noble society that emphasized polite speech and
ment emphasized the king’s pivotal position between good manners as necessary qualities for the highborn
God and France. Louis believed that he ruled by di- and powerful. Encouraged by noblewomen in Paris,
vine right because God had decreed monarchy to be who presided over salons in which this conduct was
the correct form for France’s government and had
called Louis to the throne as the eldest legitimately
divine right Theory that kings were called by God to
born son of his father. The elaborate court rituals also rule and that opposition to the king was therefore
proclaimed that Louis, as an absolute monarch, was opposition to God.
the only real political player in France. He alone salons Meetings in great Parisian homes presided
made policy and laid down the law. He was also the over by well-born women who set the style for
only person who unified the different regions and discussions of literature, science, and other matters
peoples of France, since he alone ruled over them all. of current interest.
Louis was also the perfect gentleman, famous for
Absolutism in France, 1648–1740 447
This aerial view of Versailles shows the palace as it appeared toward the end of Louis XIV’s reign. Its grandeur
is apparent. At the top, the town’s boulevards converge on the palace front. The rear façade looks out over the
palace’s large gardens and park. Louis’ personal rooms were located in the center of the central wing to empha-
size that everything at Versailles was centered on the king. (Yann Arthus-Bertrand/Altitude)
required, the new emphasis on manners disciplined rose when he led his troops into battle and fought
the often violent and crude behavior of nobles. other kings for territory, honor, and prestige.
The setting for Louis’ court was Versailles, origi-
nally a hunting lodge for Louis XIII. Throughout his Forty Years of Warfare
reign, the king worked to turn his father’s modest
building into Europe’s most magnificent palace. He The early years of Louis’ reign were marked by peace
laid out acres of grounds decorated with lavish foun- at home and victory abroad. But after 1668, the king,
tains. Louis adopted the sun god Apollo as Versailles’ increasingly worried about the weakness of France’s
symbol and symbolically identified himself with eastern border, launched a series of wars. The great-
Apollo as the “Sun King,” spreading radiance on his est of these campaigns was the Dutch War. Resenting
lands and subjects. At Versailles, an entire town
sprang up to meet the needs of courtiers and their Versailles Louis XIV’s palace near Paris begun in the
thousands of servants. The palace itself was the cen- 1660s and housing the king after1683.
terpiece in a carefully orchestrated propaganda cam- Dutch War France’s 1672–1678 invasion of the Nether-
paign designed to celebrate the king’s gloire—that is, lands aimed at breaking Dutch control of international
his glory or renown—in architecture, painting, sculp- trade and shipping.
ture, and other artistic media. Above all, Louis’ gloire
448 CHAPTER 16 State Building and the European State System, 1648–1789
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Louis XIV Advises His Son
In 1666, Louis XIV assembled a team of collaborators to help him write his mem-
oirs, which were intended for his young son, another Louis, when he became king.
Such memoirs were common in early modern Europe. Charles V had written one
for Philip II, and Cardinal Richelieu had composed one for Louis XIII. Although
Louis’ son died before the king and, therefore, could never follow his father’s
advice, the Memoirs reveal the preoccupations and principles of Louis XIV some
five years after he became his own prime minister.
the “maggots” who dominated European trade and city of Strasbourg. But his finances were exhausted.
shipping, in 1672 Louis ordered his generals to in- In 1693, crop failures, caused by a drop in average
vade. In response, the Dutch stadholder, William, yearly temperatures during the Little Ice Age, led to a
broke the dikes that protected his low-lying country terrible famine in which over a million people per-
and flooded it, as the government had against the ished from hunger and disease.
Spanish in 1579. The strategy obviously caused much Then an even greater political crisis loomed—the
hardship for the Dutch, but it also bogged down the succession to the Spanish throne. Spain was ruled by
French. In the end, neither side could defeat the other, Charles II, who was childless and feeble-minded. On
and a peace was signed in 1679. The chief conse- his death, the vast Spanish possessions would have to
quence of the war was to alienate William, who was pass either to the Austrian Habsburgs or to the French
now dedicated to the defeat of France. Bourbons, since both had claims to the crown. Al-
To further challenge Dutch economic predomi- though on his death in 1701 Charles had willed his
nance, Louis’ financial minister, Jean-Baptiste Col- lands to the Bourbons (Louis XIV’s grandson, Philip),
bert, developed a strategy for increasing France’s the Austrian Habsburgs disputed the will and went
national wealth. Known as mercantilism, it regulated to war. This War of the Spanish Succession was the
economic policy for France’s benefit. Consumers were most devastating one Louis ever fought. It further
encouraged to “buy French,” and the state supported shattered his finances, while a crop failure in 1709 was
porcelain manufacturers capable of competing with followed by the coldest winter of the century, leaving
imports from Asia. Monopolies were given to trading thousands frozen to death in their homes or on the
companies that would challenge the Dutch in over- roads. At war’s end, Philip remained king of Spain
seas markets. Finally, French colonies were encour- and its empire, but the Treaty of Utrecht stipulated
aged to grow. The population of Canada, known for
its exports of furs and fish, rose from three thousand
to twenty-five thousand, and the French founded set- stadholder Chief executive in the Dutch Republic.
tlements on the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile and New William Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic (1672–
Orleans. These colonies secured the French in the 1702) who later became king of England as William III
North American heartland watered by the Missis- (r. 1689–1702).
sippi and Ohio Rivers. Saint-Domingue and other Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683) Louis XIV’s finan-
colonies in the Caribbean specialized in cash crops, cial minister who implemented French mercantilist
first tobacco and then sugar. Colbert’s mercantilism policies.
established a new goal for the monarchy—the devel- mercantilism State-initiated economic policy encour-
opment of a national economic policy. aging exports, discouraging imports, and stimulating
The mid-1680s brought a downturn in Louis’ for- domestic industries.
tunes. In 1683, Louis refused to declare war on the Saint-Domingue Sugar-producing French island
colony in the Caribbean.
Turks when they besieged Vienna. His decision was
in line with France’s traditional anti-Habsburg pol- War of the League of Augsburg (1689–1697) First of
Louis XIV’s two great wars fought against Austria,
icy, but his refusal to help a Christian state attacked England, and the Dutch Republic.
by Muslims scandalized many Europeans. Then, in War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1713) Louis
1689, Louis again went to war on France’s eastern XIV’s last great war, with France and Spain allied
frontier, this time against Austria, a war that was against the Austrians, Dutch, and English.
quickly joined by the Dutch. The War of the League Treaty of Utrecht Treaty signed in 1713 between
of Augsburg lasted until 1697. Louis, who had the France and the states fighting France that ended the
largest army in Europe, strengthened the eastern War of the Spanish Succession.
frontier by conquering the province of Alsace and the
450 CHAPTER 16 State Building and the European State System, 1648–1789
that France and Spain could not be united as a single The unity of France was important to Louis. As
state. The Austrians received northern and southern a child, he twice had to flee Paris for his safety, dur-
Italy, along with the Spanish (now the Austrian) ing a noble revolt against royal rule known as the
Netherlands. Fronde. When he assumed personal rule of France,
Louis’ many wars had increased the size of France he was determined to prevent a similar rebellion. His
by 12 percent and strengthened its eastern borders, policy of coaxing the most powerful nobles to his
now protected with state-of-the-art fortifications. But court with promises of honors, careers, and money
they had left a bitter legacy. In 1713, France was virtu- was designed to tie them closely to the fortunes of
ally bankrupt and the economy in a shambles. More- the Crown.
over, other Europeans states, especially the Dutch Louis also sought to secure religious unity in France,
Republic and Britain, feared that the Sun King was believing the kingdom should have “one king, one law,
trying to upset the balance of power, which aimed to one faith.” In Louis’ mind, the French Huguenots were
prevent any one state from establishing permanent potentially rebellious, so in 1685 he revoked the Edict of
military dominance in Europe. Nantes, thereby ending the limited religious toleration
Louis’ grandfather had granted. Huguenots who failed
A Unified French State to convert to Catholicism were forced to flee. Around
three hundred thousand, many of them middle-class
Within France, however, the wars had a unifying ef- merchants, left for the Dutch Republic, England, and
fect. Continuous warfare after 1688 had led Louis to America, spreading tales of the king’s brutality. The
search desperately for new revenue, and he sold waves Huguenot exodus cost France dearly, since it deprived
of new offices. Then, in 1695, he took the unprece- the kingdom of a commercially skilled group just as the
dented step of imposing a tax, the capitation, on all Anglo-French struggle for global commerce was begin-
his subjects without exception. To supervise the col- ning. Those still in France were subject to the quarter-
lection of these taxes, Louis relied on his intendants, ing of troops in their houses, while in the mountainous
chief local royal administrators appointed on the south, where many Protestant peasants lived, royal
basis of their ability and loyalty to the Crown. The in- troops burned hundreds of villages. In retaliation, peas-
tendants also gathered information about local condi- ants carried on a guerrilla war against the royal army.
tions for the central government, and their reports In Protestant Europe, news of the army’s atrocities,
allowed the king and his ministers to be better in- coupled with exiles’ grim accounts, produced a new
formed about the state of the economy. The result was image of Louis. The glorious Sun King was now a vi-
better policymaking. cious tyrant. In France, however, most Catholics sup-
Thus, in his later years Louis was able to transform ported the king’s policy. Louis’ campaign against the
the French state. He reduced the power of the royal Huguenots resulted not only from a belief that France
courts, known as parlements, which were now for- should be religiously unified but also from fear that the
bidden to criticize royal edicts. But their members Huguenots were secretly republicans, a charge that be-
were guaranteed their right to hold office and encour- deviled them after English Calvinists declared a com-
aged to enforce the law. As royal administration be- monwealth in 1649.
came more efficient, relations between the king and Louis also quarreled with the pope by supporting
his subjects improved. Well-run parlements appealed
to the king’s subjects, who increasingly used them in-
stead of church or landlords’ courts, believing that
they offered fairer rulings. Although taxation was capitation Royal tax imposed on all French subjects in
1695 that introduced the idea of taxation of all people
still resented, the better-organized collection of taxes,
in defense of the state.
along with a continuing shift to indirect taxation on
intendants In the second half of Louis XIV’s reign, the
items like paper and tobacco, took some of the sting most important local royal administrators, appointed
out of payment. Even the royal armies were appreci- by the king.
ated. During the religious wars earlier in the century, parlements France’s highest royal courts, which en-
royal troops had been hated because of their violence forced the king’s edicts.
and unruliness, but Louis’ army, though huge, was Fronde (1648–1653) Rebellion of the French nobles
well disciplined. His troops were now seen as protec- against Cardinal Mazarin and the regent, Queen Anne,
tors, welcomed by civilians and local vendors who during Louis’ early years as king.
supplied their needs. Under Louis, the French gov- guerrilla war An undeclared, irregularly fought war.
ernment functioned more fairly and efficiently.
The Austrian Hapsburgs, 1648–1740 451
the French clergy’s adoption of the Four Gallican Arti- atory, and the able-bodied were forced to work. Some
cles, which proclaimed that church councils were su- historians argue that the new state program aimed to
perior to the pope and that the pope could not alter the isolate the socially undesirable from society at large,
way the French church was governed. The attack on while others see it as the beginning of a modern state-
the Huguenots was designed in part to heal the rup- sponsored welfare system.
ture with the pope. Relations with the papacy were In religious policy, however, Louis XV struggled, as
further improved when Louis supported the pope’s the problem of the Jansenists remained. While his gov-
condemnation of the Jansenists, austere Catholics ernment continued its predecessor’s condemnation of
whose notions about human sinfulness struck some the Jansenists, the Parlement of Paris, following the
Catholics as too close to the views of John Calvin. Four Gallican Articles, declared that the pope was ille-
During the famine of 1709, Louis took the unprece- gally intruding into the French church’s affairs. The
dented step of issuing a letter directly asking his sub- conflict was intense because in 1715 the Duke of Or-
jects for help. This appeal went against the principles léans, the regent for the new child king, had once again
of absolutism, in which the king was the only politi- permitted the parlements to criticize royal policy. By
cal player, but it was well received. As a result, king 1730, the Parlement of Paris was openly defying Louis
and subjects bonded in an effort to meet the crisis, on the Jansenist issue and challenging the absolutist
and a new sense of collective identity was forged. principle that the king alone made law. Neither side
Now people started to think of themselves as part of could silence the other, and it now seemed that Louis
a unified nation facing a common task. Louis XIV’s XV could no longer keep religious peace in the king-
regulation of religious affairs, his control of the French dom. Despite this failure, however, absolutism in
nobility, his efficient royal administration of tax and France had brought the state into new areas of people’s
economic policies, and his establishment of better lives and made the state more demanding, as well as
working relations with his subjects all promoted a more responsive, than ever before.
growing sense of national unity, exemplifying French
royal absolutism in action.
Yet in 1715, seventy-seven years old and dying,
Louis reflected on his failings. He told his five-year-
The Austrian Habsburgs,
old great-grandson and heir, Louis XV, “Try to re- 1648–1740
main at peace with your neighbors. I loved war too
➜
much. Do not follow me in that or in overspending.” How was the Austrian Habsburg form of absolutist king-
ship similar to and different from French royal absolutism?
➜
After 1715, France avoided prolonged warfare. Capi- The Habsburg emperor Leopold, a lifelong rival of
talizing on peaceful times and a smoothly function- Louis XIV, successfully contained France’s bid for
ing state administration, Louis XV continued his dominance in European affairs, thus maintaining the
great-grandfather’s absolutist policy of expanding balance of power. His reign, too, was marked by war-
the state’s activity in new directions. One was polic- fare. Positioned between the French in the west and
ing. Traditionally, cities maintained rudimentary po- the Turks in the east, Leopold often had to fight both
lice forces, and the army was the real maintainer of at the same time. But unlike France, warfare in the
public order. Under Louis XV, the army’s policing Habsburg lands did not accelerate a drive for unity in
role declined, and professional police forces were cre-
ated. Paris saw the first changes. Its police force,
which numbered 193 in 1700, grew to 725 by 1760. In Four Gallican Articles Decrees of 1681 proclaiming
the rest of the kingdom, about 3,000 men functioned church councils superior to the pope and denying
Rome’s power to alter internal rules governing the
as police. These forces were spread thinly over a pop- French church.
ulation of 24 million, but they represented the begin-
Jansenists Austere Catholic reformers who were ac-
ning of a modern, professional police network. cused of holding views about human sin similar to
Another area of activity concerned poor relief. In- the Protestant John Calvin and were condemned by
creasingly, the state assumed care of poor children the pope.
and the elderly, who were housed, clothed, and fed in Louis XV (r. 1715–1774) Louis XIV’s five-year-old great-
urban “hospitals.” Life in the hospitals was strict; at- grandson who became king on Louis XIV’s death.
tendance at morning and evening prayers was oblig-
452 CHAPTER 16 State Building and the European State System, 1648–1789
the state, and Austria was not remodeled along abso- Like most rulers of his day, Leopold was aware of
lutist lines. Its reach was simply too great and its pop- the political implications of Louis XIV’s Versailles
ulation too diverse—particularly after the reconquest and set out to rival him by building his own palace,
of Hungary—to permit the perfect alignment of the Schönbrunn, on the outskirts of Vienna. Plans to con-
king and the law that had been Louis XIV’s aim. vert the building, which like Versailles had been a
hunting lodge, were drawn up during his reign. They
included an imposing residence of four hundred
Leopold I rooms as well as gardens and fountains in the manner
In 1657, on the death of his elder brother from small- of Versailles. But there were differences. Versailles was
pox, the seventeen-year-old Leopold I unexpectedly situated on high ground, so the gardens sloped down
became Holy Roman emperor and head of the Aus-
trian Habsburgs. He had been destined for a career in
the church, and at first he did not play the role of
Leopold I (r. 1657–1705) Head of the Austrian Habs-
monarch very well. Throughout his life he remained burgs, emperor, ruler in Austria, king of Bohemia, and
deeply religious. He married three times and had six- king of Hungary, which he reconquered from the Turks.
teen sons and daughters, only five of whom outlived Schönbrunn (in German, “beautiful spring”) Leopold
him. He was also withdrawn and bookish as well as an I’s palace on Vienna’s outskirts, built on the model
accomplished musician who composed many pieces of Versailles.
performed at his court in Vienna.
The Austrian Habsburgs, 1648–1740 453
from the palace, creating long vistas. Schönbrunn sat ans, Eastern Orthodox, and Muslims. The resettlement
at the bottom of a hill. This allowed designers to sweep also reduced the proportion of Hungarians. In 1526,
the gardens upward and to incorporate cascading they had constituted 85 percent of the kingdom’s
water into their plans. The effect was different from population; by 1700, they made up only 40 percent.
Versailles, but equally impressive. Peace in Europe during the 1680s had freed Leo-
pold to concentrate on Hungary. When the War of the
League of Augsburg with France broke out in 1689, he
The Turkish Siege of Vienna and the was forced to turn west once again. Then, with Habs-
burg troop strength reduced in the east, the Turks at-
Reconquest of Hungary tempted to retake Hungary, only to be defeated again
In 1683, a Turkish army, under the leadership of the Ot- in 1690. This time a new grand vizier lay among the
toman grand vizier, Kara Mustafa, marched up the battlefield dead. Finally, just as war in the west was
Danube River and besieged Vienna. Once again, Eu- ending, in 1697 Leopold scored another smashing vic-
rope shuddered at the threat of Muslim conquests. tory. At Zenta, the vizier and thirty thousand men
Leopold, forced to flee the city, tried to rally support were slaughtered before the sultan’s eyes, for this time
from Christian princes. Many responded, though not the sultan himself had accompanied the Turkish army
Louis XIV, for whom dynastic rivalry was more impor- into Hungary. The Habsburg commander ripped the
tant than Christian solidarity. In September, after a sav- great seal of the Ottoman Empire from the dead
age two-month siege of the city, a united force, which vizier’s neck and sent it back to Vienna. In 1699, the
had received the pope’s blessing, defeated the Turks, Treaty of Carlowitz confirmed the Habsburg con-
and Kara Mustafa fled south. The grand vizier blamed quests. Although the Ottomans had lost Hungary, they
everyone but himself for his failure, executing subordi- continued to hold the Balkans and challenged the Rus-
nates as he made his way to winter quarters in Bel- sians in the northern Black Sea region.
grade. There, on Christmas Day, he received a silk scarf During the War of the Spanish Succession, more
signaling the sultan’s displeasure. He was strangled trouble flared up in the east, this time a rebellion
on the spot and his head then shipped to Constantino- led by a Transylvanian prince, Francis II Rákóczi.
ple, to be presented to the sultan on a silver platter. Rákóczi typified the touchy Hungarian noble resent-
These dramatic events opened the way for the ful of Leopold’s preference for Germans. His father,
Habsburgs’ reconquest of Hungary. By 1687, Leopold mother, and stepfather had all led rebellions against
was master of most of the kingdom and the semi-in- the Habsburgs, and he was determined to guarantee
dependent principality of Transylvania. Summoning Hungary’s traditional rights. By 1711, however, he
the Hungarian Diet, he convinced the deputies to de- had been defeated, as the Habsburgs were now able
cree that the Crown was no longer elective but hered- to rely on the enlarged non-Hungarian population of
itary in the male line of the Habsburg family. The the kingdom for support. War and plague devastated
Hungarians also renounced their traditional right of the kingdom during the rebellion; almost a half mil-
rebellion against a ruler they thought had violated lion people perished. Rákóczi eventually sought pro-
the kingdom’s customary laws. Despite these conces- tection from the sultan and died in exile in Turkey.
sions, Leopold did not trust the Hungarians. Earlier The Peace of Szatmár (1711) united Hungary to the
in his reign, some of their great nobles had rebelled Habsburg lands through a common ruler.
against him, while others were Protestants. Hungari-
ans were also culturally distinct, dressing in local cos-
tumes and speaking their own language—Magyar. grand vizier Chief minister of the Ottoman sultan.
Turkish occupation and the war of reconquest Zenta Battle in 1697 in which the Habsburgs defeated
had devastated the Hungarian countryside, and vast the Turks and reconfirmed Habsburg conquests
in Hungary.
stretches of farmland lay unoccupied. To restore agri-
Treaty of Carlowitz Treaty of 1699 between the Aus-
culture, and also to neutralize possible Hungarian re-
trian Habsburgs and the Ottoman Turks confirming
bellions, Leopold encouraged Serb, Bohemian, and the Habsburg reconquest of Hungary.
German peasants to resettle the lands, promising Francis II Rákóczi (1676–1735) Prince of Transylvania
them limited freedom from royal taxes and the obli- who led the last major rebellion against the Habsburgs
gations of serfdom. This resettlement complicated the in Hungary.
religious situation in Hungary, where, for a century, Peace of Szatmár Treaty of 1711 uniting Hungary to the
Hungarians had been split over religion; along with other Habsburg possessions through a common ruler.
Catholics, there were Calvinists, Lutherans, Unitari-
454 CHAPTER 16 State Building and the European State System, 1648–1789
BOHEMIA CA
MORAVIA RP
ne
AT
hi
R HI
e AN
nub BAVARIA AUSTRIA
Da Munich
Vienna 1683
M
BREISGAU Pest
TS
Buda
.
STYRIA TRANSYLVANIA
TYROL HUNGARY
CARINTHIA Zenta 1697
Mohács
A
CARNIOLA TI Karlowitz
Venice OA
SLAVONIA
nu be
CR Da
Belgrade
Passarowitz
Ad
ri
ic
at
Se OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Mediterranean Sea a
MAP 16.1 The Growth of Austria and Prussia to 1748 Both Austria and Brandenburg-Prussia were
expanding in the first half of the eighteenth century. The Austrians continued adding territories in their
southeast, but in the north lost Silesia to Brandenburg-Prussia. Prussian lands were still scattered; by 1772
however, Brandenburg would be joined to Prussia in the First Partition of Poland under Frederick the Great.
bitious plans meant that the state had to mobilize the one of eight German princes entitled to elect the Holy
country’s limited resources to a unique degree. Roman emperor, he had an important place in impe-
rial politics. But his own lands were weak. Those in the
Territorial Consolidation center had been devastated during the Thirty Years’
War, and some were still under foreign occupation.
In 1640, a twenty-year-old, Frederick William von Overall, the population of his lands had fallen by 50
Hohenzollern, known as the Great Elector, became percent since 1618. But the Peace of Westphalia allowed
ruler of Brandenburg and a string of other territories Frederick William to reestablish princely authority in
that stretched across northern Germany from the his territories.
Rhineland to the Polish border. In the west, little Cleves In 1655, when Sweden went to war against Poland
and Mark owed him allegiance; in the center were in hopes of gaining territory on the southern shore of
Brandenburg and its capital, Berlin, where he ruled as the Baltic Sea, Frederick William faced his first test
margrave; to the east was the duchy of Prussia, which
he held as a vassal of the king of Poland. These Hohen- Frederick William von Hohenzollern (r. 1640–1688)
zollern lands were separated by territories belonging Known as the Great Elector, ruler who started to create
to other rulers, and each had its own jealously guarded the modern state of Prussia.
political traditions. Because Frederick William was
456 CHAPTER 16 State Building and the European State System, 1648–1789
since the Peace of Westphalia in the treacherous game In addition to imposing his right to tax and reor-
of warfare and diplomacy that was the norm among ganizing his domain revenues, the elector encouraged
European states. At first, he proclaimed his neutrality. economic growth along mercantilist lines by increas-
When the Swedes suffered temporary losses, he allied ing exports and introducing new manufacturing
with them on condition that they recognize the in- centers. As a youth, he had spent time in the Dutch
dependence of Prussia from Poland. When the Poles Republic and seen firsthand the thriving economic
started to lose, he joined them, again demanding that life there. After 1685, he welcomed some twenty thou-
they abandon any claim to the duchy. At war’s end in sand exiled Huguenots. These French artisans, mer-
1660, he was master of an independent Prussia. Now chants, and manufacturers played a vital role in the
the Hohenzollern lands were scattered from the economic recovery after the Thirty Years’ War.
Rhineland to the Russian border. During his reign, Frederick William had united his
far-flung lands into a single state, imposed his right
Taxes to Support an Army to tax them on a regular basis, and reinvigorated the
economy. His growing army made him the most im-
For the rest of his reign, the Great Elector set two pol- portant military figure in Germany after the Habs-
icy goals: to build up his army and to reorganize his burgs. In 1688, the elector was succeeded by his son,
finances to pay for it. Between 1653 and 1688, the Frederick, who ruled until 1713. Frederick spent most
army grew from eighteen hundred to thirty thou- of his time in Berlin, presiding over a lavish court
sand. As the one institution established in all territo- in the style of Louis XIV. His one major accomplish-
ries from east to west, it became the primary unifying ment was to adopt the title of King in Prussia in 1701
force in the elector’s state. after obtaining Leopold I’s recognition with promises
A bigger army called for more taxes, and more of military aid in the looming War of the Spanish
taxes led to a confrontation between Frederick William Succession. The title gave Frederick the standing he
and his diets, local political assemblies dominated by thought appropriate for his state’s new power.
the nobility. Like their Habsburg counterparts, the
Hohenzollern diets had traditionally granted taxes to King Frederick William I
the ruler. The elector had obtained a six-year grant
from the Diet of Brandenburg in 1653 that he contin- In 1713, King Frederick was succeeded by his son,
ued to collect on his own authority during the war of King Frederick William I. Although Prussia was
1655–1660. Also in 1653, he proposed supplementing Lutheran, Frederick William was a strict Calvinist
the grant with a general excise tax, taking his cue from who believed in the absolutist principle that he was
the French, who had lowered direct taxes while rais- responsible to God alone for his rule. His subjects
ing indirect ones. When the local nobility objected were to obey him without question. The king hated
that the excise violated their traditional rights of tax all elegance and refinement and spent most of his free
exemption, the elector asked only towns to pay it. time with his military men, smoking and getting
This solution created two tax systems. The country- completely drunk. These “tobacco evenings” some-
side, dominated by nobles, paid a land tax, while towns times ended with a participant being set on fire, a
adopted the excise tax. In creating this twofold system great joke in the king’s eyes. Frederick William also
in Brandenburg, the elector split the united opposition stalked the streets of Berlin, roaring at his subjects,
of urban and rural taxpayers to new taxes. When beating them with his cane, and leaving them with
Prussia balked at taxes, Frederick William introduced broken noses and teeth. The king was obsessed with
the two-tiered system there with the same results. tall men and scoured the kingdom for fit specimens
Shorn of their taxing power, the diets withered away, to fill the ranks of his personal guard. If necessary, he
and, as in France, political power was increasingly con-
solidated in the hands of the ruler and his government.
Frederick William had another source of revenue
from his own domain. All European rulers had these excise tax Indirect tax imposed on consumer items and
collected at the moment of sale.Frederick William I
private income streams, but the Hohenzollerns were
(r. 1713–1740) King of Prussia who further centralized
blessed by very large family landholdings, constitut- the state administration and continued to build up the
ing about one-third of their country’s agricultural army.
land and worked by 30 percent of the country’s serfs. Frederick William I (r. 1713–1740) King of who Prussia
Under the leadership of an efficient administrator, who further centralized the state administration and
Dodo zu Knyphausen, these domain lands produced continued to build up the army.
ever-larger amounts for the elector’s treasury.
Russia and Europe, 1682–1796 457
resorted to kidnapping. Frederick William was a population, historians have described eighteenth-
strange, violent, and crude man, but he was also a century Prussia as a “barracks state.”
very successful ruler. When Frederick William died in 1740, he was suc-
Like his grandfather, the Great Elector, Fredrick ceeded by his son, Frederick II. Frederick was every-
William I pursued the twin policies of strengthening thing his father was not—refined, an accomplished
the royal administration while enlarging the army. flute player and composer, and a lover of philosophi-
The excise tax was expanded to new commodities, cal discussion. He and his father had not gotten
and the land tax was imposed directly on the nobility along. Relations between ruling monarchs and their
in East Prussia, as the old duchy was now called. In- successors were often stormy because the next in line
come from the royal domain was further increased attracted those who were out of favor in the current
through yet more efficient management. Town coun- reign. But Frederick William I’s treatment of his son
cils were abolished and new royal officials put in was particularly violent. At one point, having beaten
their place. A new administrative body called the Frederick bloody with his cane, he put him in solitary
General Directory was created in 1723 that brought confinement and forced him to witness the beheading
together all officials involved in collecting taxes and of his closest friend on largely falsified charges.
revenues from the royal domain and supervising the Frederick William I had doubled the size of his
overall economy of the kingdom. The directory im- army, but he was reluctant to use it in war. Frederick
proved administrative centralization and efficiency. II’s first act as king was to attack Charles VI’s succes-
The king stood at the apex of this new admin- sor, Maria Theresa, seizing Silesia, her richest territory,
istrative system. Unlike his predecessors, Frederick and thereby starting the War of the Austrian Succes-
William I did not consult regularly with his top offi- sion, the first of two world wars that engulfed the
cials because he had a low opinion of the men who major European states in the mid-eighteenth century.
worked for him, criticizing them for laziness and
greed and paying them poorly. Instead, he worked in
private, receiving reports and then secretly making
decisions that were transmitted in writing to his offi- Russia and Europe,
cials. His was a system of personal absolutism un- 1682–1796
known even in Louis XIV’s France, where the king
➜
always consulted with a handful of trusted advisers. How were the state-building efforts of Russia’s rulers
The king’s government produced what Frederick similar to or different from the reform programs of European
William I wanted above all else—an enlarged army. rulers farther to the west?
➜
At his death in 1740, the Prussian army had eighty How were Russian rulers’ relations with their nobility
similar to and different from relations between monarchs
thousand men, making it the fourth largest in Europe. and nobles farther to the west?
Command of the troops was given to the Prussian no-
bility, who also served in the civil administration. The Beginning in 1700, Russia began to realize Tsar Ivan
king thus bound the nobility to his government and the Terrible’s dream of turning westward to expand
created a tradition of loyal state service among his no- its territory. In addition, rulers restructured Russia’s
bles that was to last into the twentieth century. He state and church, along with its economy and society,
also guaranteed the nobility’s economic preeminence along western lines. By the end of the eighteenth cen-
by recognizing their rights as landlords to control the tury, Russia was a major player in European politics.
serfs on their estates.
The military had always been the one institution Peter the Great and Westernization
common to all the Hohenzollern lands, and the state’s
financial administration was geared to its maintenance. Following Ivan the Terrible’s death in 1584, Russia
The military budget was met with tax and domain sank into a thirty-year period of political instability
revenues, not with borrowing, as in other states. As during which aristocratic factions fought for control
he enlarged the army, Frederick William drafted more of the state. In 1613, stability was restored when the
and more of his own subjects. All parts of the king- first Romanov tsar, Michael, ascended the throne. At
dom were required to present men, mainly peasants,
for service. To lower costs, the soldiers were quartered
in civilian homes, where they paid for their food and General Directory Prussian central administrative
lodging and thereby stimulated the local economy. agency created in 1723.
Because the rank and file of the growing army was Romanovs Family that ruled Russia from 1613 to 1917.
made up of Prussians who lived among the civilian
458 CHAPTER 16 State Building and the European State System, 1648–1789
the end of the century, another Romanov, Peter I the resisted or attempted to flee, the army brought them
Great, transformed Russia into a major European back in chains and branded them to make flight more
power. Peter was six feet seven inches tall and power- difficult. In 1718, well-to-do landowners were required
fully built. His huge size had a personality to match— to build a house there and spend some of the year in the
restless, energetic, and always on the move. Peter was city. St. Petersburg was designed using western princi-
ten when he became tsar in 1682. He shared rule with ples of urban planning, and western architects con-
a half brother, Ivan V, until Ivan’s death in 1696 and structed its beautiful classical buildings.
then ruled alone. The young tsar was fascinated by Peter knew that continuing military success in the
technology. In 1697, he traveled to western Europe war with Sweden depended on an unprecedented re-
under an assumed name, which fooled no one. Set- fashioning of Russia’s fighting forces and tax structure.
tling in the Dutch Republic, he spent hours visiting He therefore reorganized his army along western lines,
sawmills, cloth manufacturers, botanical gardens, and ordering a draft for soldiers and introducing up-to-
museums. He listened to lectures on anatomy and met date western drill and weapons. By 1715, he had an
with local architects. But, above all, he visited Dutch army of 215,000, supplemented by 100,000 Cossacks,
shipyards to learn about shipbuilding, and then, hav- locally organized warrior bands used by tsars as fight-
ing bought his own tools, he worked alongside Dutch ing forces. Peter also built a Baltic navy from scratch.
shipbuilders. On a visit to England, he went to Angli- To pay for this huge military mobilization, he imposed
can church services, attended a Quaker meeting, went new taxes on everything from beehives to beards to
to the theater, and visited Parliament, which did not baths. He abolished the old household tax and im-
impress him. And, again, he studied ships. posed a new head tax that all unprivileged people
Peter worked for the rest of his life to apply what had to pay at higher rates than the old one. Overall,
he had learned in the west to Russia. He began with taxes skyrocketed during Peter’s reign, as they had in
fashion. Immediately on his return to Moscow, he France during the Thirty Years’ War. To improve his
forbade men to grow beards, the traditional sign of tax base, Peter inaugurated a mercantilist stimulation
manhood in this Orthodox Christian country, and of the Russian economy by encouraging exports, dis-
personally cut them off his courtiers. Traditionalists couraging imports, and sponsoring new industries in
were horrified and protested that their hairless faces metallurgy, mining, and textiles.
made them look like Protestants, Poles, or monkeys. The decisive battle in the Great Northern War came
His court was then ordered to dress in western clothes in 1709 at Poltava, where Peter destroyed the Swedish
and to meet in “assemblies,” where men and women army. Nine thousand Swedes lay dead on the battle-
together conversed and engaged in other polite pas- field, and sixteen thousand more surrendered a few
times. This mingling of men and women overturned days later. The Swedish king, Charles XII, who com-
traditions decreeing the separation of women in spe- manded the army, fled into Turkish territory. Although
cial quarters. the war lasted another twelve years, the Swedes never
In 1700, the tsar began a two-decade struggle with recovered from the disaster at Poltava. At the end of
Sweden, the greatest power in northeastern Europe, the Great Northern War, in 1721, during a solemn cer-
for control of the Baltic Sea. Since the sixteenth cen- emony in St. Petersburg, Peter was proclaimed em-
tury, tsars had believed that Russian access to the peror of Russia, a title taken from Rome that was to
Baltic, the central sea link between eastern and west- supplant the traditional one of tsar.
ern Europe, was essential if Russia hoped to be a ma-
jor European power. Peter acted on this belief in the
Great Northern War, which marked a turning point
in Russian history. Peter I the Great (r. 1682–1725) Greatest Romanov tsar
After early Russian victories on the Baltic, Peter took who westernized Russia and made the country a major
European power.
the examples of Louis XIV and Leopold I further by
Great Northern War (1700–1721) War between Russia
building not a palace but a city, St. Petersburg, founded
and Sweden that resulted in Russian dominance of
in 1703 on swampy coastal land seized from the the Baltic.
Swedes at the mouth of the Neva River. The new city St. Petersburg City founded by Peter the Great in
proclaimed his success in securing a Baltic port. In 1712, 1703, which became the Russian capital in 1712.
Peter made St. Petersburg the new capital of Russia, Poltava Decisive battle of the Great Northern War in
and the next year the court and state administration 1709 in which Peter the Great defeated Charles XII
moved there from Moscow. Peter also forced skilled of Sweden.
craftsmen to settle there with their families. When they
Russia and Europe, 1682–1796 459
nd St. Petersburg
inla
lf of F Area of Poland
NORWAY Gu in 1772
ESTONIA
ga Austria in 1795
l
Vo
SWEDEN Prussia in 1795
LIVONIA
Russia in 1795
Moscow Ottoman Empire
Riga 1772 in 1795
1772 Year territory
seized
a
Smolensk
Se
ic
t 1772
a l Königsberg
B Vilna
PRUSSIA
RUSSIA
Dn
Danzig
ie
(Gdansk) er
p
1795
E lb 1772 1795
e
P O L A N D UKRAINE
BRANDENBURG Warsaw Kiev
Berlin O 1793
der Lublin
1795 1793
SAXONY SILESIA
HOLY
Rhi
Dresden
e Cracow 1772
n
ROMAN
GALICIA 1783–1792 Sea
EMPIRE BOHEMIA (from Ottoman Empire) of Azov
be MOLDAVIA
nu
Da
CRIMEA
FRANCE Vienna BESSARABIA
AUSTRIAN EMPIRE
SWISS HUNGARY
CONFEDERATION Black Sea
WALLACHIA
Venice CROATIA
D a n ub e
BOSNIA
SERBIA BULGARIA
MONTENEGRO Constantinople
MAP 16.2 The Partition of Poland and the Expansion of Russia Prussia, Russia, and Austria all
benefited from the partitions of Poland. By incorporating the part of Poland that had previously sepa-
rated them, Prussia and Brandenburg were finally united. But Prussian lands further to the west were still
separated from those in the east by other states. Russia continued its westward expansion taking present-
day Belarus, Lithuania, and Ukraine. Austria took part of southwestern Poland and Galicia, the lands
closest to its eastern border.
and Austria, which were also looking to expand their themselves. Two more partitions took place in 1792
territories, in the first partition of Poland. In the 1760s, and 1795, bringing an end to an independent Poland.
Prussia and Russia had instigated a civil war in Poland
by demanding full toleration for its Protestant and partitions of Poland Divisions of Poland carried out
Orthodox inhabitants. Claiming that they were put- by Austria, Prussia, and Russia in 1772, 1792, and 1795,
ting an end to that civil war, Austria, Prussia, and Rus- leading to the end of an independent Polish state.
sia proceeded to divide up sections of Poland among
462 CHAPTER 16 State Building and the European State System, 1648–1789
Catherine also fought two wars with the Turks. In Coercion from above was crucial in this transforma-
1792, when the second war ended, Russia seized the tion. Modernization and westernization also increased
north shore of the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula privileges for the landowning class and reduced the
along with the northern Caucasus. These conquests, condition of the peasant population, which (serfs and
along with the partitions of Poland, rivaled Peter the free peasants together) constituted more than 90 per-
Great’s advances in the Baltic region and established cent of Russia’s inhabitants. The gulf between the
the modern western boundaries of Russia. Catherine landowning elite and the mass of inhabitants was as
encouraged colonization in the lands of the south by great as, if not greater than, any in Europe.
urging Russian landlords to move there with their serfs
and sponsoring German immigrants in the region. At
the end of Catherine’s reign, the Russian Empire con- The English Constitutional
tained dozens of different ethnic and religious com-
munities, 50 percent of whom were Russian. Thus, Monarchy, 1660–1740
cultural diversity in the Russian Empire rivaled that
➜➜
How did religion continue to play a role in English politics?
of the Habsburg lands and similarly retarded the de-
In what ways did political development in England differ
velopment of a common identity among the peoples from that in the absolutist regimes on the continent?
ruled by the empress in St. Petersburg.
In 1660, after eleven years of civil war, religious contro-
versy, republican government, and Oliver Cromwell’s
The Pugachev Rebellion and dictatorship, monarchy was restored in the British
Russian Society Isles when Charles I’s son, already crowned king of
Scotland, was crowned king of England and Ireland.
In 1773, during the Turkish war, a massive rebellion Restoration, however, did not bring either political or
against the empress broke out in the south. It was led religious peace. For the next seventy years, the British
by a Cossack, Emelian Pugachev, who claimed to be Isles were torn apart by conflicts pitting king against
Peter III. Popular revolts led by men pretending to be Parliament. Religious divisions also persisted, as re-
long-lost tsars were a feature of early modern Rus- stored Anglicans refused all compromise with the Pu-
sia’s political life. So were Cossack frontier rebellions. ritans. When the Catholic king James II seemed to have
What made Pugachev’s revolt distinctive was its size established a permanent Catholic dynasty, he was over-
and its social composition. Thousands rose with him, thrown, and his Protestant daughter Mary II, along
including many serfs. In 1774, when the Turkish war with her husband, the Dutch stadholder William III,
ended, Catherine was free to turn her professionally were crowned with Parliament’s blessing. But Mary
trained army against the insurgents, who were no and then her successor, Anne, died without heirs, and
match for the imperial troops, and the revolt fell Parliament again determined who would rule when it
apart. Pugachev was taken to Moscow in a cage and chose a German Protestant prince, George I. In this tur-
then executed. Although the revolt failed, it was a bulent period, as Parliament made and unmade mon-
sign of a deep social crisis in Russia. The elimination archs, its power grew. Political stability was achieved
of compulsory state service for the landlord class had in the early eighteenth century, when Crown and Par-
undercut the traditional structure of the Russian com- liament started to cooperate in governing the country.
munity, in which landlords toiled for the state while
their serfs toiled for them. When the landlords were The Restoration of Charles II
freed of their obligations, many peasants believed they
should be free as well. When they were not freed, The restoration to the throne of Charles II in 1660
alienation and anger exploded into revolt. Those who sparked a repudiation of Oliver Cromwell’s Calvinist
followed Pugachev demanded an end to serfdom, moral reform of society. The king led the way. Charles
taxation, and the military draft. In 1775, Catherine
clamped down. She imposed administrative central-
ization by reorganizing Russia into fifty provinces Emelian Pugachev (1742?–1775) Cossack who claimed
and putting the landlords in charge of local govern- to be Peter III and led an unsuccessful rebellion of
ment, where they had enough force to control peas- thousands of serfs against Catherine the Great.
ant protest. Charles II (r. 1660–1685) Elder son of Charles I who
Under Peter I and Catherine II, Russia emerged as became king of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
a first-rate European military and diplomatic power.
The English Constitutional Monarchy, 1660–1740 463
was a charming, witty man with a taste for good liv- Charles fathered at least seventeen illegitimate chil-
ing and an eye for women. A string of mistresses, dren by his many mistresses, he had no legitimate
along with packs of spaniels, shared his bed. “God heir to succeed him, so his brother James would be
will not damn a man for taking a little unregular plea- the next king if the rule of strict hereditary succession
sure along the way,” he once quipped. In pursuit of was applied. The prospect of a Catholic king created
pleasure, Charles reopened London theaters and can- a rift among the Anglican elite, which controlled Par-
celed the traditional prohibition against women play- liament and ran local government, since Anglicans
ing female roles. Now people could revel in worldly hated Catholics as well as dissenters. Soon two par-
comedies like Love in a Wood or The Gentleman Danc- ties, the Tories and the Whigs, fought each other over
ing-Master. the issue of succession. Tories supported the Duke of
Underneath the glitter of Restoration society, the York’s right to the crown, even if this meant that
long-standing political conflict between king and Protestant England would have a Catholic king, be-
Parliament continued to shape events. Like his pred- cause they believed that hereditary monarchy was di-
ecessors, Charles could conduct foreign policy on his vinely instituted and that opposition to it was a sin.
own and choose his ministers. He could also call Par- Whigs wanted a Protestant monarch at all costs. Fol-
liament into session and dismiss it, veto its legislation, lowing the argument of the English philosopher John
and override any parliamentary law by suspending it Locke, they believed in the contractual theory of gov-
or dispensing people from its provisions. For its part, ernment. The English monarchy was based on a con-
Parliament could impeach royal ministers. It also con- tract between the ruler and his subjects, represented
trolled state finances through its right to raise taxes. in Parliament, which could be broken for good rea-
In sum, both sides had formidable powers, and neither son. As battles between the two parties raged, a new
could gain a permanent advantage over the other. This politically active press emerged under the relatively
situation contrasted to the absolutist monarchies on the moderate censorship regime of the restored monarchy.
continent, where power was increasingly concentrated Press and parties encouraged the English publicly to
in the hands of the king. discuss politics and take sides on issues in ways that
The issue that provoked the greatest political fights were inconceivable under the absolutist monarchies
was religion. Although Charles II was officially An- on the continent.
glican, he favored some form of religious toleration in
England. But the Parliament elected in 1661 was de- James II
termined to promote Anglicanism alone and force con-
formity to the Book of Common Prayer. Therefore, it In 1685, when Charles II died, the principle of hered-
enacted the Clarendon Code, which required all cler- itary succession won out, and the Duke of York became
gymen to swear an oath supporting Anglican theol- James II. James kept up some Anglican appearances,
ogy and prohibited non-Anglican Protestants from
worshiping in public. About 10 percent of the clergy
refused to accept it and turned their backs on Angli- Restoration Name given to the period 1660–1689
canism. These clergymen and their supporters, known in which the restored Stuart kings Charles II and
as dissenters, supported the king’s more tolerant atti- James II ruled.
tude. Most Anglicans suspected that the king’s policy Clarendon Code Law of 1661 requiring clergy and
of religious toleration was shaped by loyalty to his officeholders to swear allegiance to the Anglican
Catholic family—his mother, wife, and younger brother, Church and banning non-Anglican Protestants’ public
worship.
James, Duke of York, were all Roman Catholics.
dissenters Non-Anglican Protestants.
These suspicions deepened when Charles allied
with his cousin, Louis XIV, in the Dutch War of 1672. Tories Supporters of strict hereditary succession to the
crown.
In fact, Charles and Louis had signed a secret treaty
Whigs People who believed in the necessity of a
in 1670 in which Louis granted Charles a subsidy to Protestant monarch, even if this meant that the rule of
free him from Parliament’s control of the purse. In re- strict heredity would have to be violated.
turn, the king promised to convert to Roman Catholi- John Locke (1632–1704) Political philosopher who
cism when the time was ripe. Always politically astute, argued that legitimate government rested on a contract
Charles postponed his conversion until he was on between rulers and subjects.
his deathbed. James II (r. 1685–1689) King of England who was
The problem of Catholic members of the royal removed from the throne by Parliament.
family became especially acute in the 1670s. Although
464 CHAPTER 16 State Building and the European State System, 1648–1789
being crowned in public according to the Anglican the laws or the execution of laws by regal authority
rite after being crowned in private according to the without consent of Parliament is illegal.” It also un-
Catholic one. When one of Charles II’s illegitimate dercut royal power by denying the king the right to
sons, the Protestant Duke of Monmouth, rebelled raise an army on his own, saying that “raising and
against his uncle, the duke was taken prisoner and keeping a standing army within this kingdom in time
executed. At first, many Tories and Whigs could ac- of peace without the consent of Parliament [is] con-
cept James because his heirs were his two Protestant trary to law.” This bill also guaranteed subjects’ right to
daughters, Mary and Anne, the children of his first petition the government as well as to a jury trial, along
marriage. Although James had remarried, none of the with freedom from “cruel and unusual punishments,”
ten children by his second marriage had survived excessive bail, and excessive court fines. It did not,
past infancy. however, guarantee the right of all subjects to vote for
Like his brother, James promoted religious tolera- members of Parliament’s House of Commons. Vot-
tion of both dissenters and Catholics, granting them ing for this lower house, made up of non-nobles, was
the right to worship in public and using his power of still limited to a relatively small number of property-
exempting people from the law to override a provi- owning adult males. Candidates for the Commons
sion in the Clarendon Code forbidding non-Anglicans also had to meet substantial property qualifications.
from serving in high civil and military office. This ac- In support of Protestantism, Parliament also re-
tion infuriated the Anglicans, who saw the king’s pealed the most oppressive portions of the Clarendon
actions as a backdoor way of promoting Catholicism. Code in the Toleration Act (1689), which granted reli-
When Anglican bishops objected, James resurrected gious toleration to all dissenters except Unitarians,
King Charles I’s hated church courts, and purged An- people who did not believe in the doctrine of the Trin-
glican opponents from local government office, re- ity. Dissenters, however, were still subject to a law that
placing them with Catholics and dissenters. required all officeholders to take Holy Communion in
In 1688, England was rocked by news that James’s an Anglican Church. Some dissenters evaded the law
wife had given birth to an eleventh child, a baby boy by taking Anglican Communion once a year and then
who would rule as James III. Outraged Protestants going to their chapels for the next twelve months. This
tried to argue that the queen had faked a pregnancy “occasional conformity” infuriated Anglicans. Overall,
and that the baby had been smuggled into the palace the Bill of Rights and the amendments to the Claren-
in a bed-warming pan. Tories and Whigs alike were don Code implemented the contract theory of govern-
horrified at the prospect of a perpetual Catholic monar- ment by strengthening Parliament while providing
chy and furious with James’s high-handed exempting subjects of the Crown with a wide range of rights that
of the law in favor of non-Anglicans. Joining forces, were spelled out in detail and had the force of law.
they asked the stadholder William, the husband of Large-scale landowners controlled Parliament. Af-
James’s daughter Mary, to come to England in defense ter 1689, these people also enjoyed control of local
of Protestantism. When William landed, James pan- government in the countryside with little interference
icked. Unable to sleep and suffering from endless from the king. This situation contrasted with the ab-
nosebleeds, he led an army against William but failed solutist monarchies on the continent, where royal
to find him because his generals had no maps. After control of local affairs was implemented. William
sending wife and baby out of the country, James fled knew that his predecessor’s dismissal of Anglican
to France. landlords from local office in favor of Catholics and
dissenters had contributed to his overthrow and did
The Glorious Revolution not intend to provoke these powerful people again.
In this painting of the House of Commons by Karl Anton Hickel, the Speaker of the House sits with his hat on
at the center behind secretaries. The MPs (Members of Parliament) flank him on either side. The man standing
is the king’s first minister, William Pitt the Younger, who is addressing the House. (National Portrait Gallery,
London)
In 1701, royal judges were given life tenure, subject the British Isles and laid the foundations for a consti-
only to impeachment and removal from office by Par- tutional monarchy in which the monarch and Parlia-
liament. This reform, which created an independent ment ruled as partners following the principles of the
judiciary, was intended to strengthen the rule of law rule of law.
called for in the Bill of Rights. William accepted these The reign of William and Mary inaugurated twenty-
reforms from below and thereby acknowledged that five years of war against France. Whigs supported
he ruled by right of contract with his subjects. He had William’s pursuit of Louis XIV, while Tories grum-
come to England as part of his grand strategy to de-
feat Louis XIV. As king he could take England into the
War of the League of Augsburg on the Dutch side.
rule of law Principle that law has a higher authority
Mary reluctantly accepted the crown, believing that than rulers, governments, and officials; rulers must
she was sinning against her father, who led a French obey the laws.
landing in Ireland to reclaim the monarchy. When constitutional monarchy Form of government in
William defeated James, James fled once again to which the monarch and legislature rule as partners
France, where he died in 1701. The changes brought following the principles of the rule of law.
about in 1689 spelled the end of royal absolutism in
466 CHAPTER 16 State Building and the European State System, 1648–1789
bled about rising land taxes. The two parties fiercely Whigs accused them of treason. This charge, coupled
contested elections to seats in the House of Commons. with George’s clear preference for the Whigs, turned
In principle, Parliament controlled taxation and the the Tories into a minority party for the next forty-five
Crown controlled foreign policy. But ongoing warfare years. The leader of the triumphant Whigs was Sir
forced the two sides to work together, since William Robert Walpole, a rich landowner and country gen-
had to explain his policies to Parliament if he hoped tleman. Walpole, unlike his ministerial predecessors,
to get the money he needed. refused the king’s offer to ennoble him and give him
Mary died childless in 1694, and when William died a seat in the House of Lords, the upper house of Par-
in 1702, the crown passed to James II’s younger Protes- liament. Walpole preferred to stay in the Commons
tant daughter, Anne. Anne had had nineteen children, because he believed he could be more effective there
all of whom were stillborn or died in infancy. She be- in creating majorities to support royal policies. His
lieved this calamity was God’s judgment on her fa- skill in winning over both the king and Parliament
ther’s removal from the throne. As Anne had no heirs, contributed to the smooth running of the central gov-
Parliament determined who would rule when Anne ernment, while his decision to remain in the Com-
died. In 1701, fifty-seven Catholic Stuarts were passed mons added to the power of that house. Walpole also
over in favor of a Protestant granddaughter of tried to calm the partisan passions that had agitated
James I, Sophia, of the German state of Hanover. In the country since 1660. He emphasized good man-
1707, Scotland, still an independent kingdom ruled ners in politics and signaled his willingness to accept
by the English monarch, but suffering from an eco- moderate Tories into his political coalitions. Thus, in
nomic depression and a financial collapse, agreed to ac- his own way, he agreed with Louis XIV that politeness
cept the Act of Union with England to create a united had its political uses. Under Walpole, Britain enjoyed
Great Britain ruled over by a Protestant monarch. In a period of political stability that contrasted sharply
1714, when Anne died, Sophia’s son George became with the turmoil preceding George I’s reign.
king. Later generations in England referred to the At the same time, a new sense of collective British
events of 1688 and 1689 as the Glorious Revolution, identity was forming. Britons enjoyed the rights
which kept the state Protestant while advancing the guaranteed in 1689 and were thereby “free-born,” in
power of Parliament and repudiating absolutist and opposition to what they thought were the “slavish”
divine right theories of kingship. Catholic peoples of France or Spain. This new sense
of identity was given voice in the poem “Rule, Britan-
The Georges from Germany nia,” set to music in 1740: “Rule, Britannia! Britannia,
rule the waves / Britons never never never shall be
George I was already middle aged when he became slaves.” After their union with England, Scots could
king of Great Britain in 1714. He spoke no English also identify with this sense of national unity, espe-
and had to communicate with his ministers in French. cially since they profited increasingly from British
He also spent half his time in Hanover. The Great overseas and colonial trade. The Catholic Irish, how-
Britain he presided over had emerged victorious ever, conquered and impoverished, were excluded
from the wars against Louis XIV, and his right to be from the community of the “free-born.”
British throne had been recognized by the Treaty of
Utrecht ending the War of the Spanish Succession in
1713. The treaty had also awarded Britain Gibraltar,
Hudson’s Bay, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the Act of Union Parliamentary act of 1707 uniting Scot-
asiento, which gave the British the exclusive right to land and England in the one kingdom of Great Britain.
import African slaves into Spanish America. In addi- Glorious Revolution (1688–1689) Name given to the
events leading to the dethronement of James II and the
tion to the asiento, Britain was allowed limited rights
rule of William and Mary.
of trade with the Spanish colonies. These concessions
George I (r. 1714–1727) Elector of Hanover who be-
spurred development of the British navy and the es- came king of Great Britain.
tablishment of trading posts that were vital to the
asiento Monopoly on the importation of African slaves
kingdom’s growing colonial empire. The territorial into Spanish America granted to English merchants by
grants in North America intensified the contest be- Spain in 1713.
tween France and Britain for control of Canada. pretender Claimant to a throne.
Recognition of George as king provoked James II’s Sir Robert Walpole (1676–1745) Leader of the Whigs
baby boy, now grown up, to lead an uprising in Scot- and the most important minister in England from 1721
land to regain the crown. It failed, but when a number to 1742.
of Tories expressed sympathy for the pretender, the
Two World Wars, 1740–1763 467
Britain France
What were the outcomes of the two world wars for the
states that fought in them?
In the middle of the eighteenth century, all the major War broke out again in 1756 between Austria and
states of Europe were drawn into two great wars. War- Prussia over Silesia, this time with Russia allied with
fare, a permanent feature of relations between states Austria against Prussia. Since 1754, France and Britain
in early modern Europe, often ended in stalemate, had again been at war in North America along the
but the midcentury wars fundamentally altered Euro- western frontier of the British colonies there. In 1756,
pean power relations. Because they were also fought in they continued the fight in Europe and India during
the overseas empires of Britain, France, and Spain, the Seven Years’ War. Because Austria had recently
they had long-lasting consequences for peoples in the concluded an alliance with France, Britain also
Western Hemisphere and Asia. switched sides and joined with Prussia against the
two in the diplomatic revolution. The war ended in
1763. The complicated alliances in these two wars are
The Wars
summarized in Table 16.1.
In 1740, Frederick II of Prussia attacked Maria Theresa
of Austria, beginning the War of the Austrian Succes- Eighteenth-Century Warfare
sion. The rulers of Bavaria and Saxony challenged
Maria Theresa’s right to rule on the grounds that they The complex, ever-shifting alliances and counteral-
were more legitimate heirs to Charles VI than she. liances that characterized the world wars of the mid-
Frederick, however, accepted the legitimacy of her eighteenth century were typical of the culture of war in
succession. What he wanted was Silesia, the richest of early modern Europe. War was accepted as an in-
Austria’s territories. Taking advantage of challenges evitable and ongoing feature of the relations between
to Maria Theresa’s right of succession, he claimed European states. Rulers did little to counteract this
that Silesia rightfully belonged to Prussia and then idea; the old ideal of the king as head of the warrior
seized the province. Britain had been at war with band was too deeply embedded in European tradition.
Spain since 1739 over the trading rights conceded to The growth of large professional armies in the hun-
it at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. In dred years between 1650 and 1750 reinforced the idea
1740, Britain joined Austria to fight Prussia, renewing of the inevitability of ongoing warfare. The profes-
the British-Austrian alliance that had been forged in
the wars against Louis XIV. The British also attacked
the French in North America and India. France, in Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) World war fought in
turn, stood by its traditional ally, Prussia, in order to Europe, North America, and India.
check Austrian power. In 1748, at war’s end, Prussia diplomatic revolution Shift in alliances between
emerged victorious, keeping Silesia. The war between European states that preceded the Seven Years’ War.
Britain and France ended indecisively.
468 CHAPTER 16 State Building and the European State System, 1648–1789
In this engraving from a Prussian army manual of 1726 a drill master supervises the marching and field
maneuvers for which the Prussian army was famous. Soldiers who fail to follow his commands will have
to mount the donkey punishment device shown on the left. By emphasizing the stark simplicity of the
surrounding buildings, the engraver reinforces the precision and orderliness of the troops at drill.
(Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY)
sional standing army, pioneered by Louis XIV, became A science of warfare also emerged, taking several
a standard feature in eighteenth-century states. The forms. One was an interest in military engineering.
one exception was Britain, which preferred to keep its In France, Sébastien le Prestre de Vauban improved
army small while offering financial aid to its continen- the architecture of fortresses and supervised their
tal allies’ forces. Armies were now better provisioned construction along France’s northern and eastern
and disciplined than they had been during the period frontiers. The idea that impregnable fortresses could
of religious warfare and were, therefore, less of a dan- protect France from its enemies was to shape French
ger to the civilian population. Although troops were military planning into the twentieth century. Military
sometimes quartered in civilians’ homes and taxes scientists also produced new drill manuals for sol-
were imposed for the armies’ upkeep, the fear of mil- diers, specifying a series of increasingly complicated
itary pillaging lessened. battlefield maneuvers, including the Prussian “goose
Two World Wars, 1740–1763 469
step,” which kept soldiers in a straight line. Not sur- Since one player’s “balance” was often another’s
prisingly, Frederick William I was a pioneer in this “domination,” European states were thrown into a
field, earning him the nickname “the royal drill ser- never-ending defensive and offensive scramble. Reli-
geant.” Soon, other armies were training their troops gious division played a smaller role in the wars of
in similar ways. Army officers, almost always drawn midcentury than it had a century earlier. Now issues
from the nobility, received instruction in drill and bat- of territory, power, and prestige were central.
tlefield tactics in new military academies and then
applied them to the common soldiers under their Winners and Losers
command.
Eighteenth-century statesmen used warfare to en- When war ended in 1763, there were clear winners and
force the doctrine of the balance of power, based on losers. In central Europe, Frederick II was a winner;
the assumption that Europe’s international system Silesia was never returned to Austria. But the wars put
functioned best when power was evenly distributed huge strains on Prussia’s finances and military, and at
among states, thereby preventing any one of them from times it looked as if the kingdom would be defeated. In
achieving dominance over the others. Thus, the coali- 1762, Frederick was saved when the pro-German em-
tions against Louis XIV were explained as restoring peror Peter III broke Russia’s alliance with Austria and
the balance that the Sun King’s aggressive military signed a peace with Prussia. This was the most conse-
activity had threatened. Of course, agreement on the quential act of his short reign. After 1763, Prussia
balance rested on the agreement of all the interested rested. “Old Fritz,” as his subjects called the king, lost
players. And that was where the problems began. his taste for wars of conquest. Now he preferred more
In this painting by R. Warthmülle, Frederick II of Prussia inspects a potato field. Potatoes grew well in the
sandy soils of Frederick’s lands, and he promoted the cultivation of this New World vegetable for its high nutri-
tional value and abundant yield. Well-fed Prussians, he knew, would live to pay taxes and serve in the army.
(Private Collection, Hamburg/akg-images)
470 CHAPTER 16 State Building and the European State System, 1648–1789
AL
AL
AS
AS
KA
KA
Miquelon &
St. Pierre Is.
Hudson Hudson (French)
Bay Bay
HUDSON’S BAY HUDSON’S BAY
COMPANY COMPANY
QUEBEC
Quebec Quebec
NEW
FRANCE
R
R
O
Proclamation
S.
O
S.
MT
Line of 1763
MT
C
K Y
K
AN
N
IA
LOUISIANA
Y
HI
CH
AC
COLONIES COLONIES
LA
M T
M
AL
PA
PP
AP
T S
S .
MEXICO MEXICO
OCEAN OCEAN
.
TEXAS TEXAS
FLORIDA FLORIDA
Bahamas Bahamas
Gulf of Gulf of
PACIFIC Hispaniola PACIFIC Hispaniola
Mexico Mexico
OCEAN NEW Cuba OCEAN NEW Cuba
SPAIN SPAIN
Caribbean Caribbean
1755 BELIZE
Sea 1763 BELIZE
Sea
MOSQUITO MOSQUITO
British COAST British COAST
French French
Spanish 0 500 1000 Km. Spanish 0 500 1000 Km.
Russian Russian
0 500 1000 Mi. 0 500 1000 Mi.
MAP 16.3 European Claims in North America Before and After the Seven Years’ War In losing the
Seven Years’ War, France lost its continental North American empire. New France went to Britain, and
Louisiana went to Spain. France retained only Newfoundland and its island colonies in the Caribbean.
peaceful means for gaining territory, such as joining as it had in Prussia under the Great Elector. To in-
with Austria and Russia in 1772 to partition Poland crease government efficiency, she founded a school to
and finally link Prussia with Brandenburg. train state administrators. In 1761, she decreed that
Austria was a loser. Before 1740, the Habsburgs her state council, staffed by experts, could make pol-
had not followed Prussia and Russia in reforming state icy decisions that were binding on her and the state
finances, strengthening the central administration, administration. She, therefore, repudiated the king-
and updating the army. The shock of Silesia’s loss gal- centered decision making that Louis XIV and Freder-
vanized Maria Theresa into a frenzy of state building. ick William I of Prussia had developed.
She began with the army, founding a military acad- In 1756, when the Seven Years’ War began, Maria
emy, introducing advanced drill and maneuvering Theresa’s reforms were put to the test and failed.
techniques, and expanding the government’s ability With Silesia still in Frederick’s hands at war’s end,
to house and supply its troops. To pay for reform, she Austria initiated more reforms, primarily to increase
overhauled the state’s tax structure. Beginning in revenue to pay for a better army. This time, however,
1748, she coaxed the diets of Bohemia and Austria to Maria Theresa tackled the problem by focusing on
grant taxes for ten years. In effect, this action made the economic improvement of the mass of her sub-
state taxation permanent, and the power of the mag- jects, the serfs. Like Leopold I, she tried to reduce
nates in the diets to control state finances waned, just serfs’ uncompensated work for their landlords, de-
Two World Wars, 1740–1763 471
Some official portraits of Maria Theresa show her with her husband and children,
emphasizing her role as wife and mother. This one, by Martin Meyhens (c. 1743).
shows her in military dress as commander of the Austrian army. (Erich Lessing/Art
Resource, NY)
creeing that the traditional minimum of three days a Maria Theresa also imposed new taxes on the Catho-
week would now be the maximum. Reform of serfs’ lic Church. Although she was a pious Roman Catholic
lives pitted Maria Theresa against the interests of the who hated heresy, she believed that the church should
landlord class, but she made headway, especially in assume a greater part of the expenses needed to defend
Austria and Bohemia, when serfs took matters into the state against competitors. The clergy were taxed
their own hands by going on rent strikes and foment- without the pope’s permission, and the church was
ing local rebellions against landlord demands. forbidden to acquire new land that would be tax-free.
472 CHAPTER 16 State Building and the European State System, 1648–1789
Defense of the Habsburg lands against enemies restored order by making concessions to the land-
went hand in hand with attacks on weaker states, as lords. He reinstituted serfdom and landlords’ control
the Polish partition of 1772 shows. Maria Theresa had of peasants. Serfdom was not permanently abolished
moral scruples about the partition, but fear of contin- until 1848.
uing vulnerability in the competitive international Austria’s defeat in war led to radical social reforms
system overcame her qualms. Frederick II of Prussia intended to increase peasant prosperity, which in turn
remarked unkindly, “The more she weeps, the more would allow for higher taxes and more money for the
she takes.” army. Thus, the dynamics of Europe’s fiercely compet-
Maria Theresa died in 1780 and was succeeded by itive international system fundamentally shaped the
her son, Joseph II, who was also determined to course of Austrian state building over the second half
strengthen Austria against Prussia. But as his foreign of the eighteenth century.
policy never resulted in clear victories, he pushed do- Although Britain and France fought each other in
mestic reforms in a more radical direction. In the Europe alongside their respective allies, their real con-
1780s he abolished serfdom. Then, in 1789, using new test was overseas in North America and India. In 1763,
property tax rolls, he abolished the rents and uncom- at the end of the Seven Years’ War, Britain was the
pensated work obligations peasants owed their land- undisputed winner. British victories drove the French
lords, replacing them with a single cash payment. He off the North American mainland. Britain also se-
also imposed state taxes on the ex-serfs. Traditional cured its predominant place in India. But the victory in
procedures had denied the state direct jurisdiction North America created problems of its own that led
over peasants; the state had to work through the no- directly to the American Revolution and indirectly to
ble landlord class. But Joseph’s reforms asserted di- revolution in France.
rect state control. Peasants were to keep 70 percent of
their income, the rest going in payments to the land-
lord and the state. Predictably, landlords resisted his
Joseph II (r. 1780–1790) Holy Roman emperor and
radical restructuring of political and social relations, head of the Austrian Habsburg lands who tried to
but peasants rose up in support of the reforms. The strengthen his realm through radical reform of its
result was widespread rebellion when Joseph died in social structure.
1790. His brother, who succeeded him as Leopold II,
Summary 473
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Palaces
The word palace derives from the name for the hill in Rome, the Palatium, where the Emperor Augustus
resided. In the Middle Ages, palatium (“palace”) referred to the temporary lodgings of kings on the move.
It was also used for a monastery’s guesthouse for royalty. Charlemagne’s residence at Aachen was a palace
of sorts. At Fontainebleau, Francis I of France built a palace blending Italian Renaissance architectural princi-
ples with traditional French design. In the late sixteenth century, Philip II of Spain built the Escorial, a grand
palace-monastery complex outside Madrid. In the late seventeenth century, Louis XIV’s Versailles outdid
them all and set the standard for later palaces throughout Europe.
In the eighteenth century, Frederick II, following Leopold I’s Schönbrunn, built a palace at Potsdam to show
that Prussia also knew how to keep up with the Bourbons. The British monarchs lagged behind these
palace makers. In 1762, George III bought the run-down townhouse of the Duke of Buckingham for his
wife. It was only in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that remodeling made it into the Buckingham
Palace of today. British monarchs from Queen Victoria on have lived there.
Although Versailles was Europe’s grandest palace, it was not very clean. Men used areas under stairways as
urinals, and contemporaries remarked on the stench when they climbed the stairs. Interestingly, Versailles
was open to the public. All a man needed to stroll the gardens and walk through the public rooms was a
hat, gloves, and sword. If you forgot yours or did not own them, they could be rented at the gate. Visitors
could also watch the king eat at midday; they got in line and filed through the far end of the room. Easy
public access to the ruler’s residence contrasts with the strict security that now surrounds almost all
political leaders.
Today, most government heads do not live in palaces. The president of the United States lives in the White
House, not the White Palace. The prime minister of Britain lives at 10 Downing Street. One exception is the
president of France, who lives in Paris in the Élysée Palace, decorated in the style of Louis XIV and Louis XV.
By the twenty-first century, many old palaces had undergone democratization. The Louvre Palace in Paris,
the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, and even Versailles have been turned into public monuments or muse-
ums. You can stroll through them for the price of a ticket.
Suggested Readings
Collins, James B. The State in Early Modern France. New York: Smith, Lacey Baldwin. This Realm of England, 1399–1688. 8th ed.
Cambridge University Press, 2001. A good introduction to state Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001. A standard account.
building. Spielman, John P. Leopold I of Austria. London: Thames and
Gagliardo, John. Germany Under the Old Regime, 1600–1790. Hudson, 1977. A good biography.
New York: Longman, 1991. A good general account. Willcox, William B., and Walter L. Arnstein. The Age of Aristoc-
Ingrao, Charles. The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618–1715. 2nd ed. racy, 1688–1830. 8th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company,
New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. A history of state 2001.A standard account of British history after the Glorious
building in the Habsburg lands. Revolution.
Riasanovsky, Nicholas V., and Mark Steinberg. A History of
Russia. 7th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. The
standard account in English.
Websites 475
Websites
On early modern absolutism, Structures of Politics–Absolutism, On early modern Russia, Romanov Dynasty, at www.mnsu
at www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook1.html#Structures .edu/museum/historyrussia/romanov.html
%20of%20Politics%20-%20Absolutism
On politics in the Dutch Republic and the British Isles, England,
Holland, and America—Alternative Polities and Economies,
at www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook1.html#England,
%20Holland,%20and%20America
476
CHAPTER
The Scientific
Revolution and
the Enlightenment,
1550–1790
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1543 1637
Copernicus, On the Revolution Descartes,
of the Heavenly Bodies The Discourse on Method
Bacon KINGDOM
Harvey
Major university Hobbes Oslo
OF SWEDEN St. Petersburg
Boyle Stockholm Catherine II
Scientific society Locke KINGDOM
S Salon Behn
Newton OF
Tea/coffee house Pope Moscow
Lady Montagu DENMARK
Boundary of Edinburgh
Holy Roman Empire GREAT Wollstonecraft
Cook
AND RUSSIAN
Baltic
BRITAIN North Sea
NORWAY Sea Copernicus EMPIRE
Copenhagen Kant
Dublin Vesalius
van Leeuwenhoek Brahe
SIA
US
UNITED STATES DUTCH PR Königsberg
OF AMERICA REPUBLIC Kepler
Franklin
Oxford Cambridge Amsterdam Mendelssohn POLAND
Jefferson London Leiden Frederick II S
Berlin
Göttingen Warsaw
ATLANTIC AUSTRIAN
NETHERLANDS
OCEAN Descartes
Pascal S Prague
Baron de Montesquieu Paris Heidelberg
Voltaire AUSTRIA
Châtelet Rudolph II
Tübingen
La Mettrie
Abbé Raynal FRANCE Vienna
Mozart
SWITZERLAND
Diderot Freiburg Bern
Rousseau Budapest
Vigeé-Lebrun Geneva
Lyons HUNGARY
Venice
Padua
RE
Genoa
PU
Montpellier IC
AL
Gallileo Florence
O
F O
Salamanca VE T
UG
Cosimo II NI
PAPAL CE T
STATES O
RT
Madrid M
Lisbon A Constantinople
N
PO
Rome
SPAIN
Naples EM
KINGDOM PI
RE
OF THE
TWO
SICILIES
Me
dite
0 200 400 Km. OTTOMAN rrane
an Sea
EMPIRE
0 200 400 Mi.
477
478 CHAPTER 17 The Scientific Revolution and the Englightenment, 1550–1790
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Introduces
Smallpox Inoculation in England
In March 1718, an aged Greek woman, her hands shaking, reached for the
arms of the six-year-old son of the British ambassador to the sultan’s court
in Constantinople. After opening veins in the boy’s arms with a blunt,
rusty needle, she smeared pus into the cuts. The pus, carried in a nutshell,
had come from a victim of smallpox. The old woman then bound up the
wounds with more nutshells. A day later, the boy’s arms began to swell,
and on the third day bright spots appeared on his face and quickly turned
into a hundred pustules. For a week he lay in bed with a fever. Then the
pustules subsided, the fever fell, and the boy was well. He had survived a
mild case of smallpox and would not get the disease again.
The boy’s mother had supervised this “engrafting,” as the procedure
was then called. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu had seen it performed and
had written home that Turks and Greeks in the sultan’s lands often held
engrafting parties, at which ten or fifteen people were infected with “the
Lady Mary
best sort of smallpox.” Some Greeks liked to have the cuts made on their fore-
Wortley heads, arms, and chest to make the sign of the cross. For the Protestant Lady Mary,
Montague this was pure superstition; she preferred cuts in hidden places so that the scars
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, they caused would not be seen. After contracting a mild form of the disease, al-
an aristocrat, moved in Eng- most everyone survived in complete health. Impressed with the procedure’s suc-
land’s literary circles as well, cess, Lady Mary decided on engrafting for her son to protect him from the death
publishing poems and pam- or disfigurement that smallpox so often brought.
phlets anonymously. Her Lady Mary knew, personally, the ravages of smallpox. In 1713, a beloved
letters to friends and family brother had died from the disease. Three years later, she contracted it. Luckily, she
were eventually collected and lived, but she lost her eyelashes and had deep pits on her face from scars the pus-
published, since letter writing tules had left. When her son survived his inoculation unblemished, Lady Mary
was considered an art form became a strong advocate for the procedure. After her return to England in 1718,
in her day. She was also the she encouraged friends and family to undergo inoculation and set the example
wife of the British ambassa- again by having her infant daughter engrafted. As an aristocrat, she moved in
dor to the Ottoman Turkish Britain’s highest social and political circles, and in 1721 the Princess of Wales joined
sultan’s court in Constantino- her cause. At the princess’s command, six volunteers were recruited at London’s
ple. In 1718, she witnessed notorious Newgate Prison, and promised freedom if they survived. Physicians, sur-
the Turkish practice of inocu- geons, and members of the Royal Society, England’s leading scientific institute,
lating people against the witnessed the engrafting, which was successful. The princess then ordered more
deadly disease of smallpox. experiments on London orphans. When they, too, were successful, she had two of
(Boston Athenaeum) her own daughters inoculated. Members of the royal court then began to inocu-
late themselves and their children. However, when two of them died, a huge con-
troversy erupted over the wisdom of the procedure.
Some Anglican clergymen attacked inoculation on the grounds that it was con-
trary to God’s will. But six Puritan clergy from Boston wrote that they found noth-
ing theologically offensive in the treatment. Physicians attacked it on all fronts:
inoculation’s protective power was not satisfactorily demonstrated; the disease
might be spread through it; the procedure was the work of amateurs who should
Introduction 479
leave such matters to the medical professionals. Worst of all, not only was it for-
eign, it was Turkish! As one doctor fumed, inoculation was the work of “Ignorant
Women amongst an illiterate and unthinking People.”
Faced with these attacks, Lady Mary wrote a scathing article in which she ac-
cused physicians of opposing the procedure out of greed and snobbery. Here she
made public the speculation she had stated privately in a letter to her sister—
whether doctors would be willing “to destroy such a considerable branch of their
revenue for the good of mankind.” The article, printed in a leading London news-
paper, was published anonymously, for Lady Mary did not believe that a person of
high breeding, like herself, should write for the public. Nevertheless, her campaign
“for the good of mankind” continued to flourish. The practice of inoculation
spread, and improvements, such as using cowpox, a milder variant of smallpox,
made it safer.
In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, wide use of vaccine essentially eradi-
cated smallpox, a lethal disease that had long ravaged human populations. There-
fore, routine vaccination is no longer necessary today for prevention.
Chronology
1543 Copernicus publishes On the Revolution of the 1761 Voltaire takes up the case of Jean Calas;
Heavenly Bodies Rousseau publishes The New Heloise
1637 Descartes publishes The Discourse on Method 1762 Rousseau publishes The Social Contract
and Emile
1651 Hobbes publishes Leviathan
1770 Raynal publishes The Philosophical History of the
1687 Newton publishes Mathematical Principles of Two Indies
Natural Philosophy
1772 Diderot publishes The Supplement to the Voyage
1688 Behn publishes Oroonoko of Bougainville
1690 Locke publishes An Essay Concerning Human 1775 Pierre Roussel publishes The Physical and Moral
Understanding and Two Treatises on Government Makeup of Women
1717 First Masonic lodge opens in London 1776 Declaration of Independence states indepen-
dence of American colonies from England
1718 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu introduces smallpox
inoculation in England 1778 Voltaire returns in triumph to Paris
1733 Voltaire publishes Philosophical Letters on 1781 Thomas Jefferson publishes Notes on the State
the English of Virginia
1746 La Mettrie publishes Man the Machine 1784 Emmanuel Kant publishes What Is Enlightenment?
1748 Montesquieu publishes The Spirit of the Laws 1789 Olaudah Equiano publishes his Life
1751 First volume of Diderot’s Encyclopédie 1791 Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute is performed
is published in Vienna
fore, an early defender of a purely inductive method methods to arrive at knowledge about the world and
of reasoning, which based general statements on ob- thereby laid the foundations for the modern scien-
servation of phenomena as the only proper way to tific method. Newton’s method impressed people as
gain knowledge. much as his description of the universe. His mighty
Just as influential was a French mathematician and mind had swept heaven and earth, revealing for the
the inventor of analytic geometry, René Descartes. first time how the universe worked. As the English
Descartes was deeply affected by the intellectual crisis poet Alexander Pope exclaimed:
the Protestant-Catholic split had created in western
Nature and Nature’s laws lay hid in Night:
Christendom. The constant attacks of each side against
God said, Let Newton be! and all was light.
the other had led to massive intellectual confusion.
Some maintained that since no human opinion could
ever be shown to be definitively true, one had to take Why Change Occurred
a leap of faith and submit to the authority of the church
and its teachings. Others embraced a thoroughgoing Many factors contributed to the new view of the uni-
skepticism about the truth of any human argument. verse. One stemmed from Renaissance humanists’ re-
Descartes began by examining himself. discovery of ancient authors, including Plato. In the
Self-examination was something Christians had medieval west, Aristotle had reigned supreme. With
practiced for centuries, but Descartes struck off in a the recovery of other ancient works, it became clear
new direction. He decided that he would submit every that Aristotle’s theories had been contested in their
statement he had heard about humans and their world own times and could be challenged again by new ap-
to radical doubt. If there was any reason, no matter proaches to nature.
how small, to doubt it, he would treat it as worthless. Another factor concerned the people engaged in
Statement after statement was tossed aside until, fi- the study of nature. Traditionally, philosophers pur-
nally, Descartes came upon something that, try as sued natural studies in a university setting. Much of
he would, he simply could not doubt: “I think.” This the new work, however, was done by mathematicians
undoubted truth became his principle of knowledge. working outside the universities. Copernicus, Kepler,
From it he drew another equally firm conclusion: and Descartes worked on their own or sought sup-
“Therefore I am.” I exist as a thinker—that was the port from princely patrons.
starting place for knowledge. Descartes then went on Mathematicians’ prestige rose when they were
to reconstruct the world, moving from previously es- called on to help with land reclamation and canal
tablished points to new ones that followed logically building in places like the Dutch Republic or land
from them. This deductive method, modeled on geom- surveys for taxation purposes in states trying to raise
etry, lay behind his Discourse on Method (1637). more revenue. Applying mathematics to solve specific
In arriving at reliable knowledge, Descartes de- problems was also in tune with humanist emphasis
parted from Bacon. Instead of looking out at the nat- on useful knowledge.
ural world, he looked inside himself and found an Usefulness also lay at the heart of another tradition
authoritative source for all knowledge—the principle contributing to the New Science, that of craftsmen. As
of autonomous, or independent, human reason. Hu-
man reason had always played an important role in
traditional Christian views about the sources for hu- inductive method Method starting with observation
man knowledge; the medieval Scholastic movement of phenomena and then making general statements
had placed a premium on logically presented argu- about them based on the observations.
ment. But in the older view, reason was also supple- René Descartes (1596–1650) French philosopher who
mented by divine revelation, which corrected or argued for the principle of autonomous human reason
as the basis for human knowledge.
completed what human beings could think on their
own. For Descartes, human reason stood alone as a deductive method The process of drawing logically
coherent conclusions from self-evident first principles.
reliable source for human knowledge.
scientific method Newton’s combination of the induc-
Newton combined Bacon’s and Descartes’ meth- tive and deductive methods to establish a twofold
ods to argue that any statement about the natural method for scientific inquiry.
world had to pass two tests. First, it had to corre- Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English poet and
spond to what was found by observation and experi- literary critic who championed Newtonian physics
mentation. Second, it had to fit logically with all else and the Enlightenment’s emphasis on the study of
that was known about the phenomenon being inves- human beings.
tigated. He thus combined inductive and deductive
484 CHAPTER 17 The Scientific Revolution and the Englightenment, 1550–1790
sailors ventured out into the Atlantic, the need for matics, craft traditions, and careful experimentation
precise astrolabes and quadrants to measure their po- were developing a new view of the universe as a
sitions had enhanced the work of those who produced place full of motion, with much still to be discovered,
these instruments and improved them through ex- a view in stark contrast to the unchanging and un-
perimentation. Thinkers such as Galileo employed changeable world of Aristotle, Ptolemy, or the Bible.
craft traditions of experimentation using metal balls,
telescopes, and other devices to examine natural phe-
nomena more precisely. They then wedded observa-
tion and experimentation to mathematics. The Impact of the
Another intellectual pursuit fostering experimen- New Science
tation was alchemy. Alchemists believed that nature
➜
contained hidden powers that influenced how the Who participated in the Scientific Revolution and how
did the participants characterize themselves?
world worked and that these powers might be revealed
➜
What was the impact of the New Science on theology
through careful observation of and experimentation and political theory?
with chemical and other natural processes. Isaac New-
ton, for example, was an accomplished alchemist, and Those practicing the New Science were from many
his experiments in a little shed outside his rooms at regions of Europe. Their findings were spread by
the University of Cambridge contributed to his en- means of a new institution, the scientific society, made
dorsement of the inductive method in physics. In ad- up of well-to-do men who thought of themselves as a
dition, his theory of gravity was influenced by the new type of educated person, the modern man of sci-
belief that hidden forces determined how the uni- ence. The societies developed procedures for present-
verse functioned. ing and verifying scientific experiments. They also
Developments in anatomy also fostered increased provided guidelines for reproducing them and pub-
attention to observation and experimentation. An- lished new information for the interested public. As
dreas Vesalius, a Flemish professor at the University new views of the universe spread, along with the new
of Padua in Italy, broke with medieval tradition by scientific method and the principle of autonomous
conducting his own dissections of corpses during his human reason, traditional European religious and
lectures. Previously, anatomists had lectured from an- political thought expanded in new ways.
cient authorities on what dissections would reveal
but left the actual cutting to surgeons, who were con-
sidered inferior to professors. Vesalius’s dissections,
Scientific Networks
which students loved, revealed that Galen, the great- The first scientific societies developed in princely
est ancient medical authority, was incorrect when he courts. In Prague, the emperor Rudolf II (r. 1576–1612)
stated that the interior wall of the heart separating the established one of the first. Rudolph was a moody,
ventricles was perforated, allowing for the circulation reclusive man who fought with his brother for control
of the blood. That the heart wall was solid now re- of the Habsburg Empire, but he was also interested in
quired a whole new theory of blood circulation. An artistic and scientific developments and joined with
English student at Padua, William Harvey, worked the king of Denmark to support Tycho Brahe’s work.
one out in 1628 after examining animals slaughtered In Florence, Cosimo II not only patronized artists
for their meat. Harvey combined Vesalius’s insistence such as the French printmaker Jacques Callot but also
on direct observation with the craft traditions of supported Galileo and encouraged scientific discus-
butchers to develop his theory and thereby laid the
foundation for modern physiology.
Defenders of the New Science argued that it stood alchemy Discipline practiced in the Middle Ages
in sharp opposition to the rigid, unalterable medieval that searched for the hidden relations between
natural phenomena.
version. In fact, however, the relationship was more
Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564) Flemish physician who
complex. For example, both the old and new science dissected human corpses and corrected some ancient
insisted on the importance of a logical presentation of statements about human anatomy.
an argument. Medieval science had also raised issues William Harvey (1578–1657) English physician who
like the nature of the terrestrial and celestial realms described the circulation of blood in the human body.
that preoccupied the New Scientists, and medieval Scientific Revolution Name given to the new views
terminology continued in use. But as the Scientific of the natural world and the new methods for obtain-
Revolution progressed, the criteria for making argu- ing them that began in the sixteenth century.
ments shifted. Scientists who relied more on mathe-
The Impact of the New Science 485
sion. In England, Bacon called for a research institute way. In addition, Descartes and others argued that
whose members would be royal employees collecting everything in the universe was made up of tiny parti-
information to enhance state power. In fact, no such cles that moved mechanically by universal laws of at-
institute was created. Scientists’ connections with the traction and repulsion. Rocks, plants, animals, and
state were therefore looser than Bacon had hoped. Al- human beings were like the planets—matter in mo-
though Charles II of England and Louis XIV of France tion. So it now seemed that there was a man-machine
granted charters to the Royal Society of London and as well as a universe-machine. If all this was true,
the French Royal Academy of Sciences, respectively, where did God fit in? For a few, the answer was clear:
scientists generally worked free of direct royal control. he didn’t. For the great majority, however, there was
Membership in scientific organizations was over- definitely a place for God in the new order.
whelmingly male. That men interested in science had Clocks required a clockmaker, and, by analogy, the
to have a formal education further limited member- universe required a universe maker. This widely held
ship to the economically well-off. Members met to belief was reinforced by the argument from design.
discuss issues of method and to learn what experi- Newton’s wonderfully regulated universe could not
ments others in the organization had performed. have come into being without a designer. The micro-
Some societies followed the lead of the English Royal scope, perfected by the Dutch lensmaker Anton van
Society and published reports of scientific findings. Leeuwenhoek, was also important in this regard,
Demonstrations of observable physical phenom- since it revealed previously unknown worlds, small
ena played an important role in scientific meetings. in size but intricate in detail, that also pointed to a di-
The correctness and accuracy of observations could vine designer.
be confirmed when many members agreed on them. Descartes’ view that all bodies, including human
During meetings, orderly procedures and polite be- ones, were simply matter in motion struck many as
havior were insisted on. In addition, gentlemanly codes atheistic. But Descartes, a Catholic, believed in the
of honor and honesty helped to guarantee that the ex- Christian God. He argued that humans were unique.
perimenters could be taken at their word. In printed Not only did they have bodies made of matter, which
presentations of experiments, detailed descriptions of were governed by the laws of attraction and repul-
equipment, procedures, and results were given so that sion; they also had minds, which were nonmaterial.
readers could feel that they, too, had been present when God endowed human minds with the ability to rea-
the experiment took place. Detailed description also son, and Descartes reasoned his way to God’s exis-
made possible the reproduction of the experiment. tence. For example, he argued that humans were finite
Members of scientific societies believed they were beings who yet had a clear and distinct idea of God as
a new class of people called to interpret the book of an infinite being. Since the idea of an infinite being
nature. Robert Boyle, a founder of the Royal Society cannot be conceived by a finite one, it must be an in-
of London who made important contributions to the nate idea given to humans by God himself. Arguments
study of air pressure and chemistry, called its members like these were meant to preserve the basic features of
“priests of nature,” because they revealed God’s work traditional Christian theology while relying solely on
through experimentation and observation. Boyle was the principle of autonomous human reason for arriv-
a deeply religious man. He believed that men perform- ing at them.
ing experiments must be modest and unassuming, in
contrast to university debates, which had tradition-
ally been conducted in public with lots of verbal fire-
works. Personal ambition, prejudice, and passion had Royal Society One of the earliest scientific academies,
no place in proper scientific work. From these ideas founded in London in 1660.
emerged the modern concept of scientific objectivity. Robert Boyle (1627–1691) Founder of the Royal
Society who advanced understanding of air pressure
and chemistry.
Science and Religion argument from design Widely held belief in the
seventeenth century that the complex and beautiful
Newton’s theory bound earth to the heavens, describ- design of nature was proof of a divine designer’s
ing both as operating under laws that made motion existence.
as natural as rest. In his view, the universe seemed to atheism Belief that there is no God.
function like a machine or a huge self-regulating clock. innate ideas Ideas about God, the human mind, or
After being wound up, clocks ticked away in orderly anything else that seem to be a primary part of human
fashion, following the laws governing their construc- mental equipment.
tion. The universe, he proposed, operated in the same
486 CHAPTER 17 The Scientific Revolution and the Englightenment, 1550–1790
If the universe was like a huge clock, did God wind Pascal was one of many seventeenth-century sci-
it up at the beginning and then allow it to run on its entists whose beliefs were shot through with tradi-
own? Some of Descartes’ arguments seemed to imply tional Christian values and concerns. Bacon believed
this belief, while others made room for ongoing di- that the accumulation of natural knowledge would
vine intervention. Newton also insisted on God’s reg- prepare for Christ’s return to earth, while Newton be-
ular activity in keeping the universe running and lieved that human mastery of nature was a step in
denounced the idea of a “dwarf-god” who did noth- restoring the human race to Paradise, where Adam
ing more than set the world machine in motion. was master of the world before he fell into sin.
For the New Scientists of the seventeenth century,
the universe was not only a great machine; it was also
Science and the State
the book of nature. Like the book of scripture, it could
be consulted for knowledge of the Christian God. On April 2, 1662, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, a bishop
Protestants argued that the book of nature could be in the Catholic Church, preached a sermon “On the
enlisted in the battle against Catholic error. A universe Duties of Kings” before Louis XIV in which he cele-
operating in a regular way under natural laws had no brated the theory of absolute monarchy. “You are
place for Catholics’ superstitious beliefs in miracles gods,” he said to Louis. “You are all sons of the Most
performed by saints. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s High.” These flattering words came from Psalm 82.
dismissal of smallpox inoculation in the form of the Bossuet then went on to describe how the king ruled
cross fitted into this rejection of “superstition” (see without any human check on his power. Each point
Choice). The Catholic Galileo argued that knowledge was justified by an appropriate quotation from Chris-
of nature led to a proper interpretation of scripture. tian scripture. Basing politics on the Bible had been
Biblical references to the sun’s motion around the practiced since the days of the first Christian emper-
earth should not be taken literally; they were simply ors of fourth-century Rome. Bossuet was, therefore,
God’s concession to “the shallow minds of the com- the heir to centuries of European political thought. At
mon people.” the same time, however, justifications for absolutism
One mathematician and scientist, Blaise Pascal, based on the New Science were also being proposed.
took issue with the heavy reliance on observation and Descartes’ endorsement of the sun-centered universe,
reason as the best guides for religious thought. Pascal for example, was adopted as a model for Louis XIV’s
was a devout Jansenist who worried that Descartes’ monarchy. Just as the planets orbited around the sun,
emphasis on autonomous human reason and innate so French subjects should be obedient to the Sun King.
ideas improperly downplayed the traditional Chris- The Englishman Thomas Hobbes also drew on
tian emphasis on revelation as a source of religious scientific thought to argue for absolutism. Hobbes
knowledge. Pascal gave reason and observation their had lived through the turmoil of the English civil war
proper place in the construction of human knowl- and Commonwealth and had accepted Descartes’ idea
edge: although humans were mere specks in an infi- that human beings were matter in motion. Combin-
nite universe, and frail as reeds tossed about in the ing his experience of political instability and violence
wind, they were thinking reeds. But Pascal introduced with his mechanical view of human beings, he argued
another source of knowledge: “heart.” Heart drew on in Leviathan (1651) that people, if left to themselves,
intuition, allowing a deeper view into the human would simply attack each other. The prepolitical, or
condition than either reason or observation. “Heart natural, state was “every man against every man,”
has its reasons that Reason does not know,” Pascal ex- because each human piece of matter in motion would
plained. For him, the human condition was charac- try to fulfill its desires at the expense of the others.
terized by both wretchedness and grandeur. Human “Man is a wolf to his fellow man,” he concluded, and
wretchedness manifested itself in people’s selfish, all life “nasty, brutish, and short.” The solution was to
passion-driven, sin-filled lives as they hurtled toward submit to an ironclad authority, a “mortal God,” who
the abyss of death. Grandeur manifested itself in the would rule over everyone and force obedience to
deep self-awareness of that wretchedness that “heart”
opened up. Life as it is is not life as God originally
meant it to be. Pascal died before he could present his Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) Scientist and defender of
ideas in a defense of traditional Christianity, but his traditional Christianity who stated that “heart” could
notes have survived in his Pensées (Thoughts), one lead one to the deepest religious truths.
of the great philosophical and religious statements Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) English political theorist
of the seventeenth century and published in various who tried to defend absolutism on scientific grounds.
editions since 1670.
The Enlightenment 487
laws that restrained the aggressive impulses in people. until Martin Luther’s or John Calvin’s day, when
Hobbes’s defense of absolutism differed from tradi- Protestantism returned Christianity to its original pu-
tional ones by not being based on the ruler’s divine rity and a high point was once again reached. Tradi-
right to rule. He believed that the people created the tionalists sometimes argued that the natural world
absolute ruler (who might be a king or a parliament) was subject to decay as well; plants and animals, along
to end the self-defeating violence of prepolitical soci- with people, had degenerated over time. People who
ety. Absolutism was, therefore, based on a contract be- held these traditional views of natural and human
tween ruler and ruled, not on God’s will. history were called Ancients.
Another Englishman, John Locke, also argued that Beginning in the late seventeenth century, a new
government rested on a contract between ruler and view of history gained ground, held by people dubbed
ruled. But he drew quite different conclusions from Moderns. Inspired by the New Science, the Moderns
this premise. Locke was an opponent of absolutism argued against a decay over time of the natural world,
and had fled to Holland when James II became king in citing the timeless, universal laws that Newton had
1685. Returning to England with William and Mary, discovered. Moderns also optimistically argued that
he published Two Treatises on Government (1690), in human history was the story of intellectual progress.
which he justified the Glorious Revolution. Locke had Although ancient Greek and Roman poets and play-
a more optimistic view of human nature than Hobbes. wrights were as good as contemporary ones, ancient
He believed that people could curb their aggressive scientists had been surpassed. Progress pointed to the
impulses without coercion from an absolutist govern- overall superiority of Moderns. The battle between
ment. People entered into a political contract volun- Ancients and Moderns continued on into the eigh-
tarily and could withdraw from it when it no longer teenth century.
suited their purposes. The chief purpose of govern-
ment was to protect private property rights. Locke’s
notions of contractual government and rights of pri-
vate property supported the overthrow of James II, The Enlightenment
the repudiation of absolutism, and landowners’ con-
➜
trol of Parliament under a constitutional monarchy. How did the Enlightenment employ the methods of the
New Science?
His thought also had an impact on the American rev-
➜
John Locke, to apply it to a new field of study, the hu- sis led him to argue that climate and geography played
man mind. In 1690, Locke published An Essay Con- an important role in shaping the features of any given
cerning Human Understanding, in which he took issue society. He concluded that a society’s traditions con-
with Descartes’ belief that God had planted some in- cerning religion, government, and economic activity
nate ideas in the mind. Instead, Locke argued, our also contributed to its distinctive shape, or “spirit.”
minds at birth are like “white paper, void of all char- Montesquieu argued that good government in
acters, without any ideas.” Ideas arise only through France depended on the nobility, seated in institutions
experience of the world around us. And that experi- like the parlements, which put restraints on both the
ence comes through our senses of sight, hearing, taste, monarchy and the common people. He also greatly
touch, and smell. admired the constitutional monarchy of Britain. Mon-
Locke’s Essay was one of the foundational docu- tesquieu’s interest in the role of natural and historical
ments of the Enlightenment. It showed how Newton’s factors in shaping a society laid the foundations for
scientific method could be used to establish a new sci- the modern discipline of sociology.
ence, that of the human mind, and thereby laid the
foundations for the modern discipline of psychology. Voltaire
At the same time, it ratified a central tenet of the sci-
entific method—reasoning on the basis of experience If any person embodied the Enlightenment, it was the
and observation. The Essay also had one profound im- French philosopher and author Voltaire. The son of a
plication. Sense knowledge can come only from the middle-class Parisian lawyer, Voltaire attended the
physical, material world, since it alone is capable of reg- prestigious Jesuit school of Louis-le-Grand. He then
istering on the senses. That meant that human beings defied his father, who wanted him to enter the law, by
could not directly know the immaterial or supernatu- deciding to make his living as a writer. In 1718, his
ral world, even if it exists. Thus, the Essay, repudiating first play, Oedipus, which recounted the Greek legend
the notion of innate ideas and limiting human knowl- of the king who killed his father and slept with his
edge to sense impressions, cast serious doubt on the mother, ran on the Paris stage for an unprecedented
reality of divine revelation as an authority for guid- forty-five nights. This success established the young
ing people’s lives. Messages from the supernatural man as France’s foremost author of tragedies. A few
beyond seemed less and less likely in Locke’s world. years later, he published an epic poem on the reign
Locke’s interest in the mind testifies to a central con- of Henry IV of France, the Henriade, his most popu-
cern of the Enlightenment: the study of human beings. lar work.
In the sixteenth century, when the western Christian In late 1725, a quarrel with a descendant of one of
world split into two warring camps—Catholic and France’s greatest noble families landed Voltaire in the
Protestant—the problem of God was a central intel- Bastille, a notorious royal prison. He was released in
lectual issue. The Scientific Revolution brought the 1726, on the condition that he go into exile in England.
study of nature to the fore. In the Enlightenment, at- He did, and his exile set him on the path that made
tention shifted once again. As Alexander Pope put it: him France’s greatest philosophe, the name French
supporters of Enlightenment gave themselves.
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
Voltaire stayed in England until 1729, becoming
The Proper study of Mankind is Man.
familiar with Newton’s and Locke’s writings and
Another center of the Enlightenment was France, learning about the English form of monarchical and
where the Baron de Montesquieu took the study of parliamentary government. In 1733, he published
humans in a different direction. A nobleman and a Philosophical Letters on the English, a seemingly inno-
lawyer, Montesquieu sat in the French Parlement of
Bordeaux. He made his literary debut in 1721 with The
Persian Letters, a witty critique of French society sup- Baron de Montesquieu (1689–1755) One of the
founders of the modern discipline of sociology and
posedly written by Persian tourists. In 1748, he pub- author of The Spirit of the Laws.
lished one of the great works of the Enlightenment, Voltaire (1694–1778) Social critic, attacker of Chris-
The Spirit of the Laws. Unlike Locke, who had studied tianity, defender of the principle of autonomous hu-
the individual human mind, Montesquieu focused on man reason, and author of Candide.
human beings as a group. Assuming that there was a Bastille Medieval fortress in Paris serving as a royal
universal human nature, he then sought the causes for prison.
the great variety of human political arrangements— philosophes (in French, “philosophers”) Name French
monarchies, republics, despotic states—and found supporters of Enlightenment ideas gave themselves.
them in environmental factors. A comparative analy-
The Enlightenment 489
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Voltaire Attacks Christianity
Voltaire wanted to present the ideas of the Enlightenment to a large reading
public. He therefore polished a literary style that sparkled with wit and was laced
with biting satire and moral outrage. The two pieces presented below illustrate
Voltaire’s attack on traditional Christianity, “the infamous thing.” They were pub-
lished anonymously, without the approval of the French royal censors, and repre-
sent the Enlightenment attack on Christianity in its most radical form. They
offended many traditionalists, who dismissed Voltaire as a “filthy little atheist,”
but they expressed views that many people repeated in the years after Voltaire
published his attack.
On the Trinity
Here is an incomprehensible question which for over sixteen hundred years has
exercised curiosity, sophistical subtlety, bitterness, the spirit of cabal, the rage to
dominate, the rage to persecute, blind and bloodthirsty fanaticism, barbaric
credulity, and which has produced more horrors than the ambition of princes,
which indeed has produced enough.
➜ How does Voltaire turn ➜ Is Jesus Word? If he is Word, did he emanate from God, is he co-eternal and
the technical theological consubstantial with him, or is he of a similar substance? Is he distinct from him
terms he uses here against or not? Is he created or engendered? Can he engender in turn? Has he paternity,
the doctrine of the Trinity? or productive virtue without paternity? Is the holy ghost created or engendered or
produced? Does he proceed from the father, or from the son, or from both? Can
he engender, can he produce? Is his hypostasis consubstantial with the hypostasis
of the father and the son? And why, having precisely the same nature, the same
essence as the father and the son, can he not do the same things as these two
persons who are himself?
I certainly do not understand any of this; nobody has ever understood any of
this, and this is the reason for which people have slaughtered one another.
➜ Why would Voltaire Brother Rigolet: ➜ Our God was born in a stable, seventeen hundred and twenty-
choose to mock the Jesuits in three years ago, between an ox and an ass. . . . [His mother] was not a woman,
this little dialogue? but a girl. It is true that she was married, and that she had two other children,
named James as the old gospels say, but she was a virgin none the less.
The Emperor: What! She was a virgin and she had children!
Brother Rigolet: To be sure. This is the nub of the story: it was God who gave this
girl a child.
The Emperor: I don’t understand you. You have just told me that she was the
mother of God. So God slept with his mother in order to be born of her?
Brother Rigolet: You’ve got it Your Sacred Majesty; grace was already in operation.
You’ve got it I say; God changed himself into a pigeon to give a child to a car-
penter’s wife, and that child was God himself.
The Emperor: But then we have two Gods to take into account: a carpenter and a
pigeon.
The Enlightenment 491
II of Russia and Frederick II of Prussia, who invited in 1787, on the eve of revolution in France, Louis XVI
him to his court outside Berlin. No European writer signed an edict granting limited religious toleration
since Erasmus in the sixteenth century was as well to the Huguenots. Deist-inspired calls for religious
connected as Voltaire. toleration also spread in Britain’s North American
In early 1778, Voltaire, now eighty-three, returned colonies. After gaining independence, the new United
in triumph to Paris. The city’s most prestigious the- States proclaimed religious toleration in its own Bill
atrical company, the Comédie-Française, performed of Rights (1791).
his tragedy Irene and placed his statue in their theater, In addition to battling traditional Christians, Voltaire
the only living author to be so honored. At his death, also denounced atheists. On this score, however, he
in May of that year, he was arguably the most famous was fighting a losing battle. By the mid-eighteenth
man in Europe. The modern edition of his works fills century, more and more philosophes believed that
more than 135 volumes. the existence of God could never be proved by an ar-
gument from design or demonstrated as necessary
Enlightenment Religion for explaining the world and human beings. The ma-
terialism of Descartes, stripped of its Christian beliefs,
Although Voltaire declared war on Christianity, he could account for everything. The universe simply
was no atheist. He embraced deism, a rational reli- was, and humans were wholly material beings without
gion based solely on the observation of nature. Deism souls or immaterial minds. At death, they ceased to
drew on Locke’s sense-based psychology, the argu- exist. In 1746, a French physician, Julien Offroy de La
ment from design, and Newton’s clocklike universe. Mettrie, argued these points in Man the Machine. His
As a religious movement, it denied Christian doc- work caused a scandal in conservative circles, but, un-
trines of the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus, and the di- daunted, he followed it up in 1749 with Man the Plant.
vine authority of the Bible. Most deists also rejected La Mettrie also preached a gospel of pure physical
Newton’s notion that God intervenes in the universe pleasure, which made him doubly scandalous. In 1751,
to keep it going. Deists emphasized the need for hu- when he died after gorging himself on pheasant pâté,
mane treatment of human beings, supporting the his enemies said the punishment fitted the crime.
campaign against judicial torture.
For Voltaire and other deists, like Benjamin Franklin
and Thomas Jefferson, deism and religious toleration deism Religious belief that rejected traditional Chris-
tian teachings and tried to base its theology on scien-
went hand in hand. Since traditional religion, whether tific method.
Jewish or Christian, was based on fraud and foolish- materialism Argument that material things alone
ness, it could never be legitimately defended by attack- exist, therefore denying the existence of a soul or of an
ing those who rejected it. Even acceptable religious immaterial world.
belief, like deism, was a matter of individual con- Julien Offroy de La Mettrie (1709–1751) French
science over which no state or church authority ought author of the materialist and atheistic works Man the
to have jurisdiction. Voltaire’s pursuit of these points Machine and Man the Plant.
in the Calas affair met with growing sympathy, and,
492 CHAPTER 17 The Scientific Revolution and the Englightenment, 1550–1790
This engraving of a craft process from Diderot’s Encyclopédie shows a printer’s shop. From left to right men set
type for a page, arrange lines, and lock the type in place. The type will print four pages at once. Previously printed
pages are drying on lines above workmen’s heads; when dry, they will be folded to arrange the pages in proper
sequence. Diderot’s emphasis on craft and manufacturing processes reminded readers of their importance and
gave them a new dignity. (Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library)
Some Jewish thinkers were also caught up in the Diderot and the Encyclopédie
debates over revealed versus natural religion and
atheism. One of the most important was the German While Voltaire was crusading against Christians and
Jew Moses Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn argued for a atheists, some of his fellow philosophes were em-
Judaism stripped of miracles and other supernatural barking on a highly successful publishing venture. In
phenomena. Its basic truths could be proved by reason. 1751, the first volume of the Encyclopédie appeared.
He also rejected the idea of Jewish uniqueness, deny- Under the editorial leadership of Denis Diderot, six-
ing that the Jews were a chosen people. But he as- teen more volumes followed over the next twenty-
serted that, in the larger Christian world, they were
an oppressed people, and he worked tirelessly to end
discriminatory legislation against them. He also
urged Jews to be more open to the larger European
culture. They should stop using Yiddish as a literary Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786) German Jew
who said that Judaism’s basic beliefs were rationally
language and follow his example of writing in Ger-
provable and who worked to end discrimination
man. They should also stop persecuting Jewish sects, against Jews.
like the followers of the seventeenth-century self- Encyclopédie Multivolume work with contributions
proclaimed Messiah Sabbatai Sevi. If Jews demanded from philosophes throughout Europe that summed up
toleration from Christians, they should grant it them- the philosophy of the Enlightenment.
selves. Mendelssohn shocked many Jewish tradition- Denis Diderot (1713–1784) French writer and editor of
alists, but his views appealed to others and were to be the Encyclopédie.
influential in the nineteenth century.
The Enlightenment 493
➜
overturn it. In contrast, Rousseau wanted fundamen- What impact did developments in publishing and reading
habits have on European intellectual life?
tal change. He argued that the good society is one
➜
What additional trends promoted the Enlightenment?
in which all members voluntarily give up their indi-
vidual rights and submit to what he called the gen- Just as scientific societies helped to spread Newton-
eral will. Usually, the general will amounted to the ian physics, so new institutions served to popularize
will of the community’s majority, although Rousseau the Enlightenment. Publishers expanded the types of
was careful to say that sometimes it did not. This books they produced from religious works to new lit-
point has confused some of his readers. What Rous- erary forms like the novel. Newspapers also became
seau really wanted was a community in which people increasingly available to readers. This wider array of
participated in politics and acted openly for the true reading materials, which encouraged readers to di-
good of all the community’s members. This ideal gest the news of the day or enter into the world of the
has served as a benchmark for democratic societies novel, offered new ways of thinking about human ex-
ever since. perience. The Enlightenment’s insistence on rational
Rousseau’s hunger for openness in human relations discussion of topics spread through society as new
prompted him to write his Confessions. Published in opportunities opened for comment on current affairs
1781, three years after his death, the Confessions re- in coffeehouses, salons, and Masonic lodges. Critical
counted in detail many of the most private facts of his discussion of issues also spilled over into the political
life, among them acts of theft, sex with a sailor, and realm as ordinary people commented on rulers’ poli-
the abandonment of a child he had fathered. While cies and required rulers to justify their actions before
some were shocked by these revelations, Rousseau’s a new political force, public opinion.
real intent was to demonstrate that he was a man who
hid nothing but presented himself fully to other hu-
man beings. If all people were as open, society could The New World of Reading
be fundamentally transformed. The invention of the printing press in the mid-fif-
Rousseau’s radicalism and rejection of refined aris- teenth century, along with the Protestant Reformation
tocratic society was also endorsed by a host of pam- and Catholic reforms of the sixteenth, ushered in a
phleteers and writers for hire who never made it into new era in the history of European book reading. Both
Voltaire’s or Diderot’s elite publishing circles. These Protestants and Catholics used print to attack their
people produced political criticism that mixed oppo- opponents and to present their co-religionists with
sition to government policies with pornographic ac- catechisms and prayer books. Most of this popular lit-
counts of the degenerate lives of kings, queens, and erature was written in the languages spoken by the
nobility. Although these works had roots in earlier people rather than Latin, which was still the official
traditions of satire and slander, their volume and in- language of learning. In Protestant countries, transla-
tensity increased in the late eighteenth century, espe- tions of the Bible also multiplied. Prayer books, cate-
cially in France after its defeat in the Seven Years’ chisms, and Bibles were read reverently and reread
War. Overall, they undermined the legitimacy of tra- many times; Bible study required returning to passages
ditional government as much as Rousseau’s demo- over and over again, while prayers for the morning
cratic criticisms did. and evening were repeated daily. Habits of devout,
Other parts of Europe were less receptive to the repetitive reading, a reading style intimately linked to
radicalism that swept over France after 1750. In Prus- Christian belief, were predominant among literate
sia, Immanuel Kant summed up the philosophes’ people in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as
program in What Is Enlightenment? (1784): “Dare to religious publications multiplied.
know. . . . Have the courage to use your own under- In the eighteenth century, both the types of litera-
standing is . . . the motto of enlightenment.” Kant,
however, never advocated democracy or any real so-
cial or political reform. People were free to use their
minds to seek the truth but, according to Kant, should Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) Leading German
submit to the current political, social, and economic philosophe of the late Enlightenment.
orders in which they found themselves.
Society and the Enlightenment 495
ture available to people and styles of reading changed. til the next day’s newspaper was available. As the va-
Throughout the century, religious publications de- riety of reading material expanded, it is likely that
clined dramatically, and novels, a new literary type, Europeans received more information about the
rose to first place. Novels were particularly popular world and, often lost in the contents of the page in
with women, who were now more likely to read than front of them, had a wider range of imaginative read-
they had been earlier. Women like the Englishwoman ing experiences than people had ever had before. One
Aphra Behn also figured prominently as authors of of the clearest signs of Europeans’ expanding reading
novels. Although some people seemed to have read habits was the spread of lending libraries, which al-
and reread novels many times, and thereby used the
same technique for reading them as for Bibles or
prayer books, most readers read the latest bestseller
only once, then turned to something else. novel Literary form of prose fiction that was popular in
In addition to novels, newspapers and political the eighteenth century and sometimes used to promote
pamphlets became increasingly available in the eigh- social criticism and programs for reform.
teenth century, especially in Britain and the Dutch Aphra Behn (1640–1689) English novelist who pio-
Republic, where censorship laws were relaxed or neered the form and made a financial success of writing.
abolished. Reading newspapers had often been a col- lending libraries Institutions allowing readers to
lective activity in which one person read aloud to a borrow books from their shelves and then return them,
group, but increasingly newspapers were read pri- thus avoiding the need to buy them.
vately and silently, like novels, and passed along un-
496 CHAPTER 17 The Scientific Revolution and the Englightenment, 1550–1790
lowed anyone who joined to check books out to read dalous; Voltaire was fond of blaming his literary rivals
where they wished and thus eliminated the cost of for his anti-Christian works.
purchasing them. Publishers stayed in business by both meeting and
The nature of writing and publishing changed shaping readers’ demands and tastes. When a partic-
with new reading habits. Formerly, writers had either ular type of novel sold, they urged other writers to
worked as economically self-sufficient gentlemen or produce similar works. This worked well for Rousseau,
had sought commissions from wealthy patrons. In whose The New Heloise, a runaway bestseller in 1761,
the eighteenth century, some, like Lady Mary Wortley fed a growing late-eighteenth-century taste for novels
Montagu, thought that the profession of author was describing domestic settings that were full of romance,
beneath the well-born, but others, like Voltaire and heartbreak, and feeling. His Emile (1762), a novel that
Diderot, were eager to make a living from writing. advocated a “natural” course for children’s education
Few became as rich or famous as they, but many man- based on direct observation and experience at the
aged to survive on wages paid for their work. various stages of a child’s development, also sold well.
Those wages came from publishers. Publishing In fact, during his life, Rousseau was better known
became big business in the eighteenth century. Pub- for these novels than for The Social Contract.
lishing houses often specialized in certain types of lit- Increasing numbers of Europeans could afford
erature. Some produced cheap editions of fairy tales books and newspapers, or lending library fees, in part
or almanacs, which peddlers carried in their packs because their disposable incomes rose as Europe en-
throughout town and countryside. Others, especially tered a new period of prosperity in the early eighteenth
in the Dutch Republic, concentrated on controversial century. Moreover, printed material was viewed less
works that might be censored in other countries; as an avenue to God or a source for spiritual improve-
Diderot, for example, used a publisher in the Nether- ment than as a means to worldly information and
lands for the Encyclopédie. Many of these works were pleasure. The new world of reading, writing, and
then smuggled into places like France, where censors publishing constituted a major shift in the intellectual
were sometimes bribed to look the other way when activities of Europeans that the philosophes put to
the books went on sale. Authors also tried to evade good use for popularizing their ideas and advocating
censors when they wrote something particularly scan- programs of reform. Reading still remained, however,
Society and the Enlightenment 497
a practice that only a minority of Europeans engaged Even religious differences were overlooked in salons,
in, and the ideas of the philosophes were embraced especially in Berlin, where Jewish hostesses brought
by only a part of this reading public. together Jews and Christians.
Masonic lodges also offered a new form of social in-
Enlightenment Sociability teraction in which religious or class differences played
a minor role. Guilds of masons who laid brick or
Along with new types of literature and changing styles stone had existed since the Middle Ages, but modern
of reading, new institutions sprang up in which people Freemasonry began in London in 1717, when a group
could discuss what they read and put into practice the of middle-class men formed a club in which Newton’s
central method of the Enlightenment—thought based science and other issues of current interest were dis-
on autonomous human reason. Chief among them cussed. By the 1720s, 75 percent of the London lodge
were coffee and tea houses. Europeans’ consumption of members also belonged to the Royal Society. Although
coffee and tea rose significantly during the eighteenth Masonic lodges modified old rituals from the me-
century as a result of expanded colonial trade and an dieval guilds when they initiated new members, their
improving European economy. While both beverages main purpose was to create an environment like that
were drunk at home, many people, especially men, of the salons, in which polite conversation on issues
liked to take them in cafés where there were newspa- could occur. Masonic lodges spread throughout Eu-
pers and pamphlets to read, opportunities to buy and rope in both Catholic and Protestant countries, despite
sell stocks in joint-stock companies, and people to the pope’s condemnation of the movement in 1738 on
talk to. The coffeehouse phenomenon had begun in the grounds that it advocated anti-Catholic ideas.
Restoration London when Whigs took tea or coffee Like the salons, the lodges downplayed the social and
and discussed politics at Old Slaughter’s, while the economic differences of their membership. Brother-
Tories gathered at the Cocoa Tree. Coffeehouses then hood in the lodge made all members equal. These
sprouted up in Paris, Vienna, and other major Euro- Masonic ideals were articulated in one of the century’s
pean cities. The atmosphere in them was informal; great operas, The Magic Flute, written by Wolfgang
one dropped in and left at will. Originally patronized Amadeus Mozart and performed in the last year of
by the rich and fashionable, coffeehouses became the composer’s life. Mozart made a point of stressing
more socially inclusive over the century. Men of dif- Masonic ideals of human equality. At one point, when
ferent backgrounds who would normally be sepa- a priest exclaims that the hero is a prince, the high
rated on more formal occasions mixed easily with one priest corrects him: “More than that! He is a man!”
another in the coffeehouse atmosphere. And always,
politics and other current events were discussed. Be- The Enlightenment and Politics
cause coffee is a stimulant, animated discussion was
the rule. Unlike taverns, however, where drinking of- The rational discussion taking place in new social set-
ten led to brawling, coffeehouse conversation was sup- tings also extended to politics, taking different forms
posed to be orderly and polite, even if heated. in eastern and western Europe. In Scandinavia, Ger-
Conversation was also the rule in salons. Invented many, and Russia, Enlightenment rationalism melded
in Paris during the seventeenth century, the salon with an older political tradition, cameralism. Devel-
became a central Enlightenment institution for the
educated and well-born. Women like Madame du
Deffand, the wife of a rich Parisian financier, presided
over salons that met in their homes on specified days
and discussed topics that the hostess announced. The salon Meeting place where current ideas are discussed,
in the eighteenth century presided over by a woman.
hostess also set rules for conversation that prohibited
shouting, swearing, and name calling. Guests were to Freemasonry Social and intellectual movement that
originated in England during the eighteenth century
converse politely, intelligently, and amusingly about and spread across Europe.
the scientific, artistic, or political matters assigned for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) Composer of
discussion. Anyone able to do this would be admit- symphonies, operas, and many other works who per-
ted. Thus, men and women, nobles and commoners, fected the classical style in music.
joined in. Although the hostess was usually rich and cameralism Eastern European tradition of political
often noble, salons, like coffeehouses, were relatively thought emphasizing rational government policymak-
informal institutions in which an ability to converse ing that melded with Enlightenment principles.
well counted more than wealth or social background.
498 CHAPTER 17 The Scientific Revolution and the Englightenment, 1550–1790
oping in the seventeenth century, cameralism aimed tics from the sidelines. While court etiquette at Ver-
at increasing a state’s wealth through direct manage- sailles and official press accounts of the king’s daily ac-
ment of people and resources. Government should tivities reinforced this view, it proved increasingly
intervene in people’s lives to make them better fed, difficult to maintain. Prolonged conflicts between the
better housed, and better behaved so that they could French king and the parlements over Jansenism, dur-
become more productive. Cameralism also empha- ing which the parlements published their grievances,
sized the need for a rational assessment of a state’s made it clear that others beside the king claimed a po-
strengths, weaknesses, and needs as the basis for good litical role. The growth of the newspaper press and the
government policy. The state itself was compared to a rise of rational discussion in new social settings also
machine. When properly managed it could regulate encouraged the king’s subjects to become actively en-
society in the interests of increasing its wealth. gaged in discussion of policies and events.
Cameralism was taught in eastern European uni- In both England and France, therefore, public opin-
versities to candidates for posts in the state bureau- ion played a growing role in politics. Its advent consti-
cracy. At the head of the bureaucracy was the ruler, tuted a major shift in European political life. Monarchs
whose job was to see that the machine of government who had previously argued that they ruled by divine
ran smoothly and produced good results. Thus, kings grace and operated in a political world, whose rules
were viewed more as supreme political managers could not be understood by the mass of their subjects,
than God-appointed rulers endowed with the sacred now had to contend with a growing chorus of voices
authority to govern. Many of the policies of Frederick commenting on and even criticizing what they did. Al-
William I and Frederick II of Prussia, as well as Peter though criticism of rulers could lead to charges of trea-
the Great of Russia, were inspired by cameralist prin- son, it also forced governments to become more open
ciples. Cameralism’s emphasis on rational assessment in explaining and justifying their policies. As states
of political needs, along with its conception of gov- made increasing demands on their subjects, rulers
ernment as a well-run machine improving people’s were increasingly expected to account for their actions.
lives, fitted into many Enlightenment principles.
In western Europe, greater discussion of politics
by ordinary people gave rise to increased popular par- Enlightenment Debates
ticipation in politics. In Britain, the political turmoil of
➜
the seventeenth century, which led to constitutional How did ideas about Europe’s place in the world change
during the Enlightenment?
monarchy and a permanent role for Parliament in
➜
lier experiments with electricity made him the ideal hostile place that Europeans should have avoided
man of science, someone who, like Newton, revealed arose in part from his belief that colonization had
the workings of nature. His invention of the lightning harmed indigenous people, as indeed it had. Follow-
rod made him the philosophe who worked for the bet- ing their first encounters with Europeans, the native
terment of humanity. At Versailles, Franklin shunned populations of the Americas declined by 90 percent,
the silks and lace fashionable men favored and dressed largely as the result of epidemic diseases that swept
in plain brown, presenting himself as a simple Ameri- through their communities, a demographic catastro-
can who was, nevertheless, the intellectual equal of any phe unparalleled in human history. Diderot’s Tahi-
European. The French court was charmed. Franklin tians also suffered from European intrusion into their
was a natural but noble man who showed no trace of world. In the Supplement, a Tahitian complains to
deformity. One evening, he and other Americans Bougainville that “the idea of crime and the fear of
found themselves at a dinner party with Raynal. When disease entered among us only with you.” Diderot re-
the theory of American degeneracy came up, Franklin jected Rousseau’s attack on all civilization but agreed
asked all the Americans at the table to stand, and then that European colonization had introduced corrup-
all the Frenchmen. The Americans towered over the tion and inequality to other peoples.
French, and especially over Raynal, whom Franklin As philosophes like Rousseau, Raynal, and Diderot
dismissed as a “mere shrimp.” Soon afterward, Raynal debated the nature of non-European peoples and the
retracted his unflattering picture of America. Franklin worth of commerce and colonies, they increasingly
triumphed again in 1777, when France signed an al- sought nonreligious explanations for differences among
liance with the Americans in their war for indepen- human beings and tried to articulate a sense of Euro-
dence from Britain. pean identity in non-Eurocentric terms. Europe was
Debate about non-Europeans also focused on the simply one human community among many others in
peoples of the South Pacific. In the 1770s, an English- the world and could make no valid claims for superi-
man, James Cook, and a Frenchman, Louis-Antoine ority on religious, cultural, or commercial grounds.
de Bougainville, led scientific voyages through the
region and published accounts of their expeditions, Slavery
feeding French and British thirst for travel literature.
The South Pacific was a new frontier for Europeans, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men
and these accounts sparked interest in the local peo- are created equal; that they are endowed by their Cre-
ples. Diderot wrote a fictional Supplement to the Voyage ator with certain inalienable rights; that among these
of Bougainville (1772) in which he used Bougainville’s are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” These
account of Tahitians’ free and open sexual activity to words in one of the Enlightenment’s most famous
attack traditional Christian sexual morality as cruel documents, the Declaration of Independence (1776),
and unnatural. were written by Thomas Jefferson and proclaimed
Raynal’s denunciation of a degenerate America the philosophes’ belief in universal human rights.
and Diderot’s titillating account of the Tahitians’ erotic
freedom were part of a sustained discussion of Euro-
pean civilization and Europe’s proper place in the
larger world. One central issue was the nature of civ- James Cook (1728–1779) Head of three British Royal
ilization itself. Many Europeans continued to think in Society–financed expeditions into the South Pacific.
Eurocentric terms and to assert the superiority of their Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811) French
way of life, and most philosophes encouraged this explorer in the South Pacific who gave his name to the
view. Kant declared that the spread of Enlightenment bougainvillea, a flowering vine he discovered there.
and of reliance on autonomous human reason was a Eurocentric Idea that Europe and European culture are
sign that Europeans, after centuries of immaturity, had either superior to or more important than the lands
and cultures of other peoples.
finally reached adulthood. Voltaire celebrated the re-
indigenous people Original inhabitants of a region,
fined world of salon conversation, seeing it as a sign or “natives.”
of a truly civilized world. But Rousseau attacked
Declaration of Independence Document justifying
civilization as a corrupter of humanity’s original separation of American colonies from Britain in 1776
goodness and purity. Pointing to the tea and coffee and defending the theory of self-government.
drunk in Enlightenment salons, he claimed that over- human rights Rights given to all human beings by
seas trade and colonies promoted an improper love God or the natural order and that neither the state nor
of luxury and harmed other peoples. Raynal also had society may take away.
his doubts. His depiction of America as an alien and
Enlightenment Debates 501
But Jefferson was a Virginia plantation owner who and morally upright man with an unquenchable love
never freed his slaves. This contradiction lay at the for freedom, while Imoinda displays all the womanly
heart of Enlightenment debates over slavery. virtues. Showing her readers that Oroonoko and Imo-
By the eighteenth century, trade in slaves from sub- inda possessed the physical traits and moral qualities
Saharan Africa had gone on for more than a thousand that Europeans admired, Behn wanted to evoke ad-
years. During the Middle Ages, Arab traders had miration for them and outrage over their enslave-
brought millions of them into the Islamic world. Be- ment. Her novel was eventually turned into a play,
ginning in the fourteenth century, the Portuguese and its themes were repeated in a growing body of
brought African slaves to the Atlantic islands. Later antislavery literature.
Spanish, English, French, and Dutch traders trans- Works like Oroonoko and later narratives by slaves
ported Africans to Europe’s colonies in the Western who escaped to tell their story drew readers into a
Hemisphere, where they worked the plantations that world in which slaves were upright and blameless
produced the coffee that Europeans drank in their human beings who had suffered terrible cruelty and
coffeehouses and the sugar that sweetened their tea. injustice. The effect was to cut through centuries of de-
By the end of the eighteenth century, 11 million slaves humanizing stereotypes and indifferent or hostile theo-
had been forcibly taken to the Americas to labor for logical traditions. By the late 1780s, both the London
the 2 million Europeans who had migrated there. As Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and the
demand for slave-produced commodities rose, the French Society of the Friends of the Blacks were cam-
slave trade rose also, justified again and again with paigning tirelessly for an end to the slave trade and the
traditional arguments about biblical passages accept- abolition of slavery. Although both the trade and slav-
ing the practice and the subhuman nature of Africans. ery itself ended only gradually, the antislavery momen-
The philosophes’ attitude toward slavery was tum would not, from this point, be reversed.
mixed. Both Hobbes and Locke endorsed the prac-
tice. Although Voltaire had attacked slavery in Can- Men and Women
dide, he came, reluctantly, to accept it as a fact of human
life. Montesquieu argued against it, claiming that it un- The problem of difference and likeness in human be-
dermined a society’s moral well-being by oppressing ings, which shaped the debate on slavery, was also
the slaves while giving slave owners too much power. addressed in debates over the nature and roles of
On the other hand, supporters of slavery could point men and women. Women participated actively in the
to Montesquieu’s argument that the hot, humid cli- Enlightenment. Those who, like Madame du Deffand,
mate of the tropics had conditioned the people who presided over Europe’s salons were arbiters of intel-
lived there to resist work unless forced to do it. lectual discussion. Those who, like Aphra Behn, joined
Moral objections had been raised against slavery men as professional writers became respectable pub-
since the late seventeenth century. In England, several lic figures. Women also wrote some of the pamphlets
Protestant groups called for its abolition. For example, that increasingly shaped public opinion, while oth-
Quakers, who believed that God’s “inner light” shone ers, like Mme. du Chatelet, contributed to the spread
in every human being’s heart, argued that the taking of of Newtonian science. In the arts, France’s most
slaves was simply kidnapping and should be stopped, sought-after society painter was a woman, Elisabeth
while Quakers in America who owned slaves were Vigée-Lebrun. Women’s new social, intellectual, and
urged to free them. Some Anglicans also condemned professional activities raised the issue of similarity
the trade, arguing that slavery was incompatible with and difference between men and women and the
Jesus’s gospel of love, despite scriptural passages that proper relations between them.
sanctioned it. Thus, both Christian and Enlightenment To Descartes and Locke, it seemed self-evident that
arguments could be made for or against slavery. Over men and women not only possessed a common human
the course of the eighteenth century, however, the bal- nature but were intellectual equals. Descartes had
ance tipped toward the antislavery position.
Novelists, poets, and playwrights played a crucial
role in this development. Writers of fiction took the
lead in arousing sympathy for slaves and an imagina- Quakers An English Protestant sect that rejected cere-
tive understanding of the conditions in which they mony and an ordained ministry, relying instead on a
lived. One of the first was Aphra Behn. Her novel mystical “inner light” to guide conscience.
Oroonoko, published in 1688, described the enslave- Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (1755–1842) French society
ment of an African prince and his beautiful love, painter.
Imoinda. Prince Oroonoko is a physically handsome
502 CHAPTER 17 The Scientific Revolution and the Englightenment, 1550–1790
coupled his arguments about the power of au- men and their banishment from public life. Works by
tonomous human reason with a discussion of the physicians, such as Pierre Roussel’s The Physical and
mind’s relation to the body. He argued that the two Moral Makeup of Women (1775), offered a new view of
were radically different; humans’ bodies were wholly male and female difference that in good Enlighten-
material and were subject to the laws of matter in ment fashion claimed to be based on scientific obser-
motion. The mind, however, was nonmaterial. This vation. Rejecting the traditional view that women
Cartesian dualism made one thing perfectly clear: were simply incomplete men, Roussel and others ar-
mind was not shaped by the body it went with, gued that women were completely different from
whether male or female. It floated free in a nonmate- them. For example, their nervous system, which in-
rial and, therefore, sexless world. Locke’s picture of cluded smaller brains, made it impossible for them to
the human mind pointed to similar conclusions. If the develop men’s rational capacities. Their job was to
mind was like a blank sheet of paper, there seemed no nurture their babies and their husbands.
good reason to argue for different male and female Rousseau and the medical men found their oppo-
minds, since both were subject to the same stimulus nent in Mary Wollstonecraft, the author of A Vindica-
from sense experience. tion of the Rights of Woman (1792) and the ablest
Many philosophes accepted the implications of defender of women’s equality. Wollstonecraft pointed
Locke’s and Descartes’ arguments. Diderot did not out the basic paradox of their views on women. These
think that men and women were all that different and men attacked the despotism of kings and rejected the
agreed with Montesquieu that a woman’s sexually institution of slavery but endorsed the subordination
based role as a mother was only one part of her life, of some human beings to others on the basis of gender.
not its defining characteristic. Voltaire rejected the Wollstonecraft believed with Rousseau that women
idea of distinct male and female minds; men and as mothers should take charge of the moral and emo-
women were intellectual equals, as his collaborator, tional education of their children, but she denied that
Mme. du Chatelet, demonstrated. they were inferior to men. If defects existed, she pointed
Acceptance of intellectual equality between men out, they came from the inadequate education women
and women, however, did not prevent many philo- received in a world where the best teaching was avail-
sophes from assigning them separate social roles. Re- able only to men. Wollstonecraft argued that if women
jecting the traditional idea that men had to rule were educated with men on an equal basis, their seem-
women because women were prone to irrational and ing deficiencies would disappear.
unruly behavior, the philosophes now argued that In the Enlightenment, ideas about a universal hu-
women should enforce the rules of civilization in so- man nature and gender-neutral minds mixed am-
ciety and thereby tame men’s unruly behavior. The sa- biguously with older ideas about women’s inferiority
lon hostess performed this task and did so in women’s and their proper place in the private, domestic sphere.
traditional sphere, the household, while other women But the debate among people like Rousseau, Roussel,
performed it as mothers who educated their children and Wollstonecraft was conducted in increasingly
in proper behavior. nonreligious terms. Despite their differences, all sides
Some philosophes rejected outright the idea of looked less to Christian scripture and traditional
gender equality. Chief among them was Rousseau. church teaching on gender issues and turned instead
Resurrecting old ideas about women’s inferiority, to biology, psychology, and an examination of social
Rousseau argued that women were irrational. Above conventions to demonstrate their respective positions.
all, they should play no public role in society as salon
hostesses or commentators in the realm of public
opinion. Their actual roles in this regard were sim-
ply another symptom of civilization’s corrupting ef-
fect. Women belonged at home, breast-feeding their Cartesian dualism Descartes’ idea of the radical dif-
children and obeying their husbands. As creatures of ference between material human bodies and nonmate-
feeling, they played a central role in training children. rial human minds.
Men alone, however, should carry on rational discus- Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) English writer and
sion and engage in politics. feminist who rejected the idea that women were physi-
A growing body of medical literature seemed to cally and mentally inferior to men.
support Rousseau’s denial of women’s equality to
Summary 503
What were the basic differences between traditional gathered in these new institutions, the habit of collec-
Christianity and the New Science on views of God, tive discussion of and participation in matters of cur-
the natural world, and the human world?
rent interest spread. The growing numbers of books,
➜
How did the Enlightenment draw on and expand the newspapers, and pamphlets also aided this sense of
method and findings of the Scientific Revolution?
participation in current affairs as readers learned of
➜
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Coffeehouses
Coffeehouses were a central Enlightenment institution. They soon came to specialize in certain areas of dis-
cussion and information, some offering commercial or political news and others concentrating on reviews of
recent plays, poems, and books. Still others were simply places where you could be seen. The famous British
insurance company Lloyd’s of London began in a coffeehouse. Also in London, by the end of the eighteenth
century, some coffeehouses had begun to charge dues for membership, gradually becoming private clubs.
On the continent, public coffeehouses also underwent change. By the late nineteenth century, they were
no longer meeting places for men only; whole families would now go to them for coffee and sweets. One
of the grandest nineteenth-century coffeehouses was the Café Sacher in Vienna, which offered patrons
slices of its famous sacher torte, a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and an apricot filling, topped with
whipped cream. In the twentieth century, two Paris coffeehouses, Les Deux Magots and its rival next door,
the Café de Flore, became meeting places for famous writers such as the American Ernest Hemingway, the
French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, and the French feminist Simone de Beauvoir. People still throng their
sidewalk tables, trying to recapture something of the earlier intellectual atmosphere.
Today coffeehouses have been rediscovered and are booming throughout the world. Starbucks, which
started in Seattle, can now be found across the United States as well as in London and Hong Kong. Inde-
pendent owners challenge the large franchise chains, and some advertise particular specialties—organic
coffee, or fair-trade coffee, or coffee in a Christian atmosphere. Recently, the English magazine The Econo-
mist suggested that the Internet was a new version of the coffeehouse, serving as a virtual meeting place
for the exchange of information, opinion, and gossip. Since the Internet is available in Internet cafés, the
old coffeehouse and the virtual one sometimes occupy the same space.
CHAPTER
Trade and Empire,
1700–1800
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Choice: Samuel Gamble Sets Out from European Society in the Age
London on a Slaving Voyage of Enlightenment
Introduction Comfort and Privacy
The Problem of the Poor
Economic Recovery Popular Social Protest
The Expanding Population of Europe The Social Order
The World of Work The Nation
Changing Notions of Wealth
The Consumer Revolution The Beginning of Industrial Production
London Mechanization and Mass Production
Why Britain?
The Atlantic World
The Atlantic Economy Summary
1713 1720
Spain cedes Last plague epidemic
asiento to Britain breaks out in France
lain
ip pin e
NORTH Netherlands
, p orc e
h il
AMERICA
S ilver (to the P
S ilks, spices
Hudson
Bay
MEXICO LOUISIANA
i
pp
i
ss
s si
Mi
NEW FRANCE
QUEBEC
Veracruz
Acapulco NEWFOUNDLAND
(To Gr. Br., 1713) GREAT
FLORIDA BRITAIN EUROPE
NOVA SCOTIA
Tob (ACADIA)
Havana acc Fur NETHERLANDS
o (To Gr. Br., 1713) s
cts
CUBA Colonial produ FRANCE
Silver
oo ds
tured g
JAMAICA ufac
Porto Sugar Man SPAIN
Bello HISPANIOLA
SAINT SANTO DOMINGO
DOMINGUE PORTUGAL
(Sp.)
(Fr.)
r
e
Silv
GUADELOUPE
s
ood
MARTINIQUE (Spain)
NEW GRANADA (Fr.) NORTH
Manufactur
BARBADOS ATLANTIC
Gold
(Gr. Br.)
OCEAN AFRICA
Lima DUTCH
GUIANA
FRENCH
PERU Am GUIANA CAPE VERDE IS. Cape
azo (Port.)
n Verde
Sugar
SLAVE
SOUTH COAST
GOLD
COAST
AMERICA
Silve
Slaves
r
BRAZIL
ANGOLA
SOUTH
ATLANTIC
Buenos Aires OCEAN
507
508 CHAPTER 18 Trade and Empire, 1700–1800
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Samuel Gamble Sets Out from
London on a Slaving Voyage
On April 7, 1793, Samuel Gamble weighed anchor and eased
his ship, the Sandown, along the Thames River to the North
Sea. Gamble had contracted with a group of British investors
in January to gather a cargo of slaves in Africa for sale in the
British colony of Jamaica. He had been in the slave trade for
years, but this time business conditions were dangerous.
France and Britain were once again at war, and the French
Samuel Gamble were attacking British ships on the high seas. The Royal Navy
was seizing ships’ crews for its men-of-war, and Gamble had replaced twelve
Samuel Gamble was a ship’s seized sailors only days before he set sail. Despite the dangers, Gamble and his
captain who contracted with backers were willing to put down money for the voyage. High risk meant high
British merchants to carry yield if the venture was successful.
slaves from Africa to the The Sandown was provisioned for long sailing, since a roundtrip could last for a
Caribbean and return home year or more. For weeks, supplies had been taken on board: beef, pork, pigs, tripe,
with New World goods for potatoes, butter, and beer to feed the captain and crew; lead bars, gunpowder,
the European market. Profit earthenware dishes, and brandy to trade for slaves; and “big Iron Handcuffs, Neck
was foremost in his mind and chains & collars” to bind the slave cargo on the voyage to the West Indies. After
the minds of those who leaving the Thames estuary, Gamble sailed along the southern coast of England in
backed him. In 1793, he set a convoy of merchant ships protected by the Royal Navy. Then they headed south-
sail from London to buy west into the Atlantic. On May 16, some of the ships veered off for the West In-
slaves in Africa for the West dies, while Gamble sailed south for the west coast of Africa. After stopping in
Indian market. On this trip, Portugal’s Cape Verde Islands, where he picked up cotton cloth to trade in Africa,
things did not go as well as Gamble arrived in what is today Sierra Leone on June 12, prepared to trade his
he had hoped. (Visual Con- cargo for slaves.
nection Archive) From then on, things went badly. June was the beginning of the rainy season
in West Africa, and wet ground brought swarms of disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Already, yellow fever was ravaging the coastal areas. This disease often killed
within a week, as victims, vomiting blackish blood, fell into a coma while their
liver deteriorated, causing them to turn yellow from jaundice. Gamble’s stop in
Africa had to be short if profits were to be made. He had contracted to carry 250
slaves to Jamaica in time for the beginning of sugar-cane cutting in December,
when market demand for new slaves would be high. But yellow fever had dis-
rupted the African trading networks, and Gamble had to wait nine and a half
months before he could collect 234 slaves, 16 short of his contract. They were
listed in his journal simply by age, sex, and an assigned number.
As Gamble tried to fill his ship with slaves, and he himself began to shake with
fever, some of his sailors fell ill or died. The crew as a whole became, he wrote in
his journal, “quite Peevish, fraxious, ill natur’d and Childish.” In mid-January 1794,
a slave uprising broke out on board, and eight Africans drowned, most likely as
they tried to swim to freedom. Troubles continued after the Sandown set sail
across the Atlantic in March—yellow fever, fights between sailors and slaves, more
deaths. The ship’s water kegs were leaking, and the Sandown had to make an
Economic Recovery 509
unplanned stop in Barbados to take on more. There sixteen crew members aban-
doned ship and hired lawyers to get their back wages from Gamble. With the
lawyers demanding the removal of Sandown’s sails and rudder to prevent it from
leaving, Gamble sneaked out of port before daybreak and limped into Kingston,
Jamaica, with a crew of five.
Yellow fever awaited him there. It had swirled across the Atlantic on other
ships, disrupting the Jamaican slave markets and leaving Kingston’s harbor
crowded with earlier arrivals from Africa. In any case, Gamble had arrived too late
to take advantage of high prices at the beginning of the cane-cutting season.
“Slaves complaining of pains in their Bowells,” he wrote glumly in his journal on
May 25. The next day’s entry read, “Slaves as before, they go off very slow (Market
glutted).” After taking on provisions and a new cargo, probably of sugar and rum,
the Sandown joined an armed convoy for the return trip to London, arriving there
on October 11, 1794, a year and a half after the outbound voyage.
Gamble and his backers were disappointed in their profits. In a trade economy
that pitted high gain against high risk, they had lost.
Introduction pect greater privacy and comfort in the home and in-
dulged in more spontaneous displays of affection
Gamble saw slaves as one trade good—a very lucra- among family members. The poor continued to live
tive one—in the bustling transatlantic economy that more tradition-bound lives, and the social and cul-
was fueling Europe’s economic growth. During the tural gap between them and the rich widened. Govern-
eighteenth century, Europe once again experienced ment officials developed new theories about the causes
population growth, which in turn stimulated eco- of poverty and new institutions to eliminate them,
nomic production and a rise in consumption of goods while the poor took action by rioting. Food shortages
and services at all levels of society as people bought and unacceptable working conditions could provoke
more clothing, household items, and food. Increased popular rioting. So could long-simmering religious
economic activity led European thinkers to explore hatred. Europeans also began to rethink the basic
the reasons for economic growth and to lay the foun- nature of society, rejecting traditional ideas that em-
dations for the modern discipline of economics. phasized group membership more than individual
These new economists viewed people primarily as autonomy. Some people argued that wealth, not birth,
rational beings who exercised individual choice as was the proper basis for social ranking, while others
consumers of the goods available in the marketplace. maintained that society was made up of individual
The Atlantic economy also reshaped the European citizens bound together in a unified nation.
empires that had been formed in the Western Hemi-
sphere beginning in the sixteenth century. Portugal,
founder of the first overseas empire, relied more and
more on the riches of Brazil for its continuing prosper- Economic Recovery
ity. The Spanish and French Empires declined as the
➜
British Empire rose, outstripping all others in vitality What new ideas about economic development and the
value of work accompanied Europe’s economic recovery?
and prosperity and making London the commercial
➜
Chronology
1665 Last plague breaks out in Britain 1768 James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny
1666 Great Fire in London 1769 Richard Arkwright invents the water frame
1711 Last plague breaks out in Germany 1771 Arkwright opens the first water-powered factory
1713 Spain grants Britain the asiento 1776 Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations
1720 Last plague outbreak in France 1778 British Parliament grants limited rights to Catholics
1721 Calico Act restricts the import of cotton cloth 1780 Gordon Riots destroy Catholic property in London
from India
1780s James Watt’s improved steam engines are
1733 Flying shuttle doubles weavers’ speed introduced in Britain;
Prussian General Code becomes law
1750 Treaty of Madrid between Spain and Portugal
1793 Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin
1760s Industrial Revolution begins in Britain
the laws that made the economic world function. Eu- Other killers, like smallpox, dysentery, and ty-
ropeans also began to consume a greater variety of phoid fever, periodically exploded into epidemics,
products than ever before, thus further stimulating but their effects were moderated by a growing inter-
the economy. est in community and personal hygiene. Recognizing
that filth bred disease, urban governments launched
The Expanding Population campaigns to clear out the garbage and human waste
of Europe from the cities. In the eighteenth century, Europeans
also began to bathe regularly. Bathing had been com-
Europe’s sixteenth-century overpopulation crisis was mon in the Middle Ages, at least in towns with com-
followed in the seventeenth century by a stagnating munal baths. After the Black Death, however, many
or declining population in many places. Then, in the cities closed their baths, thinking that they spread the
early eighteenth century, population again began to disease. Later, Protestant and Catholic reformers
grow, increasing from 95 million in 1700 to 146 million campaigned to shut them down, arguing that baths
in 1800—by more than 50 percent. Growth was great- promoted lewdness and sexual license. As a result,
est in England and France; in general, western Europe Europeans became dirtier and smellier than their me-
experienced more growth than eastern Europe. dieval ancestors. By the eighteenth century, doctors
Historians have identified several factors contribut- had started to prescribe cold baths to build up the
ing to population increase. The first was the disappear- body, and the resumption of bathing improved hy-
ance of bubonic plague. London’s last plague outbreak giene and reduced disease.
was in 1665, and the last outbreaks in Germany and Changing patterns of European warfare also en-
France were in 1711 and 1720, respectively. Over the couraged population growth. The religious wars of
eighteenth century, the disease also disappeared from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries devastated
eastern and southern Europe. The likely cause for the the civilian population where they were fought. Armies
plague’s decline is found in Europe’s shifting rodent were huge breeding grounds for disease, which spread
population as large brown rats, carrying fleas that beyond their own quarters. Battle also disrupted agri-
stayed on them, overtook the earlier black rat popula- culture and brought on food shortages in a popula-
tion, which hosted fleas that jumped onto human be- tion already straining Europe’s agricultural resources.
ings. The fleas carried the plague bacillus. This change Shortages, in turn, weakened people’s resistance to
in the rat population coincided with better govern- disease. In the eighteenth century, Europe fought some
ment quarantines of infected areas that reduced the of its wars elsewhere—in the Western Hemisphere and
spread of disease. in Asia—and those fought in Europe were shorter
Economic Recovery 511
la
V istu
Birmingham Hamburg
Norwich PRUSSIA
ENGLAND Wool THE E
NETHERLANDS POLAND
lb
e
Amsterdam Berlin
London Linen Wool Warsaw
Bristol O der
Wool HOLY ROMAN
Ghent Antwerp EMPIRE
Linen Brussels Cologne Leipzig
Breslau SILESIA
Lille Wool Liège Wool
ne
Linen Wool Paris Nuremberg
in e
Linen Silk
Rh
Da AUSTRIA
Strasbourg nub
Augsburg e
Nantes Vienna
Loire
Wool Pest
Cotton Buda
FRANCE
SWITZ. HUNGARY
D rava
ATLANTIC Lyon
OCEAN
Bordeaux Silk Milan D a nube
Turin S ava
Ga
ne Wool
Rhône
Wool
Genoa
Bologna
Toulouse Silk
Wool OTTOMAN
Florence
SPAIN Marseille EMPIRE
0 75 150 Km.
Leghorn
0 75 150 Mi.
MAP 18.1 Industry and Population in Eighteenth-Century Europe In the eighteenth century most
people lived in the countryside and many manufacturing processes, like textile weaving, were concen-
trated there in the putting out system. Metal production, especially iron and copper, were also located in
the countryside.
and therefore less disruptive that earlier wars. More- the sixteenth century, farmers discovered that instead
over, troops were better fed, better supplied, and better of taking fields out of production, they could plant
disciplined than they had been, making their presence clover or turnips, which not only replenished the soil
less dangerous to the surrounding civilian population. but could also be used as fodder for livestock. Now
Finally, improvements in Europeans’ diets encour- larger herds could be developed for milk, hides, and
aged population growth. Better climatological condi- meat, so people began breeding livestock to improve
tions gradually set in after 1700 as the Little Ice Age quality. In England, local cows were bred with Dutch
ended and harvests improved. In addition, some farm- cattle to increase milk yield, and sheep were bred
ers kept up with rising demand by changing the agri- with specimens that were bigger than normal or that
cultural practices in what has been described as an
agricultural revolution. The changes developed first
in the Rhineland and the Netherlands and then spread agricultural revolution Improvements in agricultural
to England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. method and livestock breeding in the sixteenth to the
Traditionally, farmers had let fields lie fallow, or eighteenth centuries that greatly increased crop yields.
uncultivated, to restore their fertility. Beginning in
512 CHAPTER 18 Trade and Empire, 1700–1800
had fine wool coats. Growing herds meant nitrogen- marrying earlier than before. In previous centuries,
rich manure that could be spread on fields to further death had been the great social equalizer because rich
increase their productivity. With fallowing elimi- and poor were equally defenseless in the face of dis-
nated and more manure available as fertilizer, land ease. Now, the rich began to live longer than the poor
could be kept in continual production, thus greatly because they were better fed and lived in the cleanest,
increasing the yield. healthiest environments.
Increased yields created surpluses; so did a reorga-
nization of farmland for agricultural production that The World of Work
ended the open-field system. In the past, cropland
was usually divided into individually owned plots For many Europeans, patterns of work remained as
that were small but had no barriers between them. they had been in previous centuries. Despite innova-
Sometimes people owned plots separated from each tions in agriculture, most peasants toiled in the coun-
other by other owners’ land. This exposed and frag- tryside using age-old techniques for planting and
mented pattern of landholding worked as long as the harvesting crops. In cities, guild members continued
farming community operated as a single unit, plant- to think of themselves as the elite of the working
ing and harvesting crops in the same sequence and at world and jealously guarded their privileges. Along-
the same time. Village councils or the local landlord side this traditional world, however, other types of
usually regulated planting and harvesting. After har- work began to engage growing numbers of people.
vest, the community’s livestock was allowed to range During the economic slump of the seventeenth
freely over the fields, grazing on what was left in century, Europe’s peasants and urban working poor,
them. This system discouraged experimentation with especially in the west, supplemented their incomes
new crops and agricultural techniques. by making things at home. Many women spun wool
Beginning in the middle of the eighteenth century, into yarn and sold the surplus—the yarns they did
Britain’s Parliament encouraged more efficient and not use themselves. Most likely, they would put their
productive use of farmland by passing laws permitting children to work cleaning and carding (combing) the
enclosure in a given area. Single strips were bought or wool, while husbands would weave on hand looms.
traded to create large, consolidated blocs of land that Eventually, merchants delivered raw wool to the
were fenced off. Enclosure allowed for economies of household and paid cash for finished cloth. This
scale in agricultural production and made experimen- arrangement, known as the putting-out system, was
tation with different crops and crop rotations possible. Europe’s first means of manufacturing. Merchants
New land was also brought under cultivation and im- got involved because they could pay low and sell
proved with new techniques. Underground drainage high. They might buy raw wool in large volume from
systems were installed in waterlogged fields, and sheep farmers, put it out to many different house-
heavy clays were lightened by working in crushed holds, and pick up spun yarn or even woven cloth for
limestone. Improvements in crops, land organization, a pittance—so much for a certain amount, or by the
and soil quality also greatly increased yields. During piece. Linen cloth—both coarse and fine—and nails
the eighteenth century, improvements in agriculture were also produced in the putting-out system. Work-
spared Europeans from the devastating famines of ers accepted the arrangement because the entire fam-
earlier centuries, like the ones that struck France dur- ily could be put to work. But the spread of the system,
ing the reign of Louis XIV. in which household workers only occasionally saw
Enclosure increased agricultural productivity, but the merchant who bought their piecework, created a
it came at a social cost. Small-scale owners and poor personal and physical distance between workers and
squatters were forced off their plots, and traditional merchants that did not exist in the older owner-oper-
rights to common grazing after harvest were eclipsed. ated workshop of the guild system.
As the rural poor lost even the chance to maintain When Europe’s population once again began to
livestock, many became landless wageworkers on en-
closed farms. enclosure Process of consolidating agricultural land
Nevertheless, the decline in epidemic diseases, and enclosing it with hedges or fences.
coupled with improvements in military behavior, putting-out system System whereby workers manu-
people’s diet, and agricultural production, reduced factured consumer goods for a merchant who supplied
mortality rates. During the eighteenth century, more them with raw material.
people could count on their children surviving in- piecework Work paid for by the number of pieces
fancy and then living longer, healthier lives. In addi- produced.
tion, people had more children because they were
Economic Recovery 513
grow in the early eighteenth century, demand for At the bottom of the urban world were the under-
manufactured products rose, offering people further employed. These were men and women who passed
employment. Because prices for food and other basic in and out of work. Men looked for odd jobs, hauling
products tended to rise faster than workers’ incomes, water or carrying messages across town. Women
there were always people willing to do piecework. washed clothes, or took up prostitution when noth-
But the putting-out system also carried risks. Mer- ing else was available. All of them eked out a life
chants would pay for products as long as demand through begging, petty thievery, and occasional work,
was high, but an unpredictable decline in demand, depending on what seemed the best opportunity
often in a distant market, would lead to drastically from day to day. With Europe’s population rising, their
fewer pieces bought and a sharp decline in income numbers probably grew over the century.
for workers. Overall, however, the putting-out sys-
tem dynamically increased Europe’s manufacturing Changing Notions of Wealth
capacity. For example, English linen exports jumped
from 180,000 yards in 1730 to 9.6 million yards in 1760. As work diversified and patterns of work changed
Other new types of work were urban based. Eu- during the eighteenth century, Europeans debated the
rope’s cities were growing in the eighteenth century, nature of the economic world. Gradually, new ways
offering work for architects, engineers, bricklayers, of thinking about work and the economy emerged.
stonemasons, street repairers, plumbers, and those During the seventeenth century, states had adopted
who catered to them. In Paris, a kind of “take-out” de- mercantilism as an economic policy. Mercantilists be-
veloped, as people bought prepared food for their lieved that the world’s wealth was limited and that a
meals. Women found work as dressmakers, seam- state needed to increase its overall share at the ex-
stresses, linen workers, and clothes washers. Paris pense of others. This belief led to programs for stimu-
had two thousand washerwomen scrubbing along lating domestic prosperity and establishing favorable
the banks of the Seine River. Women also operated trade balances. Mercantilism emphasized the needs
stalls in outdoor markets. As in the past, women’s of states and their rulers above all else; economic pol-
wages lagged noticeably behind men’s. icy was a means of strengthening states locked in the
All over Europe, migrants from the countryside to competitive struggle for dominance in Europe. Eu-
the city often ended up as servants, since servants rope’s colonies were absorbed into this mercantilist
regularly made up a city’s largest single group of agenda; their purpose was to provide the things that
workers: Paris may have had more than ninety thou- the mother country needed to secure a greater share
sand of them. Usually, they constituted about 10 per- of the world’s wealth and to increase its competitive
cent of the total urban population. Servants benefited advantage at home and abroad.
from some job security since their employment was In the eighteenth century, economists started to
continuous and they were given room and board and argue that economic activity did not simply shift
sometimes clothing. But work in an employer’s house wealth from one state to another. Economies were ca-
could also be dangerous. Angry masters might ac- pable of growing, and new wealth could be gener-
cuse their servants of theft, and women could be se- ated if states stopped interfering in economic life. In
duced or raped by their employer or fellow servants France, the Physiocrats argued that the government’s
and then abandoned. traditional regulation of the grain trade harmed agri-
The servant world was divided into the skilled few cultural productivity and that the economy would
and the mass of the unskilled. The skilled worked as work best if the government left it alone. “Laissez
butlers, cooks, and personal attendants. They often faire, laissez aller!” (“Leave it alone, let it go!”), they
served the same employer for many years and then cried; the term laissez-faire coming to stand in for a
retired into the middle class. Most servants, however, government policy of noninterference in the econ-
worked as footmen, stable boys, or chamber and omy. The Physiocrats also thought of the economy as
kitchen maids. These lower servants usually calcu- a complex mechanism, each part of which depended
lated employment opportunities carefully, regularly on the others. In this way it was like the natural
leaving one employer for another if the new job
promised a better wage, a new set of clothes, or better Physiocrats French economists who argued against
food and lodging. Male servants viewed their work mercantilist regulation of the economy.
as a temporary measure until something better came laissez-faire (in French, “leave it alone”) Economic
along. Many women worked to save a dowry and principle that economies develop best when free of
then marry a prosperous peasant or artisan in their government interference.
home village or in the city where they worked.
514 CHAPTER 18 Trade and Empire, 1700–1800
century, some people were installing indoor plumbing have purchased many other new goods—canisters to
and flush toilets that connected to improved sewer store the tea, special clippers to cut sugar from the
systems. Even the working poor furnished and deco- cones in which it came, a tea table, a porcelain pitcher
rated their rented rooms. Inexpensive prints hung on for cream, a sugar basket and tongs for the cut sugar,
their walls, and pieces of pretty porcelain were brought and teaspoons for stirring.
out for special occasions. They bought more bed frames
and mattresses than ever before and started to put London
their children in their own beds instead of adding
them to the parental bed, as they had in the past. They On September 2, 1666, a fire in London destroyed
also accumulated several changes of clothes, buying more than thirteen thousand homes and eighty-seven
from secondhand dealers who sold the used clothes churches, including the medieval Cathedral of Saint
of the rich. Paul. As the city recovered from the disaster of what
Several factors lay behind working people’s accu- was called the Great Fire, new building codes re-
mulation of possessions. Increasingly, workers were quired the use of brick instead of wood for dwellings.
paid in cash rather than kind. The growth of a cash The architect Christopher Wren designed a new Saint
economy offered new forms of investment. Extra cloth- Paul’s Cathedral as the city’s centerpiece. By 1801,
ing and nonessential household items served as a London had a population of about 1 million, making
hedge against catastrophic poverty during hard eco- it the largest city in Europe. This “overgrown monster,”
nomic times. If demand for textiles in the putting-out as one Londoner called it, was covered with soot and
system declined, workers could take their new pos- engulfed in smog that came from the smoke of coal
sessions, purchased when work and incomes were fires that heated everything from St. Paul’s Cathedral
good, and pawn them for cash in the growing number to the dingy rooms of the city’s slums. When the smoke
of pawnshops that emerged during the eighteenth mixed with river fog, it created the city’s notorious
century. When good economic times returned, the “pea soup” atmosphere that persisted well into the
pawned items were redeemed, enjoyed once again, and twentieth century. In this densely packed, polluted en-
held in reserve for the inevitable bad times. Moreover, vironment, only one in four babies could expect to
as people became consumers of a variety of products, survive to adulthood. The city’s population could not
they developed a sense of empowerment. They saw replace itself, so it depended on migration; over three-
their choices in the marketplace as reflecting their quarters of its population was not London-born.
taste, and they sought to cultivate their taste through From everywhere in Britain, people came. Despite
knowledge of goods and markets. As they made per- London’s unhealthy environment, outsiders plunged
sonal choices about what they wanted to buy, they into the city to make money and seek excitement. Tens
increased their role as individual actors in the mar- of thousands toiled away in the city’s shipyards, tex-
ketplace. Adam Smith’s picture of an economy based tile manufacturers, and breweries. Thousands more
on private individuals’ pursuit of their own interests worked on the docks that bordered the Thames, where
was embodied in the consumer revolution. over a thousand ships at any given time were unload-
In addition to buying more clothes, accessories, ing cargo from Asia, Africa, and the Americas or
and household items, Europeans also added new loading goods destined for the Atlantic world. Stalls
foodstuffs to their daily diets. Four items, in particu- in the city’s huge markets were tended by thousands
lar, stand out: coffee, tea, and chocolate, all of which more. The city also teemed with government employ-
were drunk, and cane sugar, which started to replace ees, lawyers, bankers, and stockbrokers, all engaged
honey as a sweetener. All four depended on the in the business of running the commercial, financial,
growth in overseas trade and the establishment of and legal business of Britain and its empire. Physicians,
colonies. Tea was imported from East Asia, while cof- surgeons, and clergymen attended to the physical
fee came from either the Middle East or the Western and spiritual well-being of the populace. The build-
Hemisphere. Chocolate was raised in tropical colonies. ing trades boomed throughout the city as its growing
Above all, sugar was produced in ever-larger quanti- population clamored for more accommodations.
ties in the plantations of the Caribbean and Brazil. By
century’s end, sugar had become a standard item on pawnshops Institutions that lend money to persons
the tables of both the rich and the poor. The introduc- who deposit goods there as security against the loan.
tion of these new foodstuffs often stimulated Euro- Christopher Wren (1632–1723) English architect who
pean manufacturing. Take tea. As its consumption designed the new Saint Paul’s Cathedral after the
rose, so did demand for teapots and teacups. A well- London fire of 1666.
to-do hostess, preparing for a tea party, would also
Economic Recovery 517
Leicester Square in London, shown here in an engraving by William Henry Prior, was in the fashionable west-
ern part of the eighteenth-century city. The houses, built from a common plan, open onto a large, clean square,
where people ride or stroll. (Mary Evans Picture Library/The Image Works)
Over the century, the city became divided between fans, tea, Chinese porcelain, East Indian cotton cloth—
poor working districts to the east of Saint Paul’s, everything.
which also housed many Jews, and fashionable new One of London’s most popular consumer items
districts west of the cathedral. The eastern districts was gin. In the early eighteenth century, improve-
continued to be built with narrow streets and shoddy, ments in distilling and lower grain prices made the
windowless buildings. In the western districts, how- production of gin at cheap prices possible, and the
ever, radically new design standards were employed. poor of London took to it with gusto. A wave of binge
Wide streets lined with stately houses opened onto drinking and public drunkenness swept over the city
great squares where the wealthy strolled or rolled by in the 1730s and 1740s that ended only in the 1750s,
in their carriages. These houses had large rooms and when Parliament passed strict licensing laws for gin
windows that let in light and fresh air. shops and the price of grain rose, making the drink
No city in Europe experienced the consumer revo- more expensive.
lution more than London. Every type of good and en-
tertainment was available for a price. New shops
were built with large glass display windows that al- distilling Process in which fermented grain is heated
lowed people to scrutinize the enticing goods for sale to turn its alcohol content into vapor that is then si-
inside: clothes, shoes, umbrellas, watches, furniture, phoned off and allowed to cool into liquid form.
paintings, clocks, hats, gloves, walking sticks, pistols,
518 CHAPTER 18 Trade and Empire, 1700–1800
If one wished entertainment, there were dozens of This system was based on the seizure and transport
theaters performing the latest plays or one of George of, ultimately, millions of Africans to the Western
Fredrick Handel’s operas or oratorios. Or one could Hemisphere, where they labored as slaves to produce
spend an evening at the cockfights or the ring where agricultural commodities, especially sugar, to satisfy
scantily clad women wrestled. Or one could go to rising consumer demand in Europe. In return, Euro-
sideshows where one could look at dwarves, bearded peans manufactured shoes and cheap clothing for
ladies, and Siamese twins. There were the pleasure slaves and a variety of household items, tools, and
gardens of Vauxhall and Ranelagh, where the price luxuries for colonists.
of admission allowed visitors to stroll the lamp-lit
gardens at night to hear singers and musicians or en-
joy food and drink in a pavilion while waiting for the The Atlantic Economy
fireworks. Or there was the Tower of London, where Samuel Gamble’s triangular voyage (see Choice) was
the crown jewels were on display. There was every- commonplace in the eighteenth century. British, French,
thing to see and do. Dutch, and Portuguese slavers sailing from Europe
London was not the only city that grew over the headed to the West African coast. There, like Gamble,
eighteenth century and was transformed by the con- they turned to resident Europeans with links to local
sumer revolution. Paris, with a population of 600,000, African rulers, who supplied the slaves. Guns and
also underwent a building boom and urban renova- gunpowder, alcohol, cloth, tobacco, and iron bars
tion. Like London, the working poor lived in crowded were traded for the human cargo. Once slaves were
quarters in the eastern parts of the city, while the rich collected, the voyage across the Atlantic, the dreaded
and well-born occupied newly constructed western Middle Passage, began. For weeks, the ship sailed
quarters where public squares and large townhouses west, following the trade wind patterns of the North
were built. One contemporary observer of the Parisian Atlantic. As with Gamble’s voyage, death stalked the
scene stated that more than 30 percent of the city’s slave ships. On average 10 to 20 percent of the Africans
buildings had been constructed between 1760 and died before reaching the Caribbean, along with 20 to 25
1780. The Duke of Orléans, a cousin of the king, made percent of the ship’s crew, from diseases contracted in
a fortune selling wood from his estates to feed the Africa or on board. The Portuguese called these slave
building boom. Improvements were made in street ships hearses. Death rates were even higher for Euro-
lighting and sewage disposal. The city also ordered peans who manned the outposts on the African coast
property owners to provide street numbers for their because of malaria and other diseases.
buildings and tried to place street names on corner The European colonies’ import of slaves reshaped
buildings. But London was in a class by itself. And the communities of West Africa. Slaves were some-
underpinning all its bustle, buying, pleasure, and times captives taken in warfare, while others were
wealth was the complex web of the Atlantic trade that simply kidnapped. Some rulers, anxious to take ad-
depended on the seizure, shipping, sale, and labor of vantage of European demand, extended their power
thousands of African slaves. and created centralized kingdoms, like Dahomey and
Ashanti, where the capture and sale of slaves was a
central feature of the local economy. The rich soils of
West Africa assured a good food supply, especially af-
The Atlantic World ter manioc, a nutritious root vegetable, was imported
➜
How did the Atlantic trade link Europe, Africa, and the
Americas in an integrated economy?
➜
Wheat
Timber
Fish Fur
Pottery Tar
Pitch
Amsterdam
NETHERLANDS
NORTH EUROPE
PORTUGAL SPAIN Venice Slaves
AMERICA Tools Tools ASI A
Cloth Cloth
ATLANTIC Lisbon Madrid JAPAN
Silk Istanbul Silk
M editerra
n ea Silver
New Charleston OCEAN Seville n Se
a PERSIA
Rugs and
Orleans Tripoli Killims CHINA Ningbo Nagasaki
FLORIDA es Alexandria Cairo Basra Porcelain
NEW olass Silk
SPAIN
Slav um, M
Slaves
es ar, R Muscat
Mexico , Sug Red INDIA Calcutta Canton
HAITI
Silk ARABIA
City CUBA Sea Macao
Silver GUJARAT Silver
ves
Vera Cruz PUERTO RICO es
CAPE
Sla
Acapulco Slav Arabian Goa
JAMAICA CURACAO (Neth.) VERDE Slaves Aden Sea Manila
Cartagena ves PHILIPPINES PACIFIC
Sil
, S l a th Slav
k
ld lo es
SPANISH
Sugar
,
Panama MAIN ASANTE, DAHOMEY Go er, C MALDIVES Ceylon
ry
GUIANA AFRICA e pp s OCEAN
P
Ivo
NEW Sla
e ll
GRANADA
ves
sh
ie Malacca
Equator wr 0˚
AS
es Mombasa
ves
U
Sla
Lima Luanda O GUINEA
Strait JAVA M
PACIFIC SOUTH Bahia Slaves ANGOLA
INDIAN
PERU
AM ERICA Mozambique OCEAN
OCEAN Homeward Sofala MADAGASCAR
BRAZIL Trade
MAURITIUS
Rio de Janeiro (Neth.)
Sp
Sp
s
Santiago Cape
ice
ice s
ATLANTIC Town
Buenos Aires es
Cape of Slav
OCEAN
Good Hope
Strait of Magellan
Cape Horn
MAP 18.2 The Worldwide Slave Trade In the eighteenth century, slave trading out of Africa went in
many directions. Africans from central Africa were taken north to Muslim ports on the Mediterranean,
The Atlantic World
while the Arab-controlled slave trade east from Mozambique to Asia also flourished. Most slaves bound for
the New World were taken from Mozambique and from the central and southern west African coast.
519
520 CHAPTER 18 Trade and Empire, 1700–1800
from America. In turn, the food supply encouraged mortality rate; perhaps one-third died within a few
growth of the local population, which slavers could years of arriving in the Western Hemisphere. An im-
seize for the transatlantic trade. Overall, some 11 mil- balanced sex ratio also worked against a stabilization
lion slaves were taken across the Atlantic to toil in of the slave population. Male slaves, considered more
American plantations, mainly in the Caribbean and desirable for plantation labor because of their strength,
Brazil. The colonies’ importation of slaves resulted outnumbered female ones, and adults were enslaved
from an insatiable demand for labor and slaves’ high more frequently than children.
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Olaudah Equiano Describes Passage
on a Slave Ship
In 1789,Olaudah Equiano, a freed slave, published The Interesting Narrative of the
Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. He claimed that his ac-
count was based on his own memories as an African boy of ten taken aboard a
slave ship. The claim is currently disputed, but there is no doubt that Equiano’s
narrative, whether fact or fiction, helped to gain support in England for the aboli-
tion of the slave trade.
➜ The first object which saluted my eyes when I ➜ How does Equiano
arrived on the coast was the sea, and a slave ship . . . manage to convey
waiting for its cargo. These filled me with astonish- these experiences
ment, which was soon converted into terror. . . . When I from the point of view
was carried on board I was immediately handled, and of a ten-year-old
tossed up, to see if I were sound by some of the crew, child?
and I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a
world of bad spirits and that they were going to kill
me. Their complexions too differing so much from ours, their long hair, and the
language they spoke, which was very different from any I ever heard, united to
confirm me in this belief. . . . When I looked round the ship too, and saw a large
furnace or copper boiling and a multitude of black people of every description
chained together, every one of their countenances expressing dejection and sor-
row, I no longer doubted of my fate; and, quite overpowered with horror and
anguish, I fell motionless on the deck and fainted. . . . I
became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor
had I the least desire to taste anything. ➜ I now ➜ Why would
wished for the last friend, Death, to relieve me; but Equiano be flogged
soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me for not eating?
eatables, and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held
me fast by the hands and laid me across, I think, the
➜ Why does Equiano make windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely. . . . ➜ I had never
these remarks? seen among my people such instances of brutal cruelty; and this not only shewn
towards us blacks, but also to some of the whites themselves. One white man in
particular I saw, when we were permited [sic] to be on deck, flogged so unmerci-
The Atlantic World 521
fully that he died in consequence of it; and they tossed him over the side as they
would have done to a brute. . . .
The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was . . . intolerably loath-
some. . . . The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the
number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn
himself, almost suffocated us. This produced copious perspirations, so that the
air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and
brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died, thus falling victims
to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers. This wretched situa-
tion was again aggravated by the galling of the chains, now become insupport-
able; and the filth of the necessary tubs, into which the
children often fell, and were almost suffocated. The
shrieks of the women and the groans of the dying, ➜ Does this act of
rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceiv- kindness lessen or
able. ➜ Happily perhaps for myself I was soon reduced sharpen the horrors
so low here that it was thought necessary to keep me of Equiano’s
on deck; and from my extreme youth I was not put account?
in fetters.
Source: “Olaudah Equiano Describes Passage on a Slave Ship” from Northrup, David, ed., The Atlantic Slave
Trade, 2nd edition. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Reprinted with permission.
The Spanish and vestors. The ship itself was sailed to London, where it
became a tourist attraction. In 1713, at the end of the
Portuguese Empires
war, the Spanish granted the British the asiento, per-
After a decline in production during the mid-seven- mission to sell slaves in Spanish colonies. In addition,
teenth century, Spain’s colonial silver mines boomed the right to sail into Spanish ports enhanced the pos-
and produced half of the world’s silver in the 1700s. sibility for trade in other goods.
The silver and other trades were organized as they In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Portugal
had been in the sixteenth century; the Manila galleon had created an empire that stretched westward from
sailed once a year to the west coast of Mexico, from India to outposts in Africa and then across the Atlantic
which its goods were transferred to the Caribbean to Brazil. In the seventeenth century, Brazil had pro-
and then shipped with New World silver to Spain in duced most of the sugar for Europe. By the 1680s,
a convoy of merchant ships guarded by men-of-war. however, competition from French and British colonies
This highly centralized system no longer worked in the Caribbean had led to a decline in prices for
well. By 1700, some 2 million Spaniards had migrated Brazilian sugar, and the industry slumped. Soon after-
to the Spanish colonies, and their demand for Euro- ward, gold was discovered. During the first half of the
pean goods could not be met by the annual trips to eighteenth century, gold became the main export, and
and from Spain. Although Spanish law forbade trade Brazil was Portugal’s most profitable colony. Each new
with foreigners, smuggling flourished in the empire’s find sparked a fevered gold rush as people from Por-
ports, where French and British traders brought tugal and the Atlantic islands joined local people in
needed goods from Europe or other parts of the West- the hunt for treasure. The influx of these fortune seek-
ern Hemisphere and returned to their ports with ers greatly increased the European population in the
emeralds, pearls, and cocoa. colony. The slave population also increased because
The British benefited most from Spain’s inade- Africans were brought in to work the mines. The largest
quate trading network. In 1709, during the War of the gold strikes were in Brazil’s interior, so, for the first
Spanish Succession, when Britain was fighting both time, Europeans started to move away from the coast,
France and Spain, merchants in the western port of where the sugar plantations were located. The push
Bristol financed a privateer to capture the Manila inland also brought increasing contact between whites
galleon. The venture was successful, and the galleon’s and the local Indian population, which declined, like
cargo brought a profit of £786,000 to the overjoyed in- Indians in the Spanish Empire, as the result of disease
The Atlantic World 523
and exploitation. Historians estimate that the Indian The French also established trading posts in India,
population of Brazil fell by 75 percent during the supplanting the Portuguese and Dutch and rivaling
Brazilian colonial period. Unlike the Spanish, who the English, who were also expanding their trade on
studied Indian culture even as they exploited the local the subcontinent. The main French post was at Pon-
peoples, the Portuguese showed hardly any interest in dicherry, on the southeast coast, from which silk and
the Brazilian Indians except as a labor force. pepper were exported to France. In addition to these
Portuguese occupation of the Brazilian interior was traditional commodities, printed cotton cloth was
capped off by the Treaty of Madrid, signed in 1750, also exported to supply the growing demand for cot-
which adjusted the boundary between Spanish and ton clothing in Europe.
Portuguese America, set by the Treaty of Tordesillas, in Britain benefited most from the Atlantic trade. Its
Portugal’s favor. The territory assigned to Portugal success rested on two things: a slave-worked planta-
west of the old line of demarcation created a colony tion economy in the Caribbean and the southern half
that covered roughly the same territory as modern of the mainland colonies combined with a thriving
Brazil. By the time the treaty was signed, gold mining colonial demand for the products of the mother coun-
was in decline, but the sugar industry was on the up- try. In addition, the needs of the mainland colonies’
swing as demand and prices rose. Diamonds were also many coastal cities provided other trading opportu-
found and sent to Europe in such numbers that their nities across the Atlantic world. Beginning in 1651, a
price fell by 75 percent. Sugar, gold, and diamonds series of Navigation Acts passed by Parliament ex-
ended up making Brazil far richer in resources and in- cluded foreigners from the trade between British
come from trade than its mother country. colonies and the mother country, decreed that all
shipping must be in British or colonial vessels, and
The French and British Empires prohibited American manufacturers from sending
their products to Britain if the products would com-
In theory, the French New World Empire was vast, pete there with locally made products.
stretching from Quebec in eastern Canada to the Great London and the ports on Britain’s west coast pros-
Lakes and down the Mississippi River to Louisiana pered from the trade goods they shipped to all parts
and the Gulf of Mexico. It also included the Caribbean of the Atlantic world. In addition to those sent to
islands of Saint-Domingue, Guadeloupe, and Mar- West Africa for slaves, merchant vessels carried tex-
tinique. In fact, however, these lands were sparsely in- tiles, tools, metal utensils, and a variety of household
habited by European colonists. In the mid-eighteenth items to West Indian and North American consumers.
century, Canada contained 60,000 Frenchmen as com- Cheap cloth was in demand to provide clothing for
pared to the 1.8 million European inhabitants of the the thousands of slaves, while household items like
British mainland colonies. Canada’s main export to desks, chairs, wallpaper, curtains, china, carriages, and
Europe was furs, especially beaver pelts, which were silverware were bought by the white population, who
used for making hats because their tight nap allowed were caught up in Europe’s consumer revolution.
them to shed water easily. French traders paid local Colonial demand also increased because of a rising
trappers and Indians with guns and woolen clothes population. Not only did Britons continue to migrate
manufactured in the mother country. The Canadians to the American colonies; birthrates there were excep-
also supplied the sugar islands with grain, timber, and tionally high and large families the rule. The relatively
leather goods. The sugar produced there was shipped easy availability of land for agriculture resulted in a
back to France for refining, along with locally grown high standard of living, perhaps the highest in the
coffee. Seventy-five percent of the sugar and 80 per- world at the time, that allowed colonials to buy
cent of the coffee were then reexported to markets in nonessential items that pleased them or made their
northern and eastern Europe. The slave population in lives more comfortable. British manufacturers re-
the French Caribbean, which far outnumbered the sponded to this overseas demand by producing more
white colonists, stimulated French manufacturing, and more for the overseas market.
since textiles were shipped overseas to clothe the
African workforce. The sugar island of Saint-Domingue
was the single most productive colony of any Euro- Treaty of Madrid Treaty between Spain and Portugal
pean empire in the eighteenth century. Despite its in 1750 that revised the boundaries of Brazil by adding
profitability, the French, like the Spanish and Portu- more land in the west to the colony.
guese, lost ground to the British. Smaller European Pondicherry Most important French trading post
populations in the French colonies meant a less dy- in India.
namic transatlantic economy.
524 CHAPTER 18 Trade and Empire, 1700–1800
Michel Barthélemy Olliver’s, Supper at the Prince of Conti’s Residence in the Temple (1766) shows the prince and his
guests enjoying supper in an informal atmosphere. Some people talk while others read or listen to the harpist.
Conti belonged to a junior branch of the French royal family. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY)
The growing demand for privacy among Europe’s and-tumble of the adult world. During the eighteenth
upper and middle classes was accompanied by a de- century, however, aristocratic and middle-class par-
mand for comfortable domestic spaces. The older dis- ents began to express love more openly, and they
play society had emphasized grandeur, even if that praised their children more frequently than before.
meant that people had to live in uncomfortable sur- One reason for Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s popularity
roundings. Although the rich and well-born still put was his endorsement of these displays of feeling.
elegance above comfort in dress on formal occasions, Historians have debated the causes for the rise in
they now preferred a more relaxed pattern at home. domestic privacy, comfort, and displays of familial
Men wore dressing gowns in their private rooms, affection. In part, they resulted from examples given
while women favored looser clothes when they read at the highest levels of society, at royal courts. Louis
or visited with friends. Little tea or supper tables cov- XV of France toned down the public court ritual of
ered with simple cloths were placed in front of soft his great-grandfather Louis XIV and spent much time
upholstered chairs. Rooms were smaller than before, in his private apartments with a few close friends.
and thus fires could keep them warmer. Dinner par- Stiff and silent at formal court events, Louis XV was
ties also tended to become more informal. relaxed and chatty in his private rooms, where he sat
The emphasis on domestic privacy and comfort with cats on his lap. No one promoted a comfortable
also affected family life. Families, now enclosed in the lifestyle more than the French queen Marie An-
cocoon of the home, often welcomed more openly toinette, wife of Louis XVI. Turning her back on the
spontaneous displays of affection and intimacy. Moth- marble and gilt of Versailles, she built a play village,
ers increasingly breast-fed their babies instead of send- Le Hameau, on the palace grounds. There she and her
ing them away to wet nurses in the country. Parents
had always loved their children and shown concern
for their futures, but traditional child-rearing practices wet nurses Women who nursed other women’s babies
had stressed discipline: parents punished children’s for a fee.
failures and mistakes to prepare them for the rough-
European Society in the Age of Enlightenment 527
ladies-in-waiting dressed in country clothes and pre- In France, Louis XV’s government ordered a work-
tended to be milkmaids. Rousseau’s rejection of cor- house for each province. Their inmates either engaged
rupt civilization and his call for people to live closer in unskilled work, spinning wool and unwinding silk
to nature inspired Le Hameau. So did the enthusiasm cocoons, or were drafted to do roadwork.
for the “natural” natives of the South Pacific pictured During the eighteenth century, the problem of
in the travel reports of James Cook and Louis-Antoine poverty began to be looked at in new ways. When
de Bougainville. But the new standards for simpler church reformers of the sixteenth century had called
living also shaped it. on the state to administer poverty programs, they
Some historians attribute the new privacy to a had argued that it was the government’s duty to care
growing sense of individualism fostered by the En- for the poor just as a father cared for his needy chil-
lightenment’s emphasis on each person as an au- dren. By the eighteenth century, the view that the
tonomous rational being. Others look to Protestant state had a fatherly obligation toward the poor was
and Catholic reformers, who called for more modesty giving way to the argument that poverty relief was a
in people’s daily lives. These reformers also preached right that human beings could demand. The idea of
that Christians should be bound together by love, the rights of the poor was stimulated by the Enlight-
thus encouraging an open affection within the family enment notion that human beings were endowed
and the idea that affection should take precedence with natural rights that society had to acknowledge.
over financial considerations or social advancement People who accepted this view sometimes argued
when it came to marriage and children. The new em- that poor relief should be supplemented by old-age
phasis on privacy, comfort, and family affection rep- and medical insurance for the needy. Although insur-
resented a profound shift in people’s sense of how ance programs were never implemented and policy-
they should relate to others. makers concentrated solely on relief or forced work,
the idea of a comprehensive state-sponsored welfare
The Problem of the Poor system had entered European thought about society.
The Enlightenment also lay behind another new
The changes in domestic life in Europe’s upper and aspect of thought about the poor. Previously, Euro-
middle classes had little impact on the mass of work- peans believed that poverty was the result of human
ing people, whose lives, as in the past, continued to sin, which made the rich greedy and the poor lazy.
be lived more in public view and were, therefore, Programs to eliminate poverty aimed, therefore, to
shaped by community opinion and standards. Far- reform the sinner. In the eighteenth century, a more
thest removed from the world of the well-to-do were secular approach developed. The Englishman Greg-
the poor. About 10 percent of Europe’s population ory King and the Frenchman Sébastien de Vauban
lived in permanent conditions of poverty. signaled the change when they called for a careful
As in the past, people made a distinction between count of the number of poor people. Once the magni-
the “deserving” and “undeserving” poor. Old or sick tude of the problem had been established, the state
people, along with the disabled, deserved support, could determine its causes and develop rational poli-
but able-bodied beggars and vagabonds should be cies to deal with it. The Enlightenment idea that people
forced into work. Throughout the century, these un- were naturally good undermined the notion that hu-
deserving poor were treated both as a social problem man sinfulness lay at the root of poverty. Now people
and as a criminal threat. British authorities regularly looked for social and economic causes and argued
rounded up beggars along with convicted felons and that poverty resulted from such things as the rise in
transported them to its overseas colonies, first to the cost of living, shifts in the demand for workers,
America and then to Australia. In the early eigh- and problems of overpopulation. On the European
teenth century, France adopted the same policy and continent, the central state took direct control of pov-
shipped poor men and women to Louisiana. erty programs, while in England the state turned
Another way of handling the able-bodied poor the problem over to local government and ordered
was to place them in publicly sponsored workhouses, parishes in the kingdom to undertake the care of the
where they were forced to be productive and reedu- poor. Overall, government-sponsored poor relief was
cated in the value of labor. After the German state of confined to western and central Europe. Farther east,
Bavaria cleared its territory of beggars and vagabonds
by building a huge workhouse that confined them,
other European governments ordered similar insti- workhouses State-run prisonlike institutions housing
tutions. In England, the law allowed two or more vagabonds and beggars.
parishes to build a common workhouse for the poor.
528 CHAPTER 18 Trade and Empire, 1700–1800
In 1780, anti-Catholic
sentiment in London
exploded in a week of
violence known as the
Gordon Riots. Rioters
destroyed Catholic estab-
lishments and homes. In
this engraving, they set
fire to London’s notorious
Newgate Prison after
freeing the inmates. At-
tacks on public buildings,
including prisons, were
common in eighteenth-
century riots. (Guildhall
Library, City of London/The
Bridgeman Art Library)
the family or the village commune was called on to need, honor was often the only thing poor people
deal with its destitute members. possessed, and it was, therefore, carefully protected.
Women always played a prominent role in food riots.
Popular Social Protest As the family’s food providers, it was their duty to
take the lead in putting bread on the table.
In times of economic crisis—when harvests failed and Laborers also rioted to obtain higher wages or bet-
the food supply dropped or demand for goods pro- ter working conditions. Secretly forming organiza-
duced in the putting-out system declined—the ranks tions with ominous names like “The Conquering and
of the poor could swell to almost 50 percent of the pop- Bold Defiance,” weavers destroyed their employers’
ulation in an affected area. During these bad times, Eu- looms or cut the threads in them. Coal miners also de-
ropeans rioted. A sudden rise in grain and bread prices stroyed machinery, throwing it down mineshafts
often triggered food riots. Because many peasants did while trying to set fire to the coal. Employers regu-
not produce enough grain to feed themselves, they larly denounced these riots as the work of wild mobs,
had to buy it. When prices shot up, they would lie in and governments looked unfavorably on any form of
wait for wagon convoys carrying grain and attack labor organization. In 1791, the French revolutionary
them—often at stream fords or during the loading of legislature passed the Le Chapelier Law outlawing
cargo onto riverboats. In cities, the working poor at- labor unions, while the British Combination Act of
tacked bakeries. Although the attacks sometimes in- 1799 made unions unlawful conspiracies. Workers
volved looting, many people, after seizing bread, paid themselves, however, viewed riots and unions as nec-
what they thought was a fair price. Records testify to
people returning to bakeries following a riot to put
their money down on the counter, saying that they had Le Chapelier Law (1791) and Combination Act
forgotten to pay in the heat of the moment. Rioters did (1799) French and British legislation, respectively, that
not think of themselves as thieves and maintained outlawed labor unions.
their honor by paying what they could. In times of
European Society in the Age of Enlightenment 529
essary negotiating tactics in a world where they had multaneously. For example, a French duke living in
no legal rights to collective bargaining. Paris would be a member of his ducal family, the or-
In 1780, London experienced violent anti-Catholic der of the nobility, and an official resident of Paris. To
rioting following a 1778 act of Parliament that allowed a large degree, peoples’ sense of self, along with other
Roman Catholics who took an oath of loyalty to the peoples’ recognition of their place in the community,
king to serve in the army and own land. Many Protes- was defined by their participation in these groups. As
tants, horrified at this leniency, joined a Scot, Lord a consequence, individuality was less noticed or re-
George Gordon, in organizing the Protestant Associa- garded than group membership. To enforce this point,
tion, which gathered sixty thousand signatures on a European governments defined the orders legally and
petition demanding the act’s repeal. When Parliament issued laws stating who were proper members of
refused to receive the petition, rioting began. For a them. Thus, illegitimate children were not legally fam-
week, rioters ran through the city destroying Catholic ily members, and vagabonds or the floating popula-
chapels, schools, and pubs. In the city’s fashionable tion of underemployed poor people were not legally
western districts, homes of rich Catholics were in- recognized as residents of cities.
vaded and their furnishings thrown into the street Each order and estate had certain rights that be-
and burned. The houses were then vandalized or de- longed exclusively to it. For example, in France the
stroyed. For these people, withdrawal into an upper- male head of family had the legal right to request the
class world of privacy counted for little when their imprisonment of a disobedient son or daughter, and
front doors were smashed in, their rooms invaded, in eastern Europe the nobility alone had the right to
and their comfortable furnishings thrown out the own land. The distinctive legal rights belonging to an
window. The Royal Army’s intervention finally ended order were known as privileges. Privilege was some-
the riots. Two hundred eighty-five rioters were shot thing one had a right to that others did not have, be-
by the troops, and twenty-five more were hanged. cause it belonged only to one’s order. Thus, the clergy
The Gordon Riots were the most violent eighteenth- of France had the right to be exempt from state taxa-
century upheaval in London, destroying more prop- tion, while nobles and commoners were taxed in
erty than any event since the Great Fire of 1666. varying degrees. In a society of orders, one’s right to
Government authorities held complicated views enjoy one’s privileges was as strong as other peoples’
about riots. Generally, they took a dim view of popu- right to enjoy theirs, but the privileges varied from
lar disturbance in any form and severely punished order to order. As the conservative English political
those they caught. At times, however, they had some philosopher Edmund Burke put it, “Everyone has
sympathy for rioters who seemed to be truly hard equal rights, but not to equal things.”
pressed by food shortages or deteriorating working A society of orders and estates was also hierarchi-
conditions and would soften the punishments. Au- cal. Orders were not only unequal in privileges; they
thorities also held women less accountable than men were also unequal in social status. Thus, the Prussian
because of widespread beliefs that women by nature General Code of 1791 assigned the top position to the
were emotional and disorderly. Male protesters took
advantage of this view by occasionally disguising
their faces with charcoal dust and then putting on collective bargaining Negotiations over working
women’s clothes to protect themselves by symboli- conditions between an employer and an organized
cally assuming female disorderliness. group of workers.
pubs “Public houses” where food and alcoholic bever-
ages were sold.
The Social Order Gordon Riots Named after Lord George Gordon, anti-
Catholic rioting in London in 1780.
In the eighteenth century, most Europeans lived in a
orders/estates Form of social organization in which
society made up of orders, also sometimes called es-
people’s identity was largely defined by the groups to
tates. These were social groupings based largely on which the law assigns them.
hereditary principles. Thus, one was born into the es- privileges Exclusive rights that belonged to members
tate of nobles or the estate of commoners. Some orders of an order or estate.
were entered through recruitment; clergy, for example Edmund Burke (1729–1797) Political writer and member
entered their order through the rite of ordination. Or- of Parliament, Britain’s leading opponent of the French
ders could include the family, the official residents of Revolution, and the founder of modern conservatism.
a certain city, and professional or occupational groups Prussian General Code (1791) State law code that
like lawyers or members of guilds. People in a society defined Prussia as a society of estates.
of estates and orders could belong to many of them si-
530 CHAPTER 18 Trade and Empire, 1700–1800
nobility, while the middle classes were placed below social standing. Wealth bought noble titles for com-
nobles, and the mass of peasant serfs made up the low- moners and opened the doors to the best schools for
est social order. The law codes of France, the largest the sons and daughters of the rich, whether noble or
society of orders in western Europe, did the same. So- not. The consumer revolution, with its emphasis on
cieties organized this way recognized that the orders people as buyers of products, fostered plutocratic
occupied the same general space, such as the kingdom conceptions of society, and the increasing importance
of Prussia or the kingdom of France, but within that of money in determining social standing broke down
space they were walled off from each other by their traditional ideas that birth determined one’s place in
legally defined privileges and ranked hierarchically. society. In addition, the choices the consumer revolu-
The only thing they had in common was obedience to tion gave to individuals also undermined the idea
the king, who presided over all the orders and held that people’s identity was largely determined by
them together as a unit—a principle of royal abso- membership in group-based orders.
lutism. The view of society as comprising orders en-
couraged people to signal their position in the social
The Nation
hierarchy by surrounding themselves with liveried
servants or insisting on their right to wear distinctive By the middle years of the eighteenth century, yet an-
kinds of clothing—swords, lace, and bright clothing other way of thinking about society emerged in which
for nobles; dark-colored, simply cut clothes for com- people now argued that a primary component of a per-
moners. Supporters of the society of orders argued that son’s identity derived from being a citizen of a distinct
it was the divinely established form of social organiza- nation. The idea of the nation emerged in both the
tion. People had a duty to live within their order and to plutocratic society of Britain and the more traditional
respect the hierarchical arrangement of society. society of France. The world wars of the mid-eighteenth
During the eighteenth century, the idea of society century between these two peoples fed a growing
as a hierarchy of orders and estates based on privi- sense of national unity on each side. For the British,
lege increasingly had to compete with other ways of their common identity was rooted in the belief that
thinking about the human community. In Britain, the they were a unique “island race” united behind a
older structure of society had been largely disman- Protestant monarchy and church. The king fostered
tled during the religious and political turmoil of the the sense of national unity by traveling throughout
seventeenth century. Although a privileged nobility, his realm and appearing at carefully staged events
the peerage, continued to exist, its numbers were that brought rich and poor and men and women to-
small and its boundaries weak since the younger sons gether. For many Britons, war with France was a war
and daughters of peers were classified as common- between antagonistic religious communities. Britons,
ers. In its place, a new social structure emerged in as defenders of Protestantism, were a free, peaceful,
which money largely determined people’s social po- righteous nation, while the French were slaves who
sition. In this plutocracy, an aristocracy made up of groveled before a tyrannical monarchy and an op-
peers and commoners, or gentry, occupied the high- pressive Catholic Church.
est social position. Membership in it depended on The French took an equally dim view of the British.
land ownership. Although old landed families often They saw themselves as the defenders of enlightened
looked down on recent purchasers of land, the newly civilization, while the British were addicted to a vul-
arrived could count on a general acceptance of their gar materialism that concentrated simply on trade
place in the aristocracy.
Britain’s dominant position in the Atlantic econ-
omy led to the growth of a middle-class engaging in
peerage Legally recognized British titled nobility.
trade, manufacturing, and banking. Aristocrats in-
vested in their businesses, sent their younger sons to plutocracy Society in which wealth is the main deter-
minant of social standing.
work in their firms, and welcomed their daughters
gentry British landowning aristocracy composed of
into their families as well-heeled brides. At the end of commoners and peers.
the century, the British emphasis on money as a social
Jane Austen (1775–1817) British novelist who depicted
marker shaped the novels of Jane Austen, which are provincial life in classics such as Sense and Sensibility
full of discussions about the annual incomes of their (1811) and Pride and Prejudice (1813).
heroes and heroines. nation Way of thinking about society that emphasizes
French society was legally organized as a society common citizenship in a community as a primary
of orders and estates, but money also played an in- component of a person’s identity.
creasingly important role in determining people’s
The Beginning of Industrial Production 531
and making money. Hadn’t Adam Smith himself re- and lower the cost of products. These innovations al-
ferred to them as a “nation of shopkeepers”? French tered British manufacturing.
losses in the Seven Years’ War fueled the notion that Cotton cloth weaving was one of the first areas to
Britain was bent on world domination. The conflict see radical changes in production. In 1733, the flying
had not been one of king against king, or Protestant shuttle doubled the speed at which a weaver could
against Catholic, but of nation against nation. Thus, work. The quicker looms demanded more thread,
by midcentury, the French had forged a new sense of leading James Hargreaves to invent the spinning
collective identity as they embraced the ideal of a jenny in the 1760s. Previously, spinners produced
united nation fighting a wicked foreign enemy whose only one thread at a time; with one person operating
culture and values were incompatible with their own. Hargreaves’s jenny, eight to eleven threads could be
The French monarchy, like that of the British, fostered spun simultaneously, although the thread produced
this sense of national identity in the face of a danger- was unevenly strong. The spinning jenny was further
ous enemy. But religious concerns were less promi- improved by Richard Arkwright, the son of a tailor
nent in the French concept of the nation. While the and a one-time barber, wigmaker, and tavern owner
British thought that Protestantism had united the Eng- who invented the water frame, which produced a
lish, Welsh, and Scots into a single nation, the French uniformly strong thread, thereby standardizing qual-
thought that the nation was a purely human construc- ity. Unlike the hand-powered spinning jenny, the wa-
tion that the French people themselves had willed into ter frame relied on a water mill for power. Its size and
existence. Its task was to resist British power and arro- complexity required construction of a special build-
gance. In both France and Britain, people thought that ing, the factory. Now spinners had to leave their cot-
each individual had an active role to play in protect- tages and report to a workplace where their work was
ing the nation from enemy outsiders. This sense of in- supervised, regulated, and timed. Arkwright set up his
dividual engagement, along with the rising political first factory in 1771, employing nearly six hundred
importance of public opinion, contributed to a grow- spinners. In 1785, Samuel Crompton patented the
ing popular interest in politics and a desire to partici- spinning mule, which combined the best qualities of
pate more directly in the political process. the jenny and water frame and produced a thread
that was both strong and fine. Weavers now could
make high-priced, thin cotton cloth as well as cheaper,
The Beginning of coarser cloth. Improvements in thread production,
however, outstripped the ability of weavers using
Industrial Production hand looms to convert thread into cloth, creating a bot-
tleneck in production. In 1785, Edmund Cartwright,
➜➜
engines were made of iron, and their spreading use peace and political stability. Unlike the continent,
stimulated iron production in Britain. Steam, coal, and Britain was one unified market: no tolls or internal
iron, along with mechanization and mass production, duties had to be paid to ship goods from Scotland to
were at the heart of the early Industrial Revolution. England or Wales. The British government also ac-
tively encouraged industrial development by such
Why Britain? laws as the Calico Act of 1721, which restricted the
import of cotton cloth, called calico, from India.
Britain was the first country in the world to experi- Britain was also ahead of other European states in
ence the Industrial Revolution. Six important factors the accumulation of capital, thanks to the economic
made industrialization possible: high levels of agri- growth produced by the Atlantic trade. Some of this
cultural productivity, available skilled workers, ease capital came directly from profits in the slave trade,
of transportation, natural resources, political stability, but most of it came from other sources. While per
and capital for industry. Before industrialization can capita income in Britain in the mid-eighteenth cen-
take place anywhere, that area’s agriculture must be tury was probably not significantly greater than that
efficient enough to be able to spare workers to leave in France, this income was better distributed among
agriculture for industry. Britain’s agricultural revolu- larger groups in the population. More important still,
tion had fulfilled that condition, freeing up surplus access to capital was easier in Britain than in any other
labor in the countryside that would be absorbed into European country, in large part because of the exis-
the industrial working class. tence of a central national bank. The Bank of Eng-
Another precondition for industrialization was the land, founded in 1694, remained for over a century
availability of skilled workers. In Britain this precon- the only central bank in any major European country.
dition was also present. The growth of the putting- The Bank of England loaned money to smaller banks,
out system, stimulated by Britain’s leading role in the thereby helping increase the circulation of capital by
Atlantic economy, increased the number of merchant making it easier for savings to be funneled into in-
entrepreneurs as well as the pool of workers who vestment. This well-developed system of banks and
had mastered many basic processes in the production credit made it relatively easy for British entrepre-
of goods. Industrialization would build on this basis neurs to obtain financing—venture capital—to build
by using the existing skills of both entrepreneurs and factories, purchase steam engines or power looms,
workers. Water and steam power also supplemented advance credit to purchasers, and the like. The com-
human and animal muscles. bination of accumulated capital (that is, savings) and
Geography also helped Britain to industrialize. Be- a well-developed system of credit helped Britain to
cause Britain was an island country with many naviga- industrialize. For all these reasons—agriculture, labor
ble rivers and a well-developed canal system, British supply, transportation system, natural resources,
industry could transport both raw materials and fin- politics, and capital—Britain managed to take the
ished products more economically than its continental industrial leap before the rest of the world. Some
competitors. Before the development of the railroad, scholars have pointed out that revolution might be
transporting bulk materials such as coal, wool, or cot- an inappropriate term for this process, which began
ton by land was very expensive. Mass industrial pro- around 1760 but only really took off during the period
duction demanded that these materials either be of French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. The
located near the factory (as in the case of coal) or that impact of industrialization was revolutionary, how-
they be transported cheaply—that is, by water. ever, as in time it would alter work patterns, family
Britain was also blessed by nature with a large sup-
ply of the raw material that fueled the early Industrial
capital Wealth available for investment in the produc-
Revolution: coal. The coal belt that extends across Eu- tion of goods for the market.
rope from northern England to southern Poland was entrepreneur Person who manages economic activity
first exploited in Britain, particularly in such early in- by assuming the risks and enjoying the profits.
dustrial cities as Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, duties Taxes, usually charged on products crossing a
and Sheffield. Because of their endless appetite for regional or national boundary.
coal, the first factories were usually built on top of or Calico Act (1721) British act that limited the importa-
next to existing coal fields. Britain was also lucky in tion of cotton cloth (calico) from India.
that the coal deposits lay relatively close to the sur- Bank of England National bank established in 1694
face, allowing easy exploitation of this fuel source. that facilitated the circulation of capital during the
Political factors were no less important. Since the Industrial Revolution.
Glorious Revolution of 1688, England had enjoyed
534 CHAPTER 18 Trade and Empire, 1700–1800
life, income distribution, society and culture, the and the thinking of intellectuals and politicians about
availability of material goods, wealth and poverty, all these developments.
How did changes in overseas empires and trading standards of domestic life during the eighteenth cen-
networks contribute to Europe’s economic develop- tury. Older behaviors emphasizing public display as a
ment in the eighteenth century?
sign of high social standing gave way to a concern for
➜
How did Enlightenment thinking influence Europe’s privacy and comfort. Enlightenment ideals, which
economic and social development?
stressed life in this world, were partly responsible for
➜
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Trafficking in Human Beings
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Europeans ended the African slave trade and then abolished
slavery. Britain banned the international trade in 1807, the United States in 1808. The abolition of slavery
took more time. France abolished it in the 1790s but reintroduced it under Napoleon Bonaparte; perma-
Websites 535
nent abolition had to wait until 1848. Britain’s abolition came in 1833. In the United States it came after a
civil war, in 1865. Spain did not abolish slavery in all its Caribbean territories until 1886. In 1888, Brazil was
the last New World country to end slavery. In the eastern Mediterranean, where it had been practiced since
ancient times, slavery ended in the 1890s.
In the nineteenth century, the term slave was sometimes used for people who were neither African nor
legally classified as slaves. Early in the century, U.S. Marines landed in the North African state of Tripoli to
stop its ruler’s practice of seizing American seamen and selling them into slavery. By mid-century Southern
defenders of the U.S. slave system described factory workers as “wage slaves.” Working girls in a London
match factory were described as “white slaves” because of their low wages and hazardous working condi-
tions. Women forced into prostitution were also called “white slaves.” The charge of white slavery was
particularly horrifying to Americans and Europeans because it inverted the “usual” racial equation of white
master/black slave.
Today various forms of slavery are still practiced, despite global condemnation. Exploitation of some kind is
always involved. After the fall of the Soviet Union, traffickers used false papers and promises of work to lure
young women to western Europe. Their papers were then seized, and they were forced to work in sweat-
shops or brothels. In Southeast Asia, impoverished parents sometimes sell their children into slavery or are
tricked into turning them over to traffickers, who use them for a child sex industry that attracts pedophiles
from around the world. In Haiti, poor parents sometimes give their children to well-to-do families, who use
them for household work. As many as 12 million children globally may serve as child laborers under abusive
conditions, 2 million of them in Europe. And traditional forms of slavery are still with us—CNN and the BBC
have recently reported on a flourishing slave trade in the war-torn regions of Sudan. Sadly, wherever people
are desperate and profits are to be made in the traffic of humans, slavery persists.
Suggested Readings
Bell, David A. The Cult of the Nation in France: Inventing Na- Rudé, George. The Crowd in History: A Study of Popular Dis-
tionalism, 1680–1800. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University turbances in France and England, 1730–1848. New York: Wiley,
Press, 2001. An important recent study. 1964. A classic account of popular social protest.
Black, Jeremy, and Roy Porter, eds. The Penguin Dictionary of Sarti, Raffaella. Europe at Home: Family and Material Culture,
Eighteenth-Century History. New York: Penguin Books, 1994. 1500–1800. Translated by Allan Cameron. New Haven, Conn.:
Brief entries with bibliographies on important persons, events, Yale University Press, 2002. A good introduction to domestic
and economic and social developments. life in early modern Europe.
Cameron, Euan, ed. Early Modern Europe: An Oxford History. Willcox, William B., and Walter L. Arnstein. The Age of Aristoc-
New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Chapters on various racy, 1688–1830. 8th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. A
topics, including an excellent one by James C. Riley titled “A lively and readable history of eighteenth-century Britain.
Widening Market in Consumer Goods.”
Colley, Linda. Britons: Forging the Nation, 1707–1837. 2nd ed.
New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2005. The standard
account.
Websites
Information on eighteenth-century economy and society plus A good site for more information, Industrial Revolution, at
much more, Modern History Source Book: The Early Modern www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook14.html
West, at www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook1.html
Many images related to the slave trade, The Atlantic Slave
Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record, at
http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery
536
CHAPTER
Revolutionary France
and Napoleonic Europe,
1775–1815
CHAPTER OUTLINE
S W E D E N
Christiania St. Petersburg
KINGDOM
Stockholm
AT LANTIC SCOTLAND
OF ESTONIA
Vo l
ga
OCEAN DENMARK LIVONIA
Moscow
REPUBLIC
Austrian Hapsburg lands London HANOVER V is
tu l
POLAND
Amsterdam Utrecht BRANDENBURG a D on
Berlin Warsaw
Prussia
Antwerp
Spanish Bourbon lands AUSTRIAN SAXONY
R hi
Great Britain
Se
e Varennes
in
Dn
Russian Empire Versailles Paris BOHEMIA i e st
er
L oire
LORRAINE AUSTRIA
Ottoman Empire BAVARIA BE
Da SS
VENDÉE Vienna n u be AR
Pest AB
FRANCE SWITZERLAND Buda
HUNGARY IA
TYROL MOLDAVIA CRIMEA
Lyons
Ga
ro SAVOY M
R Venice
P o ILA E P N UB
nn
Rhône
Eb LI
e
r
GENOA
C
OF
WALLACHIA
Black Sea
AL
Duero
Avignon VE BOSNIA
NI
CE
UG
SERBIA
A
STATES at
i
Tagus Madrid
ic
PO
Corsica
Lisbon Se O Constantinople
Rome a
T
SPAIN
Minorca
KINGDOM T
(Gr. Br.) ALBANIA
O
SARDINIA M
Balearic Is. OF A N
E M
E up
NAPLES P I R E
hra
GREECE
GILBRALTAR AND
Me
te s
(Gr. Br.)
di SICILY
te
rr
a
n
ea CRETE
CYPRUS
TUNIS n
0 200 400 Km.
Se
a
0 200 400 Mi.
TRIPOLI
O T T O M A N E M P I R E
Ni
l
1814
Congress of Vienna opens
1799 1804 1812
Napoleon Napoleon Napoleon 1815
seizes power becomes emperor invades Napoleon is finally
Russia defeated at Waterloo
537
538 CHAPTER 19 Revolutionary France and Napoleonic Europe, 1775–1815
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Olympe de Gouges Becomes
a Revolutionary
In 1768, a twenty-year-old widow left her hometown in southern France
and headed for Paris to make her fortune. For the next twenty years,
Olympe de Gouges struggled to live independently and to establish her-
self as a playwright in a world dominated by male privilege and aristo-
cratic intrigue. When the French Revolution broke out, she sided with
the revolutionaries, calling for a new political and social order based on
equality—including equality between men and women.
As a single woman alone in Paris, Madame de Gouges found few
respectable options open to her; she could either remarry or work. Vow-
ing not to marry again, she relied on her beauty and wit to get ahead
and offered love to men of means, who gave her financial help in return.
Olympe de For ten years, she lived a life of pleasure while quietly amassing enough
Gouges money to obtain what she truly desired—economic independence. Then, at the
age of thirty, she announced she would devote the rest of her life to philosophy
Olympe de Gouges was a by writing plays that praised the ideals of the Enlightenment.
playwright and political pam- The theatrical world Gouges threw herself into was lively, but not open to new
phleteer who pursued a talent. The Crown had granted a monopoly on theatrical performances in Paris to
career as an independent a handful of privileged theaters, which used their power ruthlessly to promote the
woman of letters. Caught up work of favorites while denying access to others. As a woman without powerful
in the French Revolution, she connections, time and again Gouges had the theater doors slammed in her face.
became an outspoken advo- She therefore took to publishing her work, often at her own expense, in hopes of
cate of women’s rights. She building support for the performance of her plays.
was executed by the revolu- In 1789, she wrote The Slavery of the Blacks, a controversial play in which the
tionary government in 1793. hero, a black, murdered a white man to prevent him from raping the hero’s mis-
(Musée de la Ville de Paris, tress. Finally, this play made it to the stage when the Comédie-Française, the most
Musée Carnavalet, Paris, prestigious theater in Paris, performed it. But after just three performances, it
France/The Bridgeman Art closed. Perhaps the plot was too controversial, or perhaps, as Gouges claimed, the
Library) theater management had sabotaged the play to avoid paying her.
By this time, France was in the midst of revolution, and Gouges turned to apply-
ing Enlightenment ideals to the crisis at hand. To solve the monarchy’s bankruptcy,
she called for a voluntary tax to be paid equally by all. She called for a state sys-
tem of social security and government employment to care for the poor. She de-
nounced the filthy conditions in the maternity wards of hospitals and called for
local community ownership of agricultural land to help poor peasants. Above all,
she demanded complete political and social equality for men and women. In 1791,
she published The Rights of Woman, the most important feminist statement of the
French Revolution. “Woman,” she wrote, “is born free and remains equal to man
in rights.” This single sentence summed up her years of struggle against the injus-
tices she had experienced and seen around her.
Olympe de Gouges promoted the ideals of France’s Revolution, but she never
joined revolutionary clubs and refused to take part in the street violence that
erupted periodically in Paris. She also never gave up her belief in the French
From Crisis to Constitution, 1775–1789 539
monarchy. She did her best to save the king, even offering to defend him in
the trial that led to his execution. For this, she herself was executed. Olympe
de Gouges’s life was caught up in many of the forces that shaped revolutionary
France—resentment at aristocratic privilege, anger at social injustice,
excitement over the possibility of fundamental change, and anxiety over the
violence that so often accompanied revolutionary action. Most of all, her defense
of women’s rights raised issues that remained at the center of political debate
long after her death.
Chronology
1775 Louis XVI is crowned king of France 1795 Directory is created
This painting of the Tennis Court Oath, based on an unfinished painting of Jacques-Louis David, enshrines the
moment in French collective memory. Here representatives of the revolutionary nation stretch out their hands
to swear that they will not disband until they have written a constitution. Notice the curtains billowing in the
fresh air and the shaft of light shining directly upon the figure in the center who is reading the oath. (Réunion
des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY)
Trouble in Paris, Trouble in the solute power. At first the insurgents tried to negotiate
Countryside, Trouble in Versailles with the prison governor for a surrender of the am-
munition they sought. When this failed, they took the
By late June 1789, Paris had become a hotbed of poli- Bastille by force, releasing prisoners (there were only
tics as patriot orators, fearful for the fate of the Na- seven) and killing the governor, whose head, hacked
tional Assembly, whipped up a feverish state of off with a pocketknife, they paraded triumphantly
excitement. Anxiety intensified as food prices sky- about the city on the end of a pike. Frightened by the
rocketed following the hailstorm and bad harvest of disorder, on July 15, the king recalled Necker to office
1788. Then, on July 11, the king dismissed his latest fi- and ordered the troops around Versailles and Paris to
nance minister, Jacques Necker, thought to be the disband. Thus, the uprising in Paris saved the Na-
most pro-patriot person in the government. tional Assembly at Versailles.
Paris panicked. Rioters, convinced that the king But immediately there was a new crisis, as peasant
was about to attack the people, broke into arsenals,
seizing weapons and ammunition. Soon up to a quar-
ter million people were carrying weapons. On July 14, Jacques Necker (1732–1804) Louis XVI’s financial
a huge crowd, armed with cannons, headed toward minister whose dismissal provoked the uprising in
the Bastille, a medieval fortress that served as a royal Paris on July 14, 1789.
prison and had long been a symbol of the king’s ab-
544 CHAPTER 19 Revolutionary France and Napoleonic Europe, 1775–1815
Claude Cholat, one of the “conquerors of the Bastille,” painted this picture, thereby enshrining another moment
in the collective memory of the French people. The awkward perspective indicates that Cholat was not trained
in an art academy, but the work captures the drama of the moment as Cholat remembered it. (Réunion des
Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY)
revolts erupted throughout most of the kingdom. government. Now they realized that fundamental
Called the Great Fear, these uprisings in the country- changes were needed. Therefore, on the Night of Au-
side were sparked by the same high food prices and gust 4, 1789, in an evening session of the Assembly,
political excitement that had ignited Paris. The peas- some deputies proposed to abolish the feudal dues
ants believed that they were about to be attacked by that peasants were attacking. As it turned out, this
people they called brigands and aristocrats. Rising up limited proposal quickly turned into something ex-
in self-defense, they vented their fury against their traordinary. In a flash of enthusiasm, the deputies
landlords, looting manor houses and ransacking the rushed to renounce all sorts of traditional taxes, pay-
offices that housed records of payments to the land- ments, and privileges: the clergy gave up the tithe,
lord. These payments, often cited in the peasants’
cahiers, included fees for the use of the landlord’s mill
Great Fear Widespread peasant uprisings in July and
or bake ovens, which all peasants paid in addition to August 1789 that abolished feudal dues to landlords.
their regular land rents. Even peasants who owned Night of August 4 French legislative session in 1789
their own land had to pay them. In the Great Fear, ru- that abolished many traditional taxes, payments, and
ral communities all over France spontaneously at- privileges.
tacked these symbols of remaining feudal dues. tithe (From Middle English: “tenth”) Payment re-
Faced with the peasant uprising, the National As- quired by the Catholic Church from all owners of
sembly feared that all public order was about to col- nonchurch lands.
lapse. In May, most deputies had wanted a reform of
The Constitutional Monarchy, 1789–1792 545
military appointments previously reserved for nobles were well on their way to becoming legends. The
were opened to commoners, and the tax privileges of Tennis Court Oath came to symbolize the defiance of
many towns and provinces were abolished. By dawn, the French people in the face of royal despotism,
when the session ended, the deputies had swept while the storming of the Bastille became the symbol
away virtually all of France’s old society of orders for the overthrow of royal oppression. The Night of
and privilege. August 4 stood for the destruction of the Old Regime
The all-night meeting on August 4 dismantled the and the inauguration of the new. These events were
old social order of France, just as events in Versailles memorialized in monumental paintings, like The Ten-
and Paris, culminating in the storming of the Bastille, nis Court Oath by Jacques-Louis David, and celebrated
had dismantled the old political order. But what was as national festivals. To this day, July 14, Bastille Day,
to replace them? Three weeks later, the National As- is France’s chief national holiday. The message these
sembly, led by Sieyès and other patriots, gave its an- events conveyed was clear: In the Old Regime, poli-
swer when it issued the Declaration of the Rights of tics was something done by the king and the court. In
Man and the Citizen, the single most important doc- the new, politics would be done by the people. This
ument produced during the Revolution. In it, France’s momentous shift in the understanding of politics was
new regime was laid down in principle. The declara- at the heart of the French Revolution.
tion drew on both Enlightenment thought and the
language of the American Revolution, especially as
expressed in the Declaration of Independence. It pro-
claimed the “natural, inalienable, and sacred rights of
The Constitutional Monarchy,
man,” which included the rights to “freedom, prop- 1789–1792
erty, safety, and the right to resist oppression.” It also
➜
guaranteed security from arbitrary arrest and free- What was new in the revolutionary concepts of the
citizen and the nation?
dom of speech and religion. France was still to have a
➜
MA
INFÉRIEURE ARDENNES
ÎLE DE OISE
N
MOSELLE
CH
FRANCE CALVADOS
NORMANDY EURE SIENE MEUSE
E
ET SIENE MARNE
LORRAINE CÔTES ORNE OISE ET MEURTHE BAS
FINISTÈRE
CE
DU NORD EURE MARNE RHIN
E
N
ILLE ET ET AUBE HAUT VOSGES
ALSA
BRITTANY CHAMPAGNE
EN
MAINE VILAINE LOIRE MARNE
SARTHE
AY
MORBIHAN LOIRET HAUT
ORLÉANAIS HAUTE RHIN
M
LOIRE YONNE
ANJOU LOIRE MAINE INDRE ET CÔTE SAÔNE
FRANCHE INFÉRIEURE ET
LOIRE ET CHER NIÈVRE D'OR DOUBS
TOURAINE NIVERNAIS COMTÉ LOIRE CHER
BERRY
POITOU VENDÉE VIENNE INDRE SAÔNE ET JURA
BOURBONAIS DEUX LOIRE
BURGUNDY ALLIER
AUNIS SÈVRES
MARCHE CREUSE AIN
RH
CHARENTE HAUTE
LO
SAINTONGE LIM
ÔN
LYONNAIS INFÉRIEURE VIENNE PUY DE
ANGOUMOIS OUSIN
IRE
CHARENTE DÔME
E
CORRÈZE
AUVERGNE HAUTE ISÈRE
DORDOGNE CANTAL LOIRE
DAUPHINY GIRONDE ARDÈCHE HAUTES
GUIENNE LOT ET LOT AV ALPS
LOZÈRE DRÔME
GASCONY GARONNE EY VA
TARN ET RO UC BASSES
VENAISSIN LANDES N GARD LU ALPS
GARONNE SE
GERS TARN
LANGUEDOC PROVENCE BOUCHES VAR
BASSES HAUTES HÉRAULT
BÉARN PYRÉNÉES GARONNE DU RHÔNE
HAUTES AUDE
0 100 200 Km. FOIX 0 100 200 Km. PYRÉNÉES ARIÈGE PYRÉNÉES
ROUSSILLON ORIENTALES
0 100 200 Mi. 0 100 200 Mi.
MAP 19.1 The Ratonalization of French Administration, 1789 and 1790 These maps show the reor-
ganization of French territory. The map on the left shows the traditional provinces of the monarchy as
they were in 1789. Note that they are very unequal in size. The map on the right shows the new depart-
ments, uniform in size and named after geographical features of the French landscape. They were cre-
ated in 1790.
the metric system, based on the meter, calculated as thirds of adult French males met the qualifications for
one ten-millionth of the quarter meridian. From now active citizens, and Protestants and Jews, who had
on, length was to be measured naturally, with a uni- been discriminated against during the Old Regime,
form unit based on the size of earth itself. were now admitted to full rights of citizenship.
The National Assembly also addressed the issue The restructuring of France as a nation composed
of citizenship. The idea of citizenship had been dis- of equal (male) citizens was summed up in a new rev-
cussed during the Enlightenment and was associated olutionary slogan: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.” Al-
with self-government in the tradition of ancient Rome. though women like Olympe de Gouges (see Choice),
It had been put into practice during the American with the support of a few deputies in the Assembly,
Revolution. When it came to implementing citizenship protested their exclusion from active citizenship, they
in France, the Assembly, on the advice of Sieyès, back- were not able to change the categories. Most male rev-
tracked on its principles of unity and uniformity by olutionaries, influenced by philosophes such as Jean-
decreeing that people in the one nation were to be di- Jacques Rousseau, considered women too emotional
vided into two categories, active and passive citizens. and illogical to participate in political life. Their place
Only men who owned or otherwise controlled a cer- was in the home, where they could serve as wives to
tain amount of property could be active citizens, and their patriot husbands and raise children to serve the
only active citizens could vote and hold public office.
The deputies believed that property ownership gave
men a stake in society that would make them a band metric system Standardized system of weights and
of citizen brothers who would act responsibly when measurements based on the unit of ten, introduced
making political decisions. Women and non-property- following the French Revolution.
holding men were to be passive citizens. Despite these active and passive citizens Two categories of citizen-
restrictions, these formulations secured France a level ship in which only property-owning men (active citi-
of participatory democracy that would not be reached zens) were allowed to vote and hold public office.
elsewhere in Europe for many decades. About two-
548 CHAPTER 19 Revolutionary France and Napoleonic Europe, 1775–1815
nation. For working-class women, Gouges’ agenda had When these were threatened, workingwomen could
little appeal. Food for their families and wages in their be roused to public action that often had profound po-
traditional occupations were much more important. litical consequences, as the October Days had proved.
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Olympe de Gouges Asserts the Rights of
Women
In September 1791, just before the Constitution of 1791 went into effect, Olympe
de Gouges published her most famous pamphlet, The Rights of Woman. In it she
demanded equality for both men and women in the new revolutionary regime
and asked the outgoing legislature, or the new one created by the constitution, to
enact this program. Her decision to model her demands on the Declaration of the
Rights of Man and the Citizen of 1789, often following that text word for word
while adding the word women, revealed the omissions in that earlier document. She
was thus attempting to use the ideals of the Revolution for the benefit of women.
Although the deputies denied women the vote States. The uprising, which ended French control of
and the right to hold public office, the legislature the island and France’s Atlantic trade, was the first
eventually endorsed other elements of Gouges’s pro- successful slave revolt in history. In early 1794, France
gram by expanding women’s rights in the important became the first European country to abolish slavery
areas of domestic relations and inheritance law. In and to grant full rights of citizenship to ex-slaves. Be-
1792, divorce, advocated by Gouges but forbidden by cause citizenship touched on so many aspects of re-
the Catholic Church, was legalized. Both women and form, both at home and overseas, it became the central
men were allowed to file for divorce by mutual con- issue in defining the new regime.
sent or on account of “incompatibility of tempera-
ment.” Many women used the new law to separate The Break with the Catholic Church
from their husbands. Another law benefiting women
ordered the equal division of estates among all heirs, The French church had been involved in the new
male and female. These new divorce and property regime from the beginning. Clergy like Sieyès contin-
laws reflected the emphasis on individual rights and ued to sit in the new National Assembly. Many wel-
the freedom to act even in opposition to Catholic comed the reordering of society into a nation of equal
Church teaching or traditional family values. citizens as a fulfillment of the “gentle fraternity” of
Debates over the nation and its citizens sparked a Jesus, which incorporated everyone equally. The cler-
reconsideration of slavery. France had long been con- gymen who were deputies, therefore, accepted the
sidered “free land,” but slavery was practiced in French Assembly’s increasingly radical restructuring of the
colonies in the Caribbean. There the Declaration of church.
the Rights of Man and the Citizen was a bombshell; After abolishing the tithe on the Night of August 4,
white colonials denied that it applied to slaves, while the Assembly decided to confiscate church property,
the slaves considered it a signal for revolt. Trouble which constituted about 10 percent of French land, and
continued into the spring of 1791, when the Assembly to use it to back new government bonds and restore
cautiously granted citizenship to a small number of confidence in the state’s finances. It also withdrew
free blacks on Saint-Domingue, France’s most impor-
tant remaining colony, where 57,000 whites and free
blacks ruled more than 465,000 African slaves. In Au- François Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture (1743–
gust, there followed a massive uprising led by François 1803) Former slave who led the first successful slave
Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture, a former slave revolt in history in the French colony of Saint-
inspired by Enlightenment thought. Many plantation Domingue.
owners were slain, while others fled to the new United
550 CHAPTER 19 Revolutionary France and Napoleonic Europe, 1775–1815
state enforcement of monks’ and nuns’ religious vows the identification after he compared the face of the
and forbade all future vows. Then, in 1790, the As- man before him to the one on a banknote in his pocket.
sembly took even more drastic action, decreeing the Louis and his family were immediately returned to
Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Dioceses were ad- Paris under armed guard. With the king back in the
justed to conform to new departments, clergy were put capital, the deputies made the best of the situation by
on state salary, and parish priests were to be elected by claiming that Louis had been “kidnapped.” Nobody
active citizens, including Protestants and Jews. really believed this accusation, since the king had
The Assembly issued the Civil Constitution of the written a letter condemning the new regime in harsh
Clergy without formal consultation with the church, terms. The fiction of kidnapping, however, allowed the
and while the clergy generally were grudgingly pre- deputies to proceed with their constitution making.
pared to accept it, they were not prepared to have it im- Those who shared the king’s doubts, however,
posed on them. In the Old Regime, the king had always now thought it best to get out of France. These émi-
consulted with the First Estate over religious affairs. grés had first started to leave the country in the sum-
The Assembly argued that since the estates were abol- mer of 1789. In all, about 150,000 people, out of a total
ished, consultation was no longer possible. The issue of population of 28 million, fled France during the
consultation was solved, temporarily, by turning to the 1790s. Thus, another kind of opponent of the Revolu-
pope. He was a power outside the nation, but a positive tion, unhappy with the revolutionaries’ treatment of
word from him could be taken as final. When the As- the king, emerged alongside those unhappy with
sembly ordered all French clergy to take a solemn oath their treatment of the Catholic Church. These two op-
in favor of the Civil Constitution, only 7 out of 160 bish- position movements soon joined forces to oppose the
ops complied, though half of the lower clergy stepped Revolution both at home and abroad.
forward to take it. Then in May 1791, Pope Pius VI pub- Public opinion outside France was sharply divided
licly condemned the Civil Constitution. over the merits of France’s revolution. The newly in-
Instantly, the French church was split between those dependent Americans fiercely debated the meaning
who had taken the oath and those who had rejected of events in France and formed pro- and anti-French
it. Because the oath had been phrased to demand loy- political parties. In Britain, Edmund Burke, a political
alty to the Revolution as a whole, clergy who refused theorist and member of Parliament, denounced the
it, called nonjurors, were quickly branded counter- Revolution’s headlong rush to change. “Liberty with-
revolutionaries. Thus, the failure to consult the out wisdom,” he argued in his Reflections on the Revo-
church led to a rupture between the church and the lution in France (1790), “is folly, vice, and madness.”
new regime. This was a fateful development. There Burke in turn was quickly attacked by Thomas Paine,
had been opposition to the Revolution from the begin- an Englishman who had defended the American Rev-
ning, but it was never widespread. Now it increased olution in his Common Sense and now defended the
and solidified. Traditionally minded Catholics who French in The Rights of Man. “From what we now
opposed the Civil Constitution harassed the “consti- see,” Paine wrote, “nothing of reform in the political
tutional clergy” who supported it, jeering at them in world ought to be held improbable. It is an age of
the streets, shooting at their houses, or throwing dead Revolutions, in which everything may be looked for.”
animals onto their doorsteps. The police force repre- The English poet William Wordsworth, twenty-one
senting the new regime attacked these protesters, years old and visiting France, also championed the
identifying them as enemies of the nation, and arrest- Revolution’s assertion of reason and rights: “Bliss was
ing and imprisoning them. As these conflicts widened,
opposition to the course of events in the capital
mounted, especially in western France, where sup- Civil Constitution of the Clergy Legislative decree
of 1790 radically reforming the Catholic Church in
port for the nonjurors was strongest.
France.
nonjurors Clergy refusing to take an oath supporting
Foreign Intervention the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
émigrés Counterrevolutionaries who fled France dur-
On June 20, 1791, Louis XVI and his family, shocked ing the Revolution.
by the rupture between the new regime and the Thomas Paine (1737–1809) Englishman who defended
Catholic Church and fearing for their personal safety, both the American and French Revolutions.
attempted to flee France. The next day they were William Wordsworth (1770–1850) English poet fa-
caught east of Paris, in the town of Varennes. People mous for his nature poetry and his defense of the
had recognized the king along the way, but it was the French Revolution.
postmaster at Varennes who claimed public credit for
The Republic and the Reign of Terror, 1792–1795 551
it at that dawn to be alive,” he later wrote, “but to be cacy of government regulation of the economy put
young was very Heaven!” Mary Wollstonecraft not them at odds with the Jacobins and most deputies in
only attacked Burke’s views in A Vindication of the the revolutionary legislatures, who favored the laissez-
Rights of Man (1790) but went further in her Vindication faire principles of the Physiocrats and Adam Smith.
of the Rights of Woman (1792) to argue, like Olympe de To achieve their ends, the sans-culottes advocated the
Gouges, for women’s full participation in public life. direct use of violence. For the next two years, they
While politicians and intellectuals debated France’s played a major role in Paris politics, mobilizing mass
Revolution, Europe’s governments, based on tradi- street demonstrations and marching on the legisla-
tions of royal rule over societies of estates and orders, ture to demand more and more equality.
became increasingly alarmed by the implications of On August 10, the sans-culottes invaded the palace
universal human rights and the example of France’s where the king and his family were held. Palace guards
democratic government. Monarchs began to suppress put up a bloody fight, but in the end Louis XVI was
local pro-French ferment. For example, the Austrian imprisoned and the Constitution of 1791, in effect for
emperor Joseph II, Marie-Antoinette’s brother, ordered less than a year, was scrapped. New elections took
the state police to arrest revolutionary sympathizers place for yet another legislature, the National Conven-
in Vienna. The king of Prussia, Frederick William II, tion. In these elections, property and occupational
also considered crushing the Revolution and restor- qualifications for voters were abolished. All adult
ing Louis XVI’s authority. Indeed Louis hoped for just males could go to the polls. This arrangement re-
such an invasion, and war between the conservative sponded to sans-culotte demands for a more thor-
European states and the Revolution began to seem in- oughly democratic regime.
evitable. In France, most revolutionaries thought that a
war against Austria would end agitation by the émi-
grés, consolidate the Revolution, and unmask any plot-
ting by the king. In April 1792, in a preemptive strike,
The Republic and the Reign
France declared war on Austria and its ally Prussia. of Terror, 1792–1795
As it turned out, the war set the stage for the fall of
➜
the French monarchy. Austrian troops quickly crossed What measures did France’s new republican govern-
ment take to secure the Revolution??
into France and moved on Paris, with the announced
➜
to accord with the metric system. Thus, time and the responded with realistic, if bloody, repression. But this
seasons were reconfigured in a new republican way. is not the whole story. The second factor contributing
In the prerevolutionary past, Catholicism had been to the Terror had more to do with revolutionary poli-
the official religion of France. It, too, was radically repu- tics than with outside pressures. Since 1789, the iden-
diated in a movement known as de-Christianization. tity of the revolutionary nation had rested on its
Unlike earlier attacks on the nonjurors, the de- oneness and indivisibility. The nation could not be di-
Christianizers made no distinction between supporters vided against itself. If opposition arose, it therefore
and opponents of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. had to come from somewhere outside the nation and
All priests and their congregations were roughed up from people who were opposed to the republic. These
and their churches pillaged. As a result, Catholics people, condemned as counterrevolutionaries, were
were driven underground in much of France. Protes- to be stamped out. It was this kind of thinking that
tants fared no better; their pastors were assaulted and led the Committee of Public Safety to execute fellow
their meeting places vandalized. revolutionaries who questioned its policies and made
As an alternative to Christianity, the Committee of Robespierre inaugurate the Great Terror in June. By
Public Safety sponsored new republican religious ob- the end of the Revolution, some 17,000 people had
servances that celebrated the deist divinity of the been officially executed. Another 10,000 to 12,000
philosophes. In Paris, a singer from the Paris Opera, were lynched or assassinated for political reasons,
dressed as Liberty, presided over a celebration in the and between 6,000 and 11,000 died in prison awaiting
former Cathedral of Notre Dame, renamed the Tem- trial for political crimes. In all, some 35,000 to 40,000
ple of Reason. Robespierre himself presided over a people perished out of a population of 28 million.
Festival of the Supreme Being. This new religion
aimed to cement the unity of all true revolutionaries
and provide the republic with its base of virtue.
By early 1794, the crises France had faced during
The Rise of Napoleon,
the previous year had subsided. Yet state terror in- 1794–1804
creased as the Committee of Public Safety began to
➜
root out fellow revolutionaries accused of deviating How did the Revolution make possible the rise of
Napoleon?
from correct republican principles. Thus, the Revolu-
➜
Now the French were put on the defensive, just as One of Napoleon’s biggest problems was the con-
they had been in 1792. The military crisis galvanized tinuing crisis in state finances, which had been the
a group of politicians disgusted by the failure of the immediate cause of the Revolution in the first place.
Directory to establish domestic stability. One was a Each revolutionary regime since 1789 had assumed
new member of the Directory, Joseph Emmanuel the debts of the old monarchy, but by the late 1790s,
Sieyès, whose pamphlet had touched off the furious these debts had become intolerable. To stabilize the
debate over the Estates-General exactly ten years be- state’s finances, Napoleon instituted a standardized
fore. Sieyès did not have the power or popularity to system of taxation that fell on all citizens in accor-
lead a plot against the government, so he turned to dance with the revolutionary principle of equality.
someone who did: Napoleon Bonaparte. Leaving his Remembering what had happened to the monarchy
army in Egypt, Napoleon had slipped through the in 1788, he refused to put his government at the
British naval blockade off the coast and arrived back mercy of financiers who could indirectly dictate pol-
in France. In November 1799, after the conspirators icy by their lending strategies.
overthrew the Directory in a coup d’état, Napoleon In 1801 and 1802, peace returned to Europe as
quickly assumed unchallenged leadership of the gov- Napoleon signed treaties with the Austrians and the
ernment. Now all Napoleon’s talents came to the British, confirming France’s territorial gains and ac-
fore—his charm and intelligence, his ability to awe knowledging the sister republics. Another peace,
people and inspire their loyalty, and his sense of his which proved more lasting than the others, was
own exceptional abilities and destiny. signed with the Catholic Church in the form of a new
concordat between Napoleon and Pius VII, elected
Order and Administration pope in 1800. The Concordat of 1801 established
French Catholics’ right to worship publicly, but it did
The new constitution of December 1799 made Napol- not renew the ancient connection between church
eon First Consul in a three-man consulate. In fact, and state. Catholicism was simply recognized as the
however, he was the only one with real power. Mem- “religion of the majority of the French,” and the state
bers of the new legislature had little say in govern- remained separate from the church. Napoleon him-
ment, since Napoleon, assisted by a council of experts, self was a nominal Catholic who thought of religion
made all the important decisions. The new constitu- as a tool for maintaining social and political order. He
tion did not include the Declaration of the Rights of believed that religious toleration for Catholics was a
Man and the Citizen. Opposition to the new govern- way to end the political headache caused by the Civil
ment was silenced when a rigid press censorship was Constitution of the Clergy and de-Christianization.
instituted. All these changes signaled a repudiation But the Concordat also gave the state tight control
of the Revolution’s participatory politics. Yet the re- over church activities, including the regulation of
pudiation was ambiguous, since Napoleon kept up seminaries. A new national catechism for religious in-
appearances by submitting the new constitution to a struction secured church endorsement of the regime.
carefully controlled popular vote of adult males. Many French people returned to Catholic worship
In early 1800, Bonaparte reorganized administra- with fervor, especially in the countryside, where
tion throughout France. Prefects, put in charge of the women led the revival, demanding the return of
departments, were under the strict control of the min- priests and urging neighbors to join once again in
ister of the interior in Paris, who was second only to communal worship.
Napoleon himself. The prefects were chosen on the Protestants also benefited from Napoleon’s reli-
basis of administrative experience and political lean- gious policies, since they, too, were allowed to wor-
ings. The First Consul was deliberately upholding the ship openly without harassment. The fate of the Jews,
revolutionary ideal of careers open to talent, from
which he himself had benefited, while trying to win
over all factions except die-hard royalists and radical
First Consul Title taken by Napoleon Bonaparte when
republicans. Influenced by Enlightenment thought,
he seized power in 1799.
Napoleon also believed that governing was a science
prefects Napoleon’s local government administrators
based on reason and careful observation, which al- in France.
lowed administrators to act logically by objectively concordat Formal agreement between the pope and
analyzing problems and finding rational solutions to the ruler of a Catholic state; Concordat of 1801 reestab-
them. With this system in place, far less stood be- lished Catholics’ rights of worship in France but sepa-
tween the state and the citizen in 1801 than had stood rated church and state.
between the Crown and its subjects in 1789.
558 CHAPTER 19 Revolutionary France and Napoleonic Europe, 1775–1815
however, was somewhat different. Like the revolu- ations were again prohibited as a form of interference
tionaries, Napoleon wanted to integrate Jews into so- with market forces.
ciety. But he also wanted to place them under state The code reversed many of the gains women had
supervision. Although Jews were granted freedom of made during the 1790s. Laws relating to families up-
worship, laws put limits on their economic activities held patriarchal authority; the male head of household
and increased their military obligations. The govern- stood over all other family members and controlled
ment assumed control of Jewish moneylending, for- their property. The revolutionary equality between
bade foreign Jews from settling in France, and ordered spouses in filing for divorce was revoked, giving men
Jewish men serving in the army to obey all military more grounds for divorce than women. Many of
rules and regulations, even if these conflicted with these provisions remained a part of French law until
Jewish religious observance. 1965. They reflected Napoleon’s view that women be-
While French Jews received limited benefits from longed in the private sphere, where, he said, men
Napoleon’s regime, another group saw its condition would protect them and make them happy.
worsen catastrophically. These were the ex-slaves in Overall, Napoleon’s reworking of the revolution-
the Caribbean. In 1801, Toussaint L’Ouverture, who ary legacy, culminating in the Civil Code, promoted
had led black resistance to French rule a decade ear- what he called “order.” In 1789, the rallying cry of
lier, conquered the Spanish half of Santo Domingo revolutionaries had been “liberty.” In 1793, the sans-
and proclaimed himself president of the united is- culottes had called for “equality,” and the Committee
land. Initially, L’Ouverture had French support, but of Public Safety had promoted “fraternity” to unite
in 1802, Napoleon turned against him and sent an citizens against internal and external enemies. Now
army to Santo Domingo. It captured and executed liberty, equality, and fraternity were condemned as
L’Ouverture yet was unable to reassert French control excuses for anarchy. Under Napoleon, democratic
over the former colony, now called Haiti. In the course politics ceased. Freedom of speech was silenced by
of the campaign, however, Napoleon restored slavery censorship and police surveillance. Society was dom-
in Martinique and Guadeloupe, France’s other Carib- inated by the notables, a class of landowners created
bean possessions. Thus France, which had been the by Napoleon from the middle classes and the old no-
first European state to abolish slavery in 1794, reinsti- bility. Along with civilian administrators and army
tuted it in 1802. It was not finally abolished until 1848. generals, they were the real powers in France. Once
This act was Napoleon’s clearest repudiation of the again, French national identity was based on the Old
revolutionary heritage. In 1803, he sold Louisiana, Regime model of a pyramid with a small and power-
which France had received back from a defeated Spain, ful elite at the top.
to the United States. His failure to retake Haiti con- In 1802, at the height of his popularity, Napoleon
vinced him that there was no hope for reestablishing modified the constitution to make himself consul for
a French empire on the North American continent. life. In 1803, after a peace that had lasted a mere four-
teen months, France and England went to war again.
The Napoleonic Code Britain wanted more access to continental markets for
its manufactured goods, while France feared English
Napoleon’s most lasting achievement was a reform of preeminence at sea. Soon afterward, Napoleon moved
French law codes. Faced with a confusing and contra- closer toward hereditary rule. In December 1804, he
dictory tangle of laws developed over centuries un- summoned Pius VII from Rome to preside over a
der the old monarchy, the revolutionary governments coronation ceremony in Paris in which he became
of the 1790s had declared in principle that French law Emperor Napoleon I. When it was time to place the
needed to be rationalized and standardized as part of new imperial crown on his head, Napoleon crowned
the great reorganization of the country into a single, himself, asserting the separation of the state from the
undivided nation. Napoleon carried the principle church. He then whispered to his brother, “If only our
into practice.
The most important new code was the Civil Code
Napoleonic Code Code of civil law implemented in
of 1804, later renamed the Napoleonic Code. In it the 1804, applied first to France and then to French-
revolutionary principles of equality before the law occupied territories in Europe.
and security of persons from arbitrary arrest were anarchy Absence of government, marked by disorder
reaffirmed. Private property rights were guaranteed, and lawlessness.
as well as the principle of a free-market economy in notables Elite group of large-scale landowners created
which individual economic initiative was encour- by Napoleon.
aged. Workers’ rights to form unions or other associ-
The Napoleonic Empire, 1804–1815 559
Jacques-Louis David painted this official representation of Napoleon’s coronation as emperor. Having crowned
himself, Napoleon now crowns his wife Josephine. Pope Pius VII, seated, is simply one of the spectators. The
painting emphasizes two of Napoleon’s governing principles: the separation of church and state and the subor-
dination of women to men. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY)
father could see us now!” The new emperor modeled ular victories on the continent, crushing Austria, Prus-
his court on the old one at Versailles and started refer- sia, and Russia and occupying most of Germany. Con-
ring to Louis XVI as “my uncle.” In 1808, he created a quered territories were added to the ever-expanding
new imperial nobility. Thus, the republican state was French Empire. In 1807, when he controlled Europe
eroded, but never completely destroyed: the Napol- from the Atlantic to Russia, Napoleon attempted the
eonic Code was still in place; legislatures met, even economic ruin of his sole remaining enemy, Great
though they had little to do; a written constitution Britain. But his policy of closing this vast territory to
still existed; and changes in the regime were carefully British manufactured goods stirred up resistance. In
submitted to popular ratification in special elections. 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia, a disaster from which
he never recovered. In 1814, a renewed coalition de-
feated Napoleon and drove him from his throne. Na-
poleon’s empire was short lived, but it had a lasting
The Napoleonic Empire, impact.
1804–1815
Renewed War on the Continent
➜
But the British navy defeated the French navy in the In 1793, France had relied on the mass mobilization of
Battle of Trafalgar off the Spanish coast. Admiral Nel- the nation to build up the army to 750,000 men. By
son, who had destroyed Napoleon’s fleet in Egypt, 1797, however, the army had fallen to about half this
destroyed it once again in this battle, losing his life in number because of death and desertion. The Directory,
the process. From now on, Britain enjoyed unchal- therefore, resorted to annual conscription. Napoleon
lenged control of the high seas and imposed a blockade continued the new practice. Some 2 million French
on Napoleon’s ports to stop France’s international men were conscripted between 1799 and 1814. At first,
trade. On the continent, Napoleon fared better; Prus- the draft was fiercely resisted. Since married men were
sia, which joined the Allies in 1806, was quickly de- exempt, potential draftees rushed to marry, some-
feated, and in 1807 Russia, too, succumbed. times taking wives as old as eighty. If marriage was
Emperor Napoleon, now at the height of his not an option, men cut off their trigger fingers or
power, redrew the map of much of Europe. All the hacked away at their shins and testicles to induce de-
states in the old Holy Roman Empire, except Prussia bilitating infections. Slowly, however, through per-
and Austria, were made French allies and consoli- sistence and power, the state made its policy stick. By
dated in the Confederation of the Rhine, a prelude 1806, when the war against Prussia began, the battle
to German unification in the nineteenth century. An against the draft was over; from then on the French
independent Poland reemerged as the Grand Duchy submitted to this permanent new intrusion into their
of Warsaw. To organize his vast territory, Napoleon lives. Overall, in both the revolutionary and Napol-
used the techniques of the Directory: the creation of eonic wars, about 916,000 men were lost to the French
satellite states, now called kingdoms instead of re- army, half from death and half from desertion.
publics, and annexation to France. Napoleon made In late 1806, Napoleon undertook economic warfare
his numerous brothers and sisters the heads of the against Great Britain. This program, the Continental
satellite kingdoms or relied on close confidants to System, closed European ports in French-dominated
rule them—Joseph Bonaparte went to Spain, Louis to areas to British merchant shipping. Napoleon rea-
the kingdom of Holland, and Jerome to the new king- soned that Britain’s economy would slump and its
dom of Westphalia. Napoleon expected unquestion- government revenues decline when its traditional
ing obedience from them. continental markets were taken away. As a bonus,
Rulers were to remake their kingdoms using French manufacturers would benefit from a market
France as a model. Written constitutions formed the now closed to British competition. But the system’s
basis of government. The Napoleonic Code was im- success depended on the closure of all ports, and here
posed, sweeping away the society of estates and or- the problems began. While France itself could be
ders and establishing the principle of equality before brought into compliance, in the satellite states mer-
the law, careers open to talent, and trial by jury. Local chants who had profited from trade with Britain
legislatures usually controlled taxation rates, which protested. Even Napoleon’s siblings, under pressure
were lower than those in France. Religious discrimi- from their subjects, complained. The emperor’s re-
nation ended, and Jews were admitted to full citizen- sponse was to annex more territory to France: the
ship. This last reform was particularly important in kingdom of Holland was absorbed in 1810, as was the
Holland and Germany, where there were large Jewish north German coast. When Pope Pius VII refused to
populations. Except in Russia, serfdom was abol- join the system and excommunicated Napoleon, the
ished. Government administration was to be based pope was put under house arrest and then deported to
on the scientific principles employed in France. Mili- France, where he lived as Napoleon’s prisoner. Italy as
tary conscription was imposed everywhere, and local far south as Rome was annexed. Pius’s imprisonment
people were required to pay the costs of French troops
stationed in their territory. Napoleon discouraged
concessions to local customs, since he thought that Trafalgar Naval battle fought 1805 in which the British
destroyed the French navy and gained unchallenged
the French model of government was universally ap- control of the high seas.
plicable. Many of these reforms outlasted the Napol-
Confederation of the Rhine Napoleon’s union of all
eonic period, particularly in Holland, Germany, and German states except Prussia and Austria.
northern Italy. Even Prussia and Austria adopted some Grand Duchy of Warsaw Napoleon’s restored inde-
of them, in hopes of combating the French challenge pendent Poland.
by strengthening their states. Continental System Closure of all French-controlled
Napoleon’s stunning victories between 1805 and ports to British merchant shipping initiated by Napo-
1807 were the result of his skill as a general and his leon in 1807 as a form of economic warfare.
ability to raise huge armies by means of conscription.
St. Petersburg
0 200 400 Km.
Stockholm
0 200 400 Mi.
KINGDOM
OF NORWAY KINGDOM Moscow
ATLANTIC
Sea
AND OF Borodino
OCEAN September 1812
tic
l
DENMARK SWEDEN Smolensk
Ba
si t
August 1812
Til
North Sea Copenhagen
Königsberg Friedland 1807
RUSSIAN EMPIRE
A
SH
GREAT BRITAIN DI NI
S WE ERA
M
Danzig
Lübeck P O
U S S IA Neman
PR
Hamburg
Bremen
El
Berlin GRAND DUCHY
be
Rhine Kiev
London WESTPHALIA OF WARSAW
Br
us
SAXONY
French Empire se
ls Auerstädt 1806
Dependent states Jena 1806
Waterloo
Allied with Napoleon 1815
Amiens CONFEDERATION
At war with Napoleon Paris OF THE RHINE Austerlitz 1805
WÜRTTEMBERG Wagram 1804
Major battle Lunéville Pressburg
BADEN Vienna
BAVARIA Pest
Zurich Buda
FRANCE
SWITZERLAND AUSTRIAN EMPIRE
D
an
KINGDOM IL ube
Milan OF Black Sea
LY
Marengo 1800 ITALY
RI
Genoa
AN
ple
P
in o
R
nt
ta
O
s
OV
Marseilles IN T on
T
C
O
CE
Elba M
S
AL
AN
Corsica
UG
Madrid Rome
T
EM
Lisbon PIR
E
SPAIN Naples
POR
Sardinia KINGDOM
OF NAPLES
MAP 19.2 Napoleonic Europe, 1810 By 1810, France was an empire whose boundaries had ab-
sorbed many small states to its east. Other states were French allies or dependencies. In all of Europe only
The Napoleonic Empire, 1804–1815
Britain, Portugal, Sardinia, Sicily, and the Ottoman Empire remained independent. Napoleon’s domina-
tion of Europe rivaled Charlemagne’s empire and the empire of ancient Rome.
561
562 CHAPTER 19 Revolutionary France and Napoleonic Europe, 1775–1815
drawn from twenty countries. It was the largest sin- After he returned to Paris, Napoleon tried once
gle army in the field that Europe had ever seen. again to rally his generals and ministers, but they re-
Throughout the summer, French troops marched fused to fight on. Finally, in April 1814, he abdicated.
farther and farther into Russia, as the Russians with- The Allies marched into Paris, with Alexander I of
drew, since their army numbered only about 200,000. Russia at their head. Not far behind was Louis XVI’s
In August, they fought Napoleon at Smolensk, and brother, who had fled France twenty-five years ear-
in early September, they fought again at Borodino, lier. He was installed as King Louis XVIII. Louis
seventy-five miles west of Moscow. These were the XVI’s son, who had died in a Paris prison in 1795, was
bloodiest battles of the revolutionary and Napoleonic thus honored as Louis XVII.
wars. After Smolensk, wagons were piled high with The Allies exiled Napoleon to the island of Elba,
amputated arms and legs. Wounded and survivors off the coast of Italy not far from his native Corsica.
alike crumpled as food supplies ran out, while hun- But Napoleon outwitted them one last time. In 1799,
dreds of men died by the roadside from exposure as he had slipped away from his enemies in Egypt, and
they slipped into vodka-induced comas. Battle dead now he did it again, secretly setting sail for the south
and wounded from both sides at Borodino stood at of France. Louis XVIII sent troops to intercept the ex-
75,000, including 47 French generals. emperor, but they joined him instead; once again, his
Technically, the French won at Borodino, and the fame as a commander carried the day. The new king
road to Moscow lay open. When Napoleon arrived then fled to Belgium, and Napoleon triumphantly
there in mid-September, however, he found the city reentered Paris, where he was to rule again for a
practically deserted; once again the Russians had re- Hundred Days. He quickly reorganized the govern-
treated. The French stayed in Moscow for six weeks, ment and prepared yet again for battle. Miraculously,
waiting for Alexander to sue for peace. But the tsar, in the conscription machine pulled up 100,000 men. On
his palace in St. Petersburg, refused. In the meantime, June 18, 1815, Napoleon engaged his old enemies at
a fire, perhaps started by the Russians, destroyed Waterloo in present-day Belgium, where he was de-
most of Moscow. With his army exhausted and badly feated for the last time by an English general, the
depleted, and with no hope of adequate winter quar- Duke of Wellington, leading a coalition of Prussians,
ters in a burned-out city, Napoleon ordered a retreat Austrians, and Russians. Once again Napoleon abdi-
to Germany. What happened next is the stuff of leg- cated, Louis XVIII entered Paris, and Napoleon was
ends: the troops stumbled westward, harassed con- sent into exile. This time, however, the Allies shipped
tinuously by Russian units and frozen by the bitter him into the far South Atlantic, to the island of St.
winter that arrived in November. Only 15 percent of Helena, where he died in 1821 at the age of fifty-two.
Napoleon’s army made it back to Germany. For Na- Throughout his years in exile in Allied lands,
poleon, defeat in Russia was the beginning of the end. Louis XVIII had promised a full restoration of the
prerevolutionary monarchy if he returned to France
Europe’s Defeat of Napoleon as king. But that proved to be impossible; too much
had changed since 1789. He therefore issued a Consti-
In 1813, Austria and Prussia, subsidized by Great tutional Charter, which bore a marked resemblance to
Britain, reentered the war after reforming their armies the Constitution of 1791, as the basis for his rule. The
and introducing a French-style draft. Napoleon real- one thing from the past that Louis wanted was a coro-
ized that the next campaign was the one he had to win. nation like the one held in 1775 for his brother. But it
The conscription machine in France and the other im- never took place. The king was old, Rheims was far
perial territories pressed down harder than ever; by away, and the revolutionaries had destroyed most of
the summer of 1813, the emperor had raised an army the sacred implements used in the ceremony.
of 400,000, including 100,000 rounded-up French draft
evaders and deserters. In October, it engaged the Al-
lies in eastern Germany. Napoleon lost and began to Louis XVIII (r. 1814–1824) Younger brother of Louis
XVI of France who became king after Napoleon’s
retreat westward. As he drew back, the Germans fi- defeat.
nally rose up in an anti-French revolt, rallying behind Hundred Days Period in 1815 of Napoleon’s briefly
their traditional rulers. Years of taxes, conscription, restored rule in France between his return from exile
and the hardships of the Continental System were on Elba and his permanent exile on St. Helena.
taking their toll. In addition, the French ideal of a Waterloo Napoleon’s last battle, fought in Belgium in
united nation of citizens had spread to the occupied 1815 against an international coalition headed by the
peoples. Now they countered the French with their British Duke of Wellington.
own nationalist fervor.
564 CHAPTER 19 Revolutionary France and Napoleonic Europe, 1775–1815
From 1789 to 1815, what changed and what remained itants of a country were constituted as citizens of a
the same in French political, social, and religious life? nation. Even Napoleon’s reintroduction of nobility
➜
How did revolutionaries and opponents of the Revolu- did little to alter this new form of society. The nota-
tion in France define their collective identities and
bles ignored the old distinctions between commoners
those of their enemies?
and nobles, and the revolutionary ideal of careers
➜
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
“Left” and “Right”
Today when we speak about the political “left” and “right,” we use terms that originated accidentally in
the early years of the French Revolution. When the deputies to the Estates-General assembled at Versailles,
the king and his court sat on a platform at one end of the meeting room. The orders of the clergy and the
nobility sat directly in front of the royal party, while the Third Estate was crammed into a space at the back
Websites 565
end of the hall, separated by a low railing from everyone else. This organization of the meeting space sym-
bolized the king’s belief in a hierarchically arranged society of estates and orders.
After the Third Estate became the National Assembly, the meeting hall was rearranged to eliminate the sepa-
ration of the three estates. Now the room had benches placed in an oval so there could be no more “front”
for privileged people and “back” for commoners. Nevertheless, a new politically charged use of this space
quickly developed. In the middle of the oval was the desk of the Assembly’s president. The patriots, who had
created the National Assembly, wanted to be in contact with each other, so they sat as a group on benches
to the left of the president. The patriots’ opponents symbolized their political differences by sitting to the
president’s right. Political preference, in combination with the configuration of the meeting space, led to the
accidental identification of “left” (of the president) as the place for liberals who favored thoroughgoing
revolutionary change and “right” (of the president) as the place for conservatives who wanted less change.
When the National Assembly moved to Paris, the deputies met in a converted indoor riding stable. This
space was long and narrow. The desks of the president and his assistants were placed in the middle of the
hall, where they took up almost all available room. This meant that the only places where deputies could sit
were either on the president’s left or his right. Once again, the patriots sat on the left, while their oppo-
nents gravitated to the right.
When the National Convention convened, the radical Jacobins occupied the upper rows of benches, again
to the left of the president, and became the Mountain. Noncommitted deputies occupied lower rows and
became the Swamp. Here was a new configuration with potential political meaning—“high” seats for
thoroughgoing revolutionaries and “low” ones for moderates. But “high” and “low” never replaced “left”
and “right” as political markers. These have lasted to this day.
Suggested Readings
Censer, Jack R., and Lynn Hunt. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Palmer, R. R. Twelve Who Ruled. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
Exploring the French Revolution. University Park: Pennsylva- University Press, 1941. A classic account of the Committee of
nia State University Press, 2001. A recent introduction. Public Safety.
Holtman, Robert B. The Napoleonic Revolution. Philadelphia: Tackett, Timothy. When the King Took Flight. Cambridge,
J. B.Lippincott Company, 1967. A clear account of Napoleon’s Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003. A vivid account of the
reorganization of France. king’s attempt to flee France and its consequences.
Hufton, Olwyn. Women and the Limits of Citizenship in the Woolf, Stuart. Napoleon’s Integration of Europe. New York:
French Revolution. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992. Routledge, 1991. A useful work on the Napoleonic empire.
A recent study of women’s gains and losses during the revolu-
tionary decade.
McManners, John. The French Revolution and the Church. New
York: Harper and Row, 1969. A short but masterful history of
the relations between French Catholics and the Revolution.
Websites
A useful site with much information, Internet Modern History A fun site with information on reenactments as well as historical
Sourcebook: IV, American and French Revolutions, at www material, Napoleon.Org, at www.napoleon.org/en/home.asp
.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook2.html#revol18c
Another useful site, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring
the French Revolution, at www.chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/
566
CHAPTER
Restoration and
Reform: Conservative
and Liberal Europe,
1814–1847
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Stockholm
ATLANTIC SCOTLAND
OCEAN Moscow
Riga
UNITED KINGDOM North
OF GREAT BRITAIN Sea Baltic
Dublin AND IRELAND DENMARK
Manchester
Copenhagen Sea
IRELAND SCHLESWIG RUSSIAN
ES
HOLSTEIN
EMPI RE
AL
El
Boundary of German Confederation K POLAND Kiev
be
(Russia)
R hi
per
Se
ne Frankfurt GALICIA
i
BAVARIA BOHEMIA
E
CE
PIR
L o ire
BA
WÜRTTEMBURG
SA
EM BE
AL
Munich Vienna
AN
SS
FRANCE I AR
TR
Pest M AB
US
Buda OL IA
SWITZERLAND D
A AV
IA
LOMBARDY
Ga VENETZIA
A
n Po
OA
Venice
ne
Eb
Rhône
CR
r PARMA
MODENA
WALLACHIA
Black
o
SERBIA Danube
LUCCA
Belgrade
Sea
AL
Marseilles
A
ia
UG
KINGDOM OF STATES
Madrid
PIEDMONT-
Elba ti
c
RT
Corsica
SPAIN SARDINIA
(Fr.)
Se O Istanbul
PO
Rome
a T
NAPLES T
O
Sardinia KINGDOM ALBANIA M
A N
OF THE E M
TWO SICILIES P I R E
GREECE
GILBRALTAR Med
(Gr. Br.) ite
rra Sicily
Athens
ne
an
ALGIERS Malta
MOROCCO
(Gr. Br.) Se
TUNIS a
0 200 400 Km.
567
568 CHAPTER 20 Restoration and Reform: Conservative and Liberal Europe, 1814–1847
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
The Grimm Brothers Begin Work
on Their German Dictionary
In 1838, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were middle-aged
professors—expelled from their university. They were well
known in academic circles for their many path-breaking stud-
ies in the field of linguistics and German philology, the study
of words and texts. Individually and together, they had pub-
lished dozens of studies, including a book on German mythol-
ogy, a grammar of the German language, and collections of
German stories, fairy tales, and myths. And linguists speak
of “Grimm’s Law” to describe a regular shift in consonant
sounds (p : v : f) in the development of European languages;
for example, pater in Latin became Vater in German and
father in English. The Grimms’ analysis revealed connections
among languages derived from Indo-European roots.
The Grimm The Grimms’ collection of German fairy tales was first pub-
Brothers lished in 1812—just as Napoleon was on his way to Moscow. They oversaw the
collection of hundreds of stories, often venturing into villages to hear the tales
For Americans, the Grimm that had been passed down orally from generation to generation. By writing
brothers are most famous for down these narratives for the first time, the Grimm brothers saw themselves as
their collection of fairy tales. carrying out a patriotic duty to preserve German folk traditions. By the end of
But their role in helping the century, these stories would be published in hundreds of editions and dozens
create a standardized German of languages.
language went far beyond The Grimms’ work aimed to elevate the prestige of German culture and lan-
editing volumes of children’s guage. They wanted to prove that German culture was every bit as rich as the
stories. Together they helped cultures of unified nations such as England and France. Throughout the century,
define the grammar and similar research with the same patriotic purpose would be carried out by Russian,
vocabulary of the standard Hungarian, Irish, and Slavic folklorists. In a similar way, the American Noah Web-
German spoken today—a ster published his American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828 to empha-
pioneering feat of linguistic size the legitimacy of American English. All these early nationalists believed that
standardization that would the development of individual national cultures contributed directly to the enrich-
be copied in other countries ment of world culture.
and equal in significance to The Grimm brothers’ political views combined liberalism and nationalism.
Martin Luther’s translating When, in 1837, the new king of Hannover (the German kingdom where their uni-
the New Testament into versity, Georg-August-Universität, was located) cast aside the constitution in ef-
German three centuries fect since 1833, the Grimm brothers, along with five other Göttingen professors,
earlier. (akg-images) protested. The “Göttingen Seven,” as they came to be known, refused to swear an
oath to the despotic new king. For daring to stand up for their political principles,
they were expelled from the university. Their fame as scholars was now enhanced
by admiration for them as political martyrs, and a public collection helped fund
their continuing research.
In the same year as their expulsion, the Grimm brothers embarked on their
most ambitious project of all: a German dictionary that would “contain the end-
less richness of our fatherland’s language from Luther to Goethe.” The Grimms
The Old Order and New Challenges 569
aimed not just to compile definitions of German words but to document the his-
tory of the German language and the changing usage of words from late medieval
times to the present day. Their Deutsches Wörterbuch (German Dictionary) was a
monumental undertaking. The work went forward slowly, and the first volume (A
to Biermolke) was published after sixteen years of work. Wilhelm died in 1859,
a year before the second volume appeared. The third volume (E to Forsche) ap-
peared in 1862, one year before Jacob’s death. The massive project started by the
Grimm brothers was continued by their students and was not completed until the
early 1970s. In the twenty-first century, this enormous historical dictionary remains
one of the marvels of nineteenth-century philology and a valuable research tool
for specialists in German language and literature.
nationalists. Nationalist movements in the Balkan What were the main aims and outcomes of the Congress
of Vienna?
Peninsula attempted to gain independence from Ot-
➜
Chronology
1814–1815 Congress of Vienna restores 1832 Reform Bill in Britain expands suffrage
prerevolutionary rulers Giuseppe Mazzini forms Young Italy
1815 Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo; 1833 Slavery Abolition Act initiates emancipation of
British Parliament passes Corn Laws slaves in British Empire;
Serbia wins independence
1817 Wartburg Festival
1837 Victoria becomes queen of England
1818 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley publishes
Frankenstein 1838 Grimm brothers begin work on their German
Dictionary
1819 Peterloo Massacre in Manchester kills eleven,
wounds hundreds 1838 Richard Cobden forms Anti–Corn Law League in
Manchester
1821 Greek War of Independence begins
1845–1849 Potato famine sweeps Ireland
1823 United States issues Monroe Doctrine
1846 Corn Laws are abolished
1825 Nicholas I becomes tsar
1847 Factory Act in Britain reduces working hours for
1828 Noah Webster publishes his American Dictionary women and children
of the English Language
1848 Revolutions topple governments from Paris to
1829 Catholic Emancipation Act furthers religious Budapest
tolerance in Britain
settlement. Presided over by the Austrian prime min- various German states marched into Paris, Napoleon
ister Prince Clemens von Metternich, this would be a was exiled—courteously sent to govern the pleasant
conservative peace, guided by the principle of legiti- island of Elba off the Italian coast. But the question of
macy. The Congress of Vienna restored prerevolu- the postrevolutionary order in Europe was open. The
tionary rulers and drew borders that lasted into the Congress of Vienna, called by the Austrian prime
twentieth century. Metternich wanted to restore, as minister Clemens von Metternich in mid-1814, aimed
much as possible, the preindustrial, absolutist social to set that order. Metternich was a brilliant and com-
and political order of the eighteenth century, but he plex man who combined wit and charm with cold
was realistic enough to recognize that he could not set calculation. As representatives from all over Europe
the political clock back to 1788. Instead, he aimed arrived in the Austrian capital, its grand palaces glit-
to prevent revolutionary outbreaks and to suppress tered with the gold braid of officers’ uniforms and the
the new ideologies of liberalism and nationalism by jewels of diplomats’ wives. There were so many fes-
strengthening traditional rulers and the landowning tivities that one French prince quipped, “The Congress
nobility. Even as he did this, however, the new cul-
tural and artistic movement called Romanticism was
Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) International meet-
challenging the conventions of this conservative world. ing that redrew the European map and restored order
after the Napoleonic Wars.
The Congress of Vienna Clemens von Metternich (1773–1859) Austrian states-
man, architect of the Congress of Vienna and the Con-
After Napoleon’s catastrophic Russian campaign of gress System, foreign minister and then prime minister
1812, it was clear that his control of France was weak- of Austria, 1809–1848.
ening. In 1814, as allied troops from Russia and the
The Old Order and New Challenges 571
w .
re
⁄
Lomza
states. Such interference was considered less danger-
Na
Piotrków
Radom W their policies on principles of the Christian faith. That
this suggestion was greeted—at least in private—with
ie
Lublin
ca
pr
z
Kielce
even Christian statesmen and monarchs considered
a international relations a realm distant from Christian
tul
Vis morality. Castlereagh denounced the Holy Alliance as
“nonsense,” and Metternich called it “a loud-sounding
Sa
AUSTRIA
n
From the start, however, there were serious practi- with God. The Romantics also rejected Enlighten-
cal problems with the Congress System. When the ment ideals such as parliamentarianism and codified
Greeks rebelled against their Ottoman rulers in 1821, legal systems. Their rejection of fundamental liberal
setting off the Greek War of Independence, their politics, combined with religious mysticism, was
cause was championed by Tsar Alexander of Russia, probably one reason that many of them who did not
but Metternich and Castlereagh opposed any mea- die young ended up as extreme conservatives, as did
sures that could increase Russian power. The strain William Wordsworth.
between British insular interests and the obligations The Romantics saw God in nature, as Wordsworth
of the Congress System proved too much for the al- conveyed in his poetry and Caspar David Friedrich
ready unstable Castlereagh; he took his own life in expressed in his starkly beautiful landscapes. Words-
the midst of the Greek crisis. In the end, Metternich’s worth would wander lonely through England’s Lake
savvy diplomacy prevented Russia from declaring District and return to his cottage to write poems about
war on the Ottoman Empire, and the Greeks had to the glories of nature—and the deeply felt sense of
wait another decade for independence. God’s majesty in such things as daffodils, clouds, or
Castlereagh’s suicide pointed to a fundamental landscapes. The German poet Friedrich von Harden-
contradiction between British interests and European berg, better known as Novalis, portrayed man, woman,
unity in the form of the Congress System. Following nature, and God as merged in an infinite unity. Ro-
more than twenty years of warfare on the continent, mantic art also sought out exotic localities, tempestu-
the British were extremely reluctant to get involved in ous nature, and common people as its subjects. In
European affairs, especially in military action. When, France, Eugène Delacroix’s paintings showed exotic
in 1823, France intervened against a more liberal or- scenes (especially in northern Africa and the Muslim
der in Spain, Britain openly broke with the alliance. world), stormy seas, and his most famous painting of
Across the Atlantic, the United States also sought to all—a bare-breasted Liberty leading the people to vic-
guard against European intervention. President James tory over their oppressors. One common aspect of
Monroe issued what became known as the Monroe nearly all Romantic art is a burning desire to over-
Doctrine, declaring that European meddling in the come feelings of personal loneliness and alienation,
Western Hemisphere would not be tolerated. Alexan- to submerge individual identity in a cosmic whole
der I died two years later, and his successor, Tsar combining human, natural, and divine elements.
Nicholas I, was much less interested in European af- The Romantics—and it is not by chance that most
fairs than his elder brother had been. From this point of these were poets or painters, not stockbrokers or
on, the Congress System became little more than a college professors—rejected the Enlightenment’s me-
weapon in the hands of Metternich to suppress na- chanical universe and its method of seeking the truth
tionalist and revolutionary movements in central Eu- through studied observation, experimentation, and
rope and Italy. reason. They were profoundly disturbed by the idea
of a clockwork universe in which human beings were
The Age of Romanticism just a cog. The most important aspects of life, they
contended, cannot be understood by rational scientific
In his attempts to root out nationalism, Metternich set experimentation. Rather, the irrational—powerful
himself against a new cultural movement that was emotions, the sense of beauty, the ecstasy of love—
sweeping Europe and would eventually, in a political makes us human. In “The Tables Turned,” Word-
form, tear apart Austria and the multinational states sworth called on a friend to “quit your books,” “Our
he sought to preserve. Metternich embraced tradition,
privilege, and the existing political order. In contrast,
the artistic and literary movement Romanticism em- Nicholas I (r. 1825–1855) Russian tsar noted for conser-
braced emotion, individuality, and new forms of ex- vatism and his hatred for the political ideals of the
pression. Romanticism was everything Metternich was French Revolution.
not: mystical, antirational, and passionate. While often Romanticism Literary and artistic movement of the
late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries that
deeply religious, the Romantics opposed most existing
extolled artistic genius and opposed many traditional
institutions—even the church—and demanded free- social conventions.
dom for human beings to realize their emotional, cul- Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840) German artist
tural, and even sexual potential. Reacting against what whose landscapes often featured craggy mountains,
it saw as the cold rationality and dull universalism of mighty forests, and Romantic ruins that overwhelmed
the Enlightenment, Romanticism celebrated the hu- small human figures.
man soul and mystical nature that connected directly
574 CHAPTER 20 Restoration and Reform: Conservative and Liberal Europe, 1814–1847
meddling intellect / Mis-shapes the beauteous forms rich Schlegel praised sexual love even outside mar-
of things—We murder to dissect.” In the Romantic riage in his poem Lucinde. Novalis’s Hymns to the
view, the scientific method can never fathom the Night were inspired by a teenaged girl, though it is
mystery of life or answer fundamental moral ques- clear that his feelings for her were more spiritually
tions such as why human beings are here, why we exalted than physical. Intellectual women figured
love, and why we suffer. The English poet John Keats, prominently in the Romantic movement as organiz-
in his famous “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” proclaimed: ers of salons where Romantic writers gathered as well
“‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty,’—that is all / Ye know as writing themselves. Women like Dorothea (Veit)
on earth, and all ye need to know.” Schlegel and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (daughter
Romantics also rejected the restraints of middle- of the early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft) worked as
class respectability. They mocked hardworking,
narrow-minded pillars of society. Instead, they extolled
the Romantic hero, a dashing figure who often ended Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837) Russian nobleman
tragically, like Alexander Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin and poet considered Russia’s national writer.
and Lord Byron’s Don Juan. The German poet Fried-
The Old Order and New Challenges 575
equal partners with their writer-husbands and pub- who opposed the anticlerical Enlightenment. The Ro-
lished works of their own. In their art—and sometimes mantics were fundamentally utopian—visionaries
in their personal lives—the Romantics created a world who believed perfectibility was possible in human re-
where man and woman interacted in full equality, the lationships and societies. But they lacked the detach-
female and the male principles supplementing and ment and willingness to compromise that are essential
inspiring each other. The German writer Johann Wolf- to achieving reform in the political arena. Even those
gang von Goethe, who had been a great influence on Romantic figures like Friedrich Schlegel who wrote
the Romantics, had concluded his epic poem, Faust: on political subjects were not successful in influenc-
“The eternally feminine leads us forward.” At the ing contemporary politics.
same time, the Romantics’ conception of “artistic ge- Despite its fundamentally utopian nature, Roman-
nius” took for granted that most people would not be ticism had an important impact on future politics
able to understand or appreciate him—or her! The through its influence of nationalism. Nationalists, em-
image of the starving and alienated artist so familiar bracing the Romantic spirit, rejected universalism and
to us today took on modern form with the Romantics. glorified the individual—in this case, the individual
Romanticism was an all-embracing philosophy of language, culture, and nation. Like the Romantics,
life that emphasized unity, organic growth, inspiration, nationalists in the early nineteenth century rejected
and creative genius. While Romantics often combined existing institutions and looked forward to a golden
their mystical longings for the unity of all nature and age in which not just French and German but also
humanity with religious sentiments, they were rarely languages like Czech, Lithuanian, and Serbian would
Christians in any conventional sense. Furthermore,
their emphasis on creative genius bordered on blas-
phemy: geniuses became in their own way gods, cre- utopian (from Greek, “no place”) Consisting of unreal-
ating new worlds. The established churches could istic attempts at reforming human life.
hardly embrace such ideas, even from individuals
576 CHAPTER 20 Restoration and Reform: Conservative and Liberal Europe, 1814–1847
The Beginnings of
Modern Ideology
➜
Removed due to copyright On what points did liberals and conservatives of this
period differ?
permissions restrictions.
➜
pure Russian Orthodox religious values and a rejec- be guaranteed for all citizens. Standing above all
tion of foreign—specifically western—influences. The individuals—rich or poor, noble or peasant—law
Slavophiles demanded the abolition of Tsar Peter the would regulate the relations of the individual citizen
Great’s Europeanizing reforms in order to restore and society as a whole. In this way, the liberals ar-
Russia’s inner harmony and religious purity. The gued, the rule of law assured true equality of rights.
Slavophiles rejected representative government, in- Laws also restrict the individual’s actions, of course,
stitutionalized democracy, and industrial develop- but liberal theorists recognized that some individual
ment, arguing in a Romantic vein that such rational freedoms must be sacrificed for the good of society as
western institutions were alien to the Russian soul. At a whole. Liberals also stressed the importance of pri-
the same time, they argued for the abolition of serf- vate property for a free society. Owning property
dom, but from a uniquely conservative point of view. gave an individual a stake in the existing order and
By ending serfdom, the tsar could reestablish the transformed the abstractions of law into concrete
mystical unity that had existed between the Russian rights and duties.
people (that is, the peasantry) and himself. The Slavo- Unlike conservatives, liberals were fundamentally
philes’ central principle was sobornost, a word that optimistic about human nature and the possibility for
has no equivalent in English and that connects reli- transforming the world for the better. The liberals
giosity (sobor = “cathedral”), collectivity (sobrat = “to were middle-class men (and, increasingly after mid-
collect”), and a unifying mysticism. Like the Roman- century, women) whose political ideology may be
tics in other parts of Europe, the Slavophiles yearned termed the politics of the industrial bourgeoisie and
for mystical unity while championing the uniqueness educated middle class. Liberals opposed traditional
of their own Russian historical and religious experi- forms of authority like royal absolutism or the pope.
ence. While Slavophilism had little effect on Russian On the economy, they differed fundamentally from
governmental policy, the Slavophiles demonstrated what present-day Americans understand as liberal,
that one could oppose the Russian status quo not as they firmly opposed government interference. In
only from a left-wing, radical perspective but also out principle, liberals were in favor of the equality and
of conservative conviction and religious belief. fraternity of all humanity, though in practice they re-
The era 1815–1847 was in most respects a conser- mained wary of granting full political rights to poorer
vative, even reactionary one. It is remarkable that this and less educated elements in the population. Simi-
conservatism owed very little to the thinkers dis- larly, very few liberals indeed thought that women
cussed here and much more to Metternich’s practical were truly equal to men. Rather like the Enlightenment
politics. These thinkers did, however, share with Met- thinkers themselves, they argued that “in time” even
ternich many fundamental attitudes. All rejected the these strata would be ready for full political rights—
legitimacy of written constitutions, representative gov- when they were educated. With its insistent call for
ernment, and political change based on abstract rights constitutionalism, civil rights, protection of private
and reasoning. In this way conservatism both in the- property, and the rule of law, liberalism was for this
ory and in practice lined itself up directly against the period a markedly progressive political ideology.
most important traditions of the Enlightenment. Great Britain was the homeland of classical liberal-
ism. Classical economic liberalism rests mainly on
Liberalism Adam Smith’s renowned work The Wealth of Nations
(1776). Smith argued that nations enrich themselves
Where conservatism rejected the Enlightenment, lib- not by amassing precious metals and restricting their
eralism embraced it wholeheartedly. Liberalism en- exports, a central tenet of mercantilism, but by allow-
thusiastically took up the Enlightenment’s call to “dare ing the greatest possible freedom for market forces, in
to know,” to transform knowledge into practical meas- other words, free trade. Government should stay out
ures that improve the world. Classical liberalism, like
the Enlightenment, put the individual at the center
liberalism Political ideology emphasizing constitu-
of its political ideology. Unlike conservatism (and so- tionalism, civil rights, private property, and the rule
cialism), liberalism emphasized above all constitu- of law.
tionalism and civil rights, including the right to own bourgeoisie The middle class, especially capitalists,
property, express one’s opinions freely, and profess well-to-do investors, factory owners, and educated
any religion—or no religion at all. The abstractions of professionals.
law and constitutions so despised by the conserva- free trade Unrestricted trade between different coun-
tives lay at the very center of liberal politics. Only tries, not hindered by high tariffs or taxes.
through the impersonal rule of law could true liberty
The Beginnings of Modern Ideology 579
of economic matters, avoid high taxes and tariffs, and Mill was greatly troubled by the possibility that the
let markets set prices. Smith spoke of the “invisible spread of democracy could strengthen a tyrannical
hand” of the market mechanism that through the law majority that would limit and crush individual free-
of supply and demand would maximize economic doms. Mill defended the right to minority views,
efficiency. Smith did concede that government could which he feared majority rule could threaten. Mill
not stay out of the economy entirely because of the also believed that women must be recognized as in-
need for infrastructure, such as roads and harbors, tellectual and political equals—if not superiors—of
which the profit motive would not create. On the men, a radical view that he expounded in his Subjec-
whole, however, Smith thought that by limiting gov- tion of Women (1869). As a philosopher, moralist, and
ernment expenditures, keeping taxes low, and encour- political thinker, Mill was the epitome of liberalism.
aging free markets, a country would prosper. Economic At the same time, his works reflected the progress of
liberals demanded a laissez-faire economic policy from industrialization, mass society, and even socialism
the state, calling on government to keep out of the that challenged the basic tenets of liberalism: individ-
economy and let it develop naturally according to ualism, the rule of law, and private property.
market forces. Mill’s life was intimately related to that of the
Political liberalism grew out of Jeremy Bentham’s woman he described in his autobiography as “the most
Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation admirable person I had ever known,” Harriet Taylor
(1789), which contained the now famous statement that (later Harriet Taylor Mill). Taylor herself published
the aim of legislation should be the greatest happiness relatively little, but her impact on John Stuart Mill’s
for the greatest number of citizens. Bentham, like works was enormous. Mill himself wrote in a highly
Adam Smith, believed that enlightened self-interest Romantic vein that when two persons are so close in
was the best guide for reforming institutions and pol- spirit and mind and spend so much time together con-
itics. Not abstract principles but practical applica- versing on topics of interest to both, then “it is of little
tions should be the reformer’s primary goal. Because consequence in respect to the question of originality,
of his emphasis on practical reforms, Bentham’s which of them holds of the pen.” Mill dedicated On
thought has been called utilitarianism. His influence Liberty to her, calling it “our joint production.”
may be seen clearly in the political demands of liber-
als like James Mill and also more radical thinkers. Nationalism
Like Smith, Bentham held a basically optimistic out-
look: if human beings followed their own interests in Like liberalism, nationalism underwent profound
an enlightened way, a better society would result. changes as a political philosophy in the course of the
James Mill developed this argument further, em- nineteenth century. Before 1848, nationalism was
phasizing the role that proper education would play generally associated with liberalism and democracy.
in enabling individuals to recognize their own proper In the second half of the century, nationalism became
self-interest. Mill argued that the greatest happiness more and more closely aligned with conservative
for the greatest numbers may not necessarily require forces. The realignment of nationalism after 1848 re-
universal suffrage, in which everyone had the right flects its triumph, and our present-day acceptance of
to vote, but it certainly did demand a political system
in which the participation of educated and proper-
tied individuals was guaranteed. Mill took his own
ideas on education seriously enough to apply them to law of supply and demand Economic law according
his son, John Stuart Mill, perhaps the most famous to which prices increase when supply is low and de-
liberal of all. The younger Mill began to study Greek mand high.
at the age of three, Latin at eight, and by twelve had utilitarianism Practical philosophy, usually associated
with Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), whose goal was the
read through most of the ancient classics, as well as greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
studying mathematics, history, and philosophy. While
universal suffrage Right to vote for everyone.
morality was a central aspect of this education, reli-
John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) Liberal philosopher who
gion and poetry were specifically excluded from it. supported universal suffrage, including for women;
Not surprisingly, given his father’s intense educational son of James Mill and author of On Liberty and
regime, as a young man John Stuart Mill underwent a Utilitarianism.
shattering spiritual crisis from which he only gradu- nationalism Political ideology arising in the late eigh-
ally recovered. Mill’s most famous work, On Liberty teenth century that demanded that the nation (a group
(1859), forcefully made the case for individual liberty, of people) have control of its own state.
justice, and toleration. Unlike his father, John Stuart
580 CHAPTER 20 Restoration and Reform: Conservative and Liberal Europe, 1814–1847
the nation-state (in principle, at least) as the political ment to be branches of the Russian nation, and there
norm is part of this triumph. was considerable debate on whether they could, or
To understand the political ideology that national- should, be considered separate nations, as they are
ists propagated, two often-confusing terms need to today. It was also debated whether Croats were a na-
be distinguished: nation and state. In English, as in tion or should join an “Illyrian” or Yugoslav nation
French, these words are often used as synonyms, but with Serbs, who spoke the same language but fol-
in most of Europe in the nineteenth century, they lowed a different religion. Hence nationalism pulled
were completely distinct concepts. Indeed, in most in opposite directions. Even as it called for members
European languages it is impossible to confuse the of a nation to live together in one state, it threatened
two: German, for example, distinguishes Staat (“state”) the territorial integrity of such multinational states as
and Volk (“nation”). The state is easiest to define: it is the Russian, Habsburg, and Ottoman Empires.
a political entity that levies taxes; finances an army Nationalists also faced difficulties created by class.
and a state bureaucracy; issues passports; and de- Some nationalities consisted almost exclusively of
mands certain obligations of its citizens such as mili- peasants, while the upper classes belonged to a dif-
tary service, payment of taxes, and obedience to laws. ferent national group. Such was the case for Latvians,
In the classic phrase of the German sociologist Max whose landlords were German. And there remained
Weber, the state “holds the monopoly on legitimate the problem of where to put the Jews, who in the con-
violence.” Examples of present-day states include text of east-central Europe, at least, certainly fit the
Japan, Germany, the Russian Federation, Zambia, Is- criteria of a separate nation with their distinct lan-
rael, and the United States. It is an example of the lin- guage (Yiddish), religion, culture, and forms of every-
guistic confusion in English mentioned above that day life. Where—and even whether—Jews would fit
the so-called United Nations is in fact an organization in the emerging nation-states of Europe would be
of independent states. known in the late nineteenth century as the Jewish
While states are political units, the term nations question. Before 1848, however, these practical difficul-
refers to groups of people bound together by com- ties were rarely considered. Nationalists overwhelm-
mon language, culture, religion, history, ancestry—or ingly felt that national liberation would engender
some combination of these factors. The Romantics cooperation among different ethnic groups. Like the
glorified the distinctive qualities of each nation, re- liberals (and most nationalists were liberals), nation-
jecting the idea that any one nation (like the French) alists were optimistic about human nature, predicting
had the right to consider its language or culture bet- that education and economic development would
ter than any other. In the nineteenth century, one of help put an end to strife and wars.
the most important markers for claiming nationhood Before 1848, nationalism often did not yet take a
was ethnic and linguistic. Thus, Germans—like the specifically political form. At this point, nationalists
Grimm brothers—championed their own language emphasized the need to develop the nation’s culture
as the element that made them a single national group, and language and worked to expand national con-
despite the fact that they lived in dozens of separate sciousness—that is, the feeling of belonging to a na-
states. German nationalists in Vienna, Munich, Ham- tion. In the early nineteenth century, most Europeans,
burg, or Berlin all demanded a united Germany. Sim- aside from a thin (though growing) stratum of edu-
ilarly, Italian nationalists in Rome, Palermo, Venice, cated people, lacked strong national consciousness:
and Turin wanted to bring all Italians together in one their identity was based rather on belonging to a reli-
political unit: Italy. gion and social group (peasant, noble, artisan, and so
But in central and eastern Europe there were na- on) and having origins in a certain village or town.
tions that lacked states altogether. Congress Poland They often did not think much about the language
was not truly independent of Russia, and Poles lived they spoke, as they had no experience with foreign-
elsewhere in Russia, Austria, and Prussia. For Polish ers. The concept that a peasant speaking some form
nationalists, all Poles should live together in a single of German in, say, Bavaria, belonged to the same na-
Polish state. At least Poles had the historical memory
of a strong Polish state; many nations, such as Lat- nation-state Independent political unit, usually domi-
vians, Ukrainians, and Romanians, lacked even that. nated by one culture or ethnicity, in which the ultimate
On a practical level, it was often difficult to decide political legitimacy rests with the people (the nation).
just where a given nation’s boundaries lay, and na- Yugoslav (literally, “south Slav”) Group of related
tions did not usually live in compact, easily defined languages and ethnicities, including Slovenes, Croats,
regions. The people now known as Belarusians and Serbs, and sometimes Macedonians and Bulgarians.
Ukrainians were considered by the Russian govern-
The Beginnings of Modern Ideology 581
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Jacob Grimm Writes a Foreword to the
German Dictionary
Before the mid-nineteenth century, the German language suffered from an inferi-
ority complex. Even the celebrated Prussian king Frederick the Great had preferred
speaking French over his native German. Most educated Europeans knew little
about German literature and culture. And even Germans themselves were not
always certain about the correct usage and pronunciation of their language—
indeed, often there was no single standard language to guide them, only dozens
of dialects. The Grimm brothers set out to change this situation. They worked to
establish a standardized form of German that everyone could accept as “correct.”
Part of this enterprise was the publishing of a mammoth dictionary. The dictionary
would have two main purposes: to document the richness of the German tongue
and to standardize usage and spelling of German words. This text is taken from
the foreword to the Grimm brothers’ German Dictionary.
tion as the king of Prussia would have been com- overthrown by a middle-class revolt in 1830. In Rus-
pletely incomprehensible to these people. National- sia, Tsar Nicholas I’s conservative regime refused
ists set out to change this mindset. to allow any kind of political reform. But even there
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the German brothers and in the Ottoman Empire, nationalist movements
who studied the German language and folk culture, challenged the authority of the tsar and sultan by
were nationalists with these aims (see Choice). So was demanding political and cultural rights for specific
Johann Gottfried von Herder, a German who spent nations. Across the continent, the growing attraction
much of his life in Riga on the Baltic. Herder wrote of liberal and nationalist ideas caused kings and em-
widely on the philosophy of history, language, and perors to sit uncomfortably on their thrones.
literature and insisted that all cultures and languages
have something to add to world culture and world
history. All ethnic groups, Herder argued, should de- Restoration and Liberal Revolt
velop their own culture, enrich their own language, in France
and create their own literature. Just as Herder de-
manded that the German language be treated on an The French Revolution and the guillotining of Louis
equal footing with French or English, later in the XVI in 1793 changed French politics forever. Even
nineteenth century, young Lithuanians would refuse conservatives like Metternich and Talleyrand at the
to use Polish, Czechs would reject German, and Jews Congress of Vienna recognized this fact. Hence they
would insist on using Yiddish or, even more radically, worked not to restore the absolutist monarchy of 1788
Hebrew in daily life. In his own way, Herder was an but to put in place a system that would keep most
individualist Romantic challenging the universalist power in royal hands while allowing a measure of
assumptions of the Enlightenment. He was both a na- political participation to the wealthiest (and most
tionalist and a democrat, arguing for equal rights and conservative) elements of French society. Even before
respect not just for individuals, but for entire cultures. the congress began, the Bourbon dynasty had been
Nationalism contained in its very essence a strong restored to the French throne in the person of Louis
democratic element. For nationalists, the legitimacy XVIII, the younger brother of the ill-fated Louis XVI.
of the state arose out of its unity with the nation. The Louis XVIII did not rule as an absolute monarch: he
term nation-state describes this unity. Hence politics had to share power with a legislature. Louis was a
must be influenced by the sentiments of the nation as narrow-minded and selfish person whose obesity and
a whole. Obviously, very few of those in power in the atrocious table manners made a horrible impression
early nineteenth century could accept such an ideol- on Parisian society. He was also a terrible politician.
ogy. Kings might claim to rule for the good of their In a few months, he had so alienated the political elite
people, but they rarely welcomed the people’s inter- that when Napoleon reappeared on the scene, having
ference in their policies. Nationalists and liberals thus escaped from Elba in March 1815, the entire Bourbon
shared an interest in breaking down the royal status court fled. No one was willing to take up arms in de-
quo. Conversely, kings and conservatives like Metter- fense of Louis XVIII.
nich saw in nationalism one of their greatest enemies. Luckily for Louis, Napoleon was soon defeated by
the Allies at Waterloo, and Louis returned to Paris.
For the next decade and a half, French politics was
dominated by Louis and his conservative royalist
Political Pressures on supporters. Under pressure from Britain and Russia,
the Continent whose troops were occupying Paris at the time, Louis
allowed more moderates into the legislature. In 1818,
➜
How did nationalist ideology affect politics during France paid off its war indemnity, foreign troops left
this era?
Paris, and, for all practical purposes, France was once
➜
again accepted as a fully legitimate Great Power in the Belgian provinces had been united with the
the Concert of Europe. Netherlands. Both economically and religiously,
The following decade was a period of calm and however, these southern provinces differed signifi-
growing prosperity. The royalists aimed to restore the cantly from Holland. The Belgian provinces were rich
Catholic Church to dominance in French society, roll in coal, and the textile industry in this region had al-
back the revolutionary changes of the previous ways been closely linked with England. By 1830, this
decades, and combat the specter of “democracy” (at region was, after England, the most industrialized
this point the word was nearly always used in a neg- area in Europe. The Belgian provinces were also pre-
ative sense, suggesting mob rule). The French liberals dominantly Catholic—unlike the much more Calvin-
were hindered by a lack of effective leadership and ist north—and in great part did not use the Dutch (or
by the vivid memories of chaos and bloodshed dur- Flemish) language, but French.
ing the revolutionary period. Discontent with rule from Amsterdam broke into
In 1820, Louis XVIII died. The new king was his el- open insurrection in Brussels in late August 1830.
derly brother, Charles X, who was intent on restoring When the Dutch king William I was unable to restore
royal absolutism. His coronation at Rheims was a me- order, the Congress System went into action, and the
dieval extravaganza; more seriously threatening to Great Powers called an international conference to
the interests of the middle class were his plans to give decide the fate of the Belgian provinces. Essentially
financial compensation to émigrés who had lost the British and French decided to support Belgian in-
property during the revolutionary years. Other laws dependence. France was happy to see the Nether-
considerably tightened censorship and threatened lands weakened but was also wary of allowing Great
those guilty of sacrilege with severe punishments, Britain to gain influence in the region. When Louis
even death. Tensions between Charles X and the Par- Philippe sent an army against the Dutch, they were
liament came to a head in 1830, when elections failed obliged to give way and abandon Antwerp to the
to secure a majority for Charles’s supporters. Instead newly independent state. The international agree-
of compromise, Charles chose the path of direct con- ment of 1831 made Belgium a constitutional monar-
frontation—in effect, a royal coup d’état. He dis- chy, with Leopold of Saxe-Coburg (related not only to
solved the legislature and prepared a new electoral German royalty but also to the British ruling house)
law that would deprive even the wealthy bourgeoisie as its first king. The Great Powers also decreed that
of the vote. This was too much. Led by the brilliant Belgium would always remain neutral in interna-
journalist Adolphe Thiers, the liberals demanded a tional disputes. The creation of Belgium was a triumph
truly constitutional monarchy and the replacement of for liberal nationalist forces.
Charles X by his cousin, the Duke of Orléans. Faced Elsewhere liberal nationalists fared more poorly.
with barricades, street fighting, and a clear lack of In Italy, underground nationalist organizations like
broad support, Charles X abdicated in favor of his the radical carbonari opposed clericalism and the
grandson and left France to spend the rest of his days conservative order. In 1832, Giuseppe Mazzini called
in Prague. Thus, began the reign of the “bourgeois for all Italians to unite and create a liberal nation-
king” Louis Philippe—so-called for modest habits state. In a famous appeal, he urged liberal Italians to
and reliance on middle-class political support—
which would last for almost twenty years.
Charles X (r. 1824–1830) French king renowned for his
refusal to compromise with modern political ideas;
Nationalist Movements in Belgium, swept from power by the July Revolution of 1830.
Louis Philippe (r. 1830–1848) French constitutional
Italy, and Germany monarch, known as the “bourgeois king” for his un-
In France, nationalism played very little role in poli- pretentious lifestyle and political connections with the
bourgeoisie.
tics. After all, the French nation and the French state
were closely identified with each other, with non- carbonari Members of secret societies existing
throughout Europe, but especially in Italy, aiming to
French ethnic groups such as Basques, Bretons, and fight political reaction and work for liberal political
Catalans far from the capital and not politically organ- reform.
ized. In other parts of Europe, however, nationalism Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–1872) Italian political
was often the single greatest rallying cry for change thinker and revolutionary who advocated bringing
of the political status quo. Just to the north of France, together all Italians under a single republican
nationalism provided the driving force for a revolu- government.
tion in Belgium in 1830. At the Congress of Vienna,
584 CHAPTER 20 Restoration and Reform: Conservative and Liberal Europe, 1814–1847
The liberal Italian nationalist Giuseppe Mazzini (left) dedicated his life to the cause of Italian nationalism. Com-
pare his middle-class attire and scholarly expression to the excitingly unconventional dress of his contemporary
Giuseppe Garibaldi (right). Mazzini was the thinker most responsible for the resurgence of Italian national feel-
ing while Garibaldi was the fighter who helped put Mazzini’s ideals into practice. (left: The Granger Collection,
New York; right: Alinari Archives/The Image Works)
form Young Italy—“a brotherhood of Italians who be- middle-class origins (his father had been a physician
lieve in a law of progress and duty, and are convinced and professor at the University of Genoa), Garibaldi
that Italy is destined to become one nation.” His writ- came from a poor fisherman’s family. Mazzini was a
ings inspired the Risorgimento, a movement calling writer, thinker, and organizer. Garibaldi was an en-
for a renewal of Italian culture and nationalism. Mazz- thusiast, a revolutionary, and a military man. Indeed,
ini organized Young Italy throughout the Italian penin- few men so resembled the Romantic hero—passionate,
sula, often in dangerous circumstances, and gathered handsome, dedicated to a cause—as Garibaldi did.
funds for the cause from wealthy supporters. Though During the 1830s and 1840s, Garibaldi worked as a
Mazzini’s supporters often had to operate in secret sailor, fighting for republican liberties in Italy and
to avoid arrest, even in the 1830s the membership of South America. Only in 1848 would he return from
Young Italy was estimated at more than fifty thou-
sand people.
Risorgimento (from Italian, “to rise again”) Era of
One of those inspired by Mazzini’s Young Italy was
political and cultural nationalism in early nineteenth-
Giuseppe Garibaldi. Garibaldi and Mazzini shared century Italy calling for Italian unification and political
more than a first name. They were both born in north- liberalization.
ern Italy, barely two years apart. Both dedicated their Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807–1882) Italian political
lives to the Italian nation and were key figures in the leader who worked to translate Mazzini’s nationalist
unification of Italy. But there were also significant dif- ideas of Italian unification into reality.
ferences between the two men. While Mazzini was of
Political Pressures on the Continent 585
abstract concepts and to carry out modern scientific class so corrupt and violent that the Greek middle
research. More crucially still, these languages were class cobbled together an opposition that included
seldom written and were not standardized. Each Romanian landlords and the peasants. The subse-
tongue had many local dialects, and speakers of dif- quent revolt of 1821 was based on neither Greek nor
ferent dialects often had great difficulty understand- Romanian ethnicity but on a general call for justice
ing one another. Hence the early Balkan nationalists and an end to oppression. The rebels hoped for Rus-
were obliged to push their program on at least two sian assistance, but Tsar Nicholas I remained cool to
fronts: the cultural (to develop a modern written lan- their cause, thus enabling the Ottoman army to crush
guage and literature) and the political (to gain their the rebellion. While the revolt did not bring indepen-
own state or autonomy). dence to the provinces, it did strengthen the position
Nationalists’ programs also had a social compo- of local nobles, who replaced Greeks in high church
nent. Elites often differed in ethnicity and religion and administrative offices. Full autonomy was at-
from the peasant majority, a situation typical in east- tained in 1829, and in February 1862 the modern state
ern Europe and much of the world. In many regions, of Romania was created, officially still under Ottoman
such as the future Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, Christian control but in practical terms an independent consti-
peasants were ruled by Muslim landlords and officials. tutional monarchy. The choice of the name Romania
Thus, nationalists combined demands for political in- aimed to underscore the new state’s connection to
dependence, cultural rights, and social development classical civilization and the European mainstream.
of the impoverished masses. Nationalist feelings also strengthened in Greek
Nationalist aspirations first came to a head in the provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Greek nationalists
Pashalik (“district”) of Belgrade, where discontent took pride in the heritage of classical Greece, though
with Ottoman rule among Serbs ran high. When the the language of Plato and Aristotle had splintered
Austrians attacked Bosnia and Serbia (then part of into a bewildering array of mutually incomprehensi-
the Ottoman Empire) and captured Belgrade in 1789, ble dialects, their speakers divided by mountainous
some Serbs fought on the Austrian side. At the con- terrain. The question of what form of Greek to adopt
clusion of these wars in 1791, Serbs gained nothing. as the official, standard tongue continued to plague
The formation of Serbian military units, aimed against Greeks long after political independence had been
the violence of Ottoman troops, culminated in a full- won. Further complicating matters was the fact that
scale revolt beginning in 1804, a revolt not against the Greek merchants lived all around the Black Sea, in-
sultan but against his rebellious military units. Seek- cluding in territory ruled by the Russian tsar.
ing support from abroad, the Serbs turned to Russia, The Greek War of Independence broke out in April
whose similar language and Orthodox religion made 1821. Greek independence fighters attacked both Ot-
it a natural ally, and the Russians were sympathetic— toman authorities and local Muslims. Christian atroc-
interested, as always, in weakening the Ottomans. ities were matched by Ottoman reprisals, including
While Serb forces led by the remarkable peasant the slaughter of thousands of Greeks on the island of
leader Karadjordje Petrović scored initial successes, Chios and the hanging of the Greek Orthodox patri-
after several years of fighting their resistance was arch. Reports in the European press of Ottoman atroc-
worn down. In 1813 Karadjordje and his lieutenants ities (Christian atrocities against Muslims were
retreated across the Danube to Austria, but the strug- generally ignored) pushed the Concert of Europe to
gle was not lost. In 1815, another Serbian leader, Mi- intervene in support of the Greeks. England’s Ro-
loš Obrenović, gained from the sultan the title of mantic poet Lord Byron and other idealists set off for
supreme prince of Serbia. While Serbia officially re- Greece to fight for the Greek independence, often—
mained under Ottoman rule, for most practical pur- like Byron—sacrificing their lives. The rebellion ended
poses, local affairs in the Pashalik of Belgrade were with a treaty signed in London that created an auto-
now in the hands of Serbs. Official independence nomous (but not independent) Greek state. The new
came in 1833, along with an expansion of the borders state proved unworkable, and in 1830—in another
of Serbia and the establishment of the Obrenović Concert of Europe action—France and Russia estab-
dynasty on the Serbian throne. For the next century, lished Greek independence. Greece, like Belgium,
descendants of the two original Serbian rebels, Kara- was to be a constitutional monarchy, and Prince Otto
djordje and Miloš Obrenović, would occupy the Ser- of Bavaria became its first king. The new Greek state
bian (and later Yugoslav) thrones. was small; impoverished; and lacked a common lan-
To the east of Belgrade, in the Danubian provinces guage, administration, or educational system. The
of Walachia and Moldavia (now in Romania), an im- Greek nationalists had their state; they had now to
poverished peasantry was ruled by a Greek upper create the Greek nation.
Political Pressures on the Continent 587
liberal movements, and indeed of any abstract political The Russian intelligentsia emerged, a social group
ideologies, and now his worst fears were confirmed. whose identity derived not from birth (unlike the no-
His rule would be marked by an unwillingness to bility or peasantry) but from education and a desire
compromise with these new ideologies. Nicholas in- to work for the good of Russia and the Russian people.
sisted that the Russian Empire would remain an au- Such aspirations brought these reformers into direct
tocracy and that he alone would decide the country’s conflict with the inefficient but all-powerful Russian
political future. state—and Nicholas’s secret police. After midcentury,
Nowhere was the contrast between liberal nation- the Russian intelligentsia would split into liberals who
alism and the forces of conservatism so stark as in wished to reform Russia and revolutionaries who saw
Russian Poland. It was perhaps inevitable that the the present system as completely rotten and looked
Russian autocracy would clash with the leaders of the forward to its complete destruction. Nicholas was
autonomous Congress Poland also ruled by Nicholas successful in driving dissent underground during his
I, where many Poles believed that the new tsar was reign. In the long run, however, his refusal to accom-
violating their constitutional rights. A rebellion against modate new ideas or to share power even on a lim-
Russian rule broke out in Warsaw in November 1830, ited level alienated most educated Russians from
but the rebels, counting on French help for their inde- their rulers and helped pave the way for a far more
pendence struggle, miscalculated badly. The French destructive revolution.
were unwilling to provide more than verbal support,
and, after initial Polish successes, the Russian army
crushed the rebellion. Most Polish peasants refused
to support the rebels, seeing in them not national kin Reform in Great Britain
but hated landlords. Nicholas abolished the Polish
➜
ify itself to accommodate new ideologies and social Catholic Emancipation Act, Catholics and dissenters
classes, and in the second half of the century most (non-Anglican Christians) gained the right to partici-
worker demands would be realized. By agreeing to pate in Parliament and to occupy all public offices in
timely reforms, Great Britain avoided the social and the realm, with the exception of lord chancellor of
political turmoil that occurred in other parts of Europe. England and lord lieutenant of Ireland. The practical
effect of this measure was not immediately great—
very few Catholics in England and Ireland were
Conservative Domination wealthy enough to qualify for the vote—but the meas-
and Reform ure was significant as a further step toward religious
toleration in Britain. English Jews also gained rights
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, political in this period. The first bill for Jewish emancipation
participation in Great Britain was limited to an ex- (that is, completely equal rights with Christians)
tremely small group of men (women would continue passed the House of Commons in 1833 but was de-
to be shut out for another century). Both political par- feated in the House of Lords. However, individual
ties—the conservative Tories and the more liberal Jews were knighted (Moses Montefiore, in 1837), ad-
Whigs—were dominated by the aristocracy, but the mitted to the bar, and elevated into the hereditary no-
Whigs were more sympathetic to opening the politi- bility (Isaac Goldsmid, in 1841). The process of Jewish
cal system to wealthy middle-class men. King George emancipation was completed in 1858 when Lionel de
III was still on the throne, though his off-and-on in- Rothschild was—after more than a decade of de-
sanity meant that his son, crowned George IV in 1820, bate—allowed to take the oath on a Hebrew Bible and
often carried out his father’s duties. Ruling in his take his seat in the House of Commons.
own right, George IV discredited the Crown (and
thereby played into the hands of political reformers)
by his immoral behavior, including his notorious at- The Reform Bill of 1832 and the
tempt to divorce his estranged wife, Caroline, and his Abolition Act of 1833
unwillingness to allow her to be crowned queen.
The first decade after 1815 was dominated by the King George IV died in 1830 and was succeeded by
Tories, who set a very conservative course by passing his son William IV. In the parliamentary elections
the Corn Laws. These laws, which for all practical that, by tradition, accompanied the ascension of a new
purposes prevented the import of cheap grain (“corn”) king, the position of the more liberal Whigs and their
into Great Britain, were designed to reduce British middle-class supporters was strengthened by the ex-
dependence on foreign foodstuffs, but they had a dis- ample of France, where the conservative Bourbon dy-
astrous effect on the poor. By keeping the price of nasty had been toppled, replaced by a new political
grain—and thus bread—high, they impoverished order under the “bourgeois king” Louis Philippe.
working people, who had to spend most of their tiny
wages on food. In Manchester, which tripled in size
between 1801 and 1831 (to a population of 238,000) as Tories Conservatives, one of the two ruling parties in
peasants from the countryside took jobs in new tex- nineteenth-century Britain.
tile factories, a series of public meetings culminated Whigs Liberals, the Tories’ rivals in the British
in 1819 with the notorious Peterloo Massacre. A cav- Parliament.
alry charge dispersing the more than sixty thousand George IV (r. 1820–1830) King of Great Britain and
people gathered to petition Parliament for political Ireland, hated for his sexual immorality; most notori-
representation and repeal of the Corn Laws ended ous for his failed attempt to divorce his wife, Caroline,
with eleven dead and hundreds injured. The govern- in 1820.
ment’s answer to the public uproar after Peterloo was Corn Laws Series of laws passed in 1815 that pre-
to restrict civil liberties and free speech. In 1824, how- vented the import of grain (“corn”) until prices
reached a certain (high) level; kept grain and bread
ever, Parliament repealed the Combination Acts, prices high; repealed in 1846.
which had forbidden workers from forming unions.
Peterloo massacre Repression of workers’ gathering at
Strikes were still illegal, but the important right of la- St. Peter’s Fields outside Manchester in 1819, leaving
bor to organize had been won. eleven killed and hundreds injured.
The Tory administration also took an important Catholic Emancipation Act Act of 1829 allowing
step toward fulfilling the liberal principle that reli- Catholics to be elected to Parliament and to serve in
gion should not bar an individual from full participa- most public offices in Great Britain.
tion in political and social life. In 1829, with the
590 CHAPTER 20 Restoration and Reform: Conservative and Liberal Europe, 1814–1847
Britain’s captains of industry likewise wanted to make of general commitment to free trade and because the
their importance felt, arguing for a government that higher cost of bread put pressure on the wages they
would support the interests of manufacturing and had to pay workers. Two outspoken opponents to the
trade rather than representing only landowners and Corn Laws elected to Parliament in the 1840s were
landowning interests. To accommodate the wealthy John Bright, son of a cotton manufacturer in Lan-
manufacturers, parliamentary districts, unchanged cashire, and Richard Cobden, a calico printer from
since the seventeenth century, had to be modernized. Manchester. Both proponents of laissez-faire econom-
Since that time, the huge shifts in population that ac- ics, they had founded the Anti–Corn Law League in
companied industrialization had created entire dis- 1838, an effective and well-financed pressure group
tricts controlled by a few large landowners (pocket that rapidly came to exert influence even on the Tory
boroughs) and depopulated districts where only a prime minister, Sir Robert Peel. The league was also
few dozen people lived (rotten boroughs), while extremely successful in appealing to the working
large industrial cities like Manchester and Birming- class with slogans such as “Give Us This Day Our Daily
ham had no representatives in Parliament at all. Bread,” taken from scripture. The actual repeal of the
Once in power, the Whigs pushed the Reform Bill Corn Laws came, however, as a direct result of one of
of 1832 through Parliament. Though suffrage was the most tragic events of the nineteenth century—the
still tied to a property qualification, the new law in- Irish potato famine.
creased the number of voters by 50 percent and sig- Ireland was, at the time, an impoverished and
nificantly redistributed parliamentary representation backward colony of England. The landed gentry was
to benefit the heavily populated new industrial cities. almost entirely Protestant, and often absentee, while
In short, the Reform Bill of 1832 was a triumph for the Catholic peasantry eked out a miserable existence
English liberalism, the first step in a gradual expan- on shrinking plots of land, living entirely on potatoes,
sion of the political system set in motion by an en- a New World vegetable adopted by Irish peasants be-
lightened class of relatively privileged individuals. cause it produced more calories per planted acre than
Men espousing the liberal ideals of constitutional any other crop. By 1840, it was clear that the land and
rule, free trade, and a gradually expanding electorate people were stretched to their utmost limits. Then
now increasingly took seats in Parliament. Still, only fungus struck the Irish potato crop, wiping out suste-
one in five Englishmen could vote. Reform bills in nance for millions. The Protestant landowners and
1867 and 1884 further extended the franchise, but not English Parliament seemed indifferent to the famine,
until the twentieth century was universal suffrage— and from 1845 to the end of the decade millions in Ire-
for all men and women—achieved. land either starved or left their homes for England or
Liberals had long championed the cause of abol- the United States. Around one-third of the Irish pop-
ishing slavery. British law did not recognize slavery ulation perished or emigrated. To this day, the popu-
within England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, and in lation of Ireland remains lower than it was two
1807 Parliament had forbidden British vessels and hundred years ago—a fact unparalleled in European
captains from engaging in the slave trade. But in de- demographic history.
manding the complete abolition of slavery, liberals In the public mind, the Corn Laws had been a de-
found themselves in a perplexing ideological posi- cisive factor in causing the famine by preventing grain
tion. The demand for human liberty was, of course,
central to liberalism. But so was the protection of pri-
vate property, and slaves were, after all, a form of pocket boroughs and rotten boroughs Electoral
property. In 1833, this contradiction was overcome districts in Britain that were controlled by a single
when Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act, landowner or where few people lived, respectively,
which abolished slavery throughout the British Em- abolished by the 1832 Reform Bill.
pire. At the same time, the enormous amount of 20 Reform Bill of 1832 British reform increasing suffrage
million was appropriated by Parliament to pay slave and redistributing electoral districts to reflect actual
population, thereby giving more representation to
owners for their freed “property.” In this way, British industrial cities.
liberals succeeded in extending basic human liberty
Richard Cobden (1804–1865) English liberal who in
to slaves while compensating their former owners. 1838 formed the Anti–Corn Law League to fight for
free trade in grain.
The Repeal of the Corn Laws Irish potato famine Demographic catastrophe in the
mid- to late 1840s caused by a fungus infection, or
The expanded Parliament now included middle-class blight, of the Irish peasantry’s staple food, the potato.
manufacturers who opposed the Corn Laws both out
Reform in Great Britain 591
An 1842 law prohibited women from underground triumphed over the interests of the manufacturers.
work in the mines. Most path-breaking of all, an 1847 Thus, in England parliamentary rule proved capable
act forbade women and children from working more of reform and of responding to the needs of the people
than ten hours a day. Government’s responsibility for in time to prevent either the middle-class revolt that
regulating the conditions of labor was now firmly es- reformed France or the working-class revolution that
tablished, as the interests of public order and safety in the next century would convulse Russia.
In what ways did the Congress of Vienna help shape would have to be carved from the existing multina-
Europe and European politics? tional imperial states. In this era, Belgians, Greeks,
➜
What were the major demands of nationalists? Which Serbs, and Romanians had varying degrees of success
governments felt particularly threatened by such in establishing autonomous nation-states. National-
demands? ists in German, Italian, and Polish lands demanded
➜
In what ways did national identity expand and deepen unitary liberal nation-states that would unite their
in this period? What effect did Romanticism have on
this process?
peoples, setting in motion trends that would be real-
ized for an increasing number of nations after 1848.
An exception to the conservative domination in this
The period 1814–1847, unlike the years preceding and period was Great Britain. Here middle-class liberals
following, was not one marked by great upheaval or were successful in passing many significant reforms—
striking events. It makes sense to think of these broadening the suffrage, reforming parliamentary rep-
decades as a “breathing space,” a rest between the ex- resentation, eliminating legal discrimination against
hilarating and terrifying years of revolution and war non-Anglican Christians, and ending slavery in the
before 1814 and the revolutions and growing political British Empire. Even so, in midcentury Great Britain
ferment after 1847. Yet there were local wars and a se- was hardly a democracy, and full voting rights for the
ries of revolts in 1830–1831 that registered growing working class and for women would not come until
discontent, as did the writings of intellectuals and the the next century. Yet Britain’s series of reforms, gradu-
responses of politicians. Meanwhile, the most impor- ally expanding political participation and government
tant political ideologies of the modern era began to protections for workers, modeled a political process
take shape. that contrasted sharply with politics elsewhere in Eu-
While conservatives like Metternich aimed to re- rope. In Britain, political leaders responded to the
store the political institutions of the Old Regime as needs and demands of those who did not have the vote
much as possible, middle-class liberals had markedly in order to control reform from the top down. Else-
different political goals. They opposed the privileges where in Europe, rulers suppressed calls for increased
and exclusivity of the aristocratic order upheld by political participation, forcing liberals and national-
Metternich and argued that the limitations placed on ists to take to the streets in armed revolts. Reform—if
their political rights harmed not just themselves but it happened—was directed from the bottom up. In 1848
the entire nation. Only through constitutions enshrin- and through the rest of the nineteenth century, the pat-
ing the rule of law under which all were equal, the terns of revolution and progressive reform would bring
liberals insisted, could the entire nation live in free- sweeping changes to European politics and society.
dom, justice, and prosperity. Progressive reforms, ar-
gued liberals, would unite and uplift the entire nation.
For liberals throughout Europe, the constitutional ➜
Thinking Back, Thinking Ahead ➜
monarchy in Great Britain represented the ideal. While
conservative forces continued to rule over most of How did the political ideals of nineteenth-century
Europe, a rapid expansion of the middle class and the liberals reflect ideals of the Enlightenment?
circulation of liberal ideas by educated professional How did these ideals differ from the political
people laid the ground for political reforms in the sec- ideology of absolutism?
ond half of the nineteenth century.
Websites 593
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Frankenstein
The story of a man-made monster who turns on his creator is both a nightmare and a metaphor for the
destructive potential of human creativity. An early version is a sixteenth-century story in which Rabbi Loew
of Prague creates a servant for himself out of clay. He breathes life into it—with the help of a few strategi-
cally placed Hebrew letters. As with the later and more famous Frankenstein, Rabbi Loew’s creation gets out
of hand and has to be destroyed.
The famous Frankenstein comes from a novel by the English writer Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, daughter
of the writer and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and wife of the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Mary
Shelley was only eighteen years old when, one night, the poet Lord Byron challenged his guests to come
up with a ghost story. In response, Mary Shelley wrote her masterpiece, Frankenstein; or, The Modern
Prometheus (1818). It tells of a Swiss chemist, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who in his anatomical research dis-
covers the secret of life. Working secretly at night, the scientist stitches together a human form to which he
gives life. Dr. Frankenstein’s pride in his creation turns to horror when “the monster” escapes and carries
out a series of murders. But who is to blame? Confronting his creation on a mountain glacier, Dr. Franken-
stein reproaches the monster, who retorts that it is not his fault that he is not “Adam”—a good man—but
“the fallen angel,” seeking joy but forever shut out and persecuted. Unfortunately, the good Dr. Franken-
stein’s efforts to redeem his creation and “friend” (as he calls the monster) come to nothing. After more
(implied) sex and (explicit) violence, the guilt-wracked creature destroys himself.
Mary Shelley’s story reflects both its own time and ours. The Romantics of the early nineteenth century
were deeply troubled by a world in which religion and spirituality seemed to be losing ground to crass ma-
terialism and cold scientific rationality. In their own poetic works, they extravagantly compared themselves
to God: they, too, were creating new worlds. Dr. Frankenstein’s creation is motivated by the same kind of
search for knowledge, but the outcome of his experiment is tragic for all concerned. In our time, too, we
both enjoy and mistrust the consequences of scientific research. Looking at the mushroom cloud of the first
successful atomic bomb test in 1945, the physicist Robert Oppenheimer recalled a phrase from the Bha-
gavad Gita: “I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
Suggested Readings
Blum, Jerome. In the Beginning—The Advent of the Modern Hobsbawm, Eric. The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789–1848.
Age: Europe in the 1840s. New York: Scribner’s, 1994. An ac- New York: Barnes & Noble, 1996. A path-breaking synthesis.
count arguing that “modernity” begins in the 1840s; excellent Ó Gráda, Cormac. The Great Irish Famine. Basingstoke, Eng-
on political and intellectual history, with many fascinating an- land: Macmillan Education, 1989. Concise treatment of the
ecdotes. famine itself and its effect on Irish history.
Chapman, Tim. The Congress of Vienna: Origins, Processes and Riasanovsky, Nicholas. Nicholas I and Official Nationality in
Results. London and New York: Routledge, 1998. Very clear and Russia, 1825–1855. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of
concise discussion of the congress itself and diplomacy to 1848. California Press, 1959. Still the best account of politics and in-
Gellner, Ernest. Nations and Nationalism. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell tellectual life under Nicholas I.
University Press, 1983. A challenging and extremely influential Thompson, Dorothy. The Chartists. London: Temple Smith,
theoretical work. 1984. A detailed history of the movement.
Websites
Web resources on Romanticism, Prometheus Unplugged, at Clearinghouse of information on the Brothers Grim, The Grimm
http://prometheus.cc.emory.edu/library.html Brothers’ Home Page, at www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm.html
The Austrian statesman and his place in history, Graf Clemens
Wenzel Lothar Metternich, at www.aeiou.at/aeiou.encyclop
.m/m583439.htm
594
CHAPTER
Industrialization and
Society, 1800–1850
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1820s 1824
1810s 1815 Industrialization British
Luddite revolts protest Napoleon is begins in Combination
industrialization in finally defeated Belgium and Acts are
England at Waterloo northern France repealed
ATLANTIC Stockholm
OCEAN Moscow
Riga
UNITED KINGDOM North
OF GREAT BRITAIN Sea
AND IRELAND
Newcastle Baltic
DENMARK Copenhagen Sea
Dublin
IRELAND
Liverpool
Manchester
Leeds
RUSSIAN
Birmingham El Danzig EMPI RE
KINGDOM OF THE
be
NETHERLANDS
RUS SIA Vis
tu l
London
Amsterdam
M OF P a
Antwerp
G DO Berlin Warsaw
Railroads Essen
IN Göttingen
K Kiev
R hi
Coalfields Liége
Cologne SAXONY
D n ie
ne
per
Industrial areas Frankfurt Cracow
Se
ne Luxembourg Prague
i
Black
Danube Sea
Belgrade
AL
Eb Marseilles
A
r TUSCANY PAPAL
dr
ia
UG
KINGDOM OF STATES
Madrid Elba ti
c
RT
Rome
a T
T
O
Sardinia KINGDOM M
A N
OF THE E M
TWO SICILIES P I R E
Med
ite
rra Sicily
Athens
ne
an
ALGIERS Malta
MOROCCO
(Gr. Br.) Se
a
0 200 400 Km.
595
596 CHAPTER 21 Industrialization and Society, 1800–1850
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Friedrich Engels Denounces
Capitalist Exploitation
Friedrich Engels was just twenty-two when his father sent him away from
home to keep him out of trouble. Home was Barmen (now Wuppertal),
Germany, where the family owned textile mills. The “trouble” was
Friedrich’s interest in philosophy, which caused him to reject his father’s
stern brand of Christianity. Hoping to distract his son from such irreligious
studies, the elder Engels sent young Friedrich to manage a textile mill out-
side Manchester, England, in which the family had an interest.
Once in Manchester, young Engels was appalled by what he saw: over-
crowded housing; entire districts lacking sewers and clean drinking water;
families competing for foul, half-rotten food. The horrifying conditions in
which the working people of Manchester lived changed Engels’s life, caus-
ing him to dedicate his life to exposing the misery caused by industrial
capitalism and to helping workers organize to improve their lives. Engels
Friedrich Engels decided to write a book. Though he represented his father’s interests at the
mill during the day, at night he roamed the slums of Manchester, gathering mate-
The impact of industrializa- rial for what would be published as The Condition of the Working Class in England
tion was dramatic and in in 1844.
many ways appalling. Engels documented entire families living in a single room, sleeping together in
Friedrich Engels (1820–1895) a single bed that was alive with lice and vermin. He recorded the physical effects
came from Germany to Eng- of grueling work, poor nutrition, and lack of hygiene. These terrible living condi-
land as a young man to work tions meant that the majority of industrial workers died before they reached the
at his father’s textile plant in age of twenty. Even as he gathered his data, Engels was asking himself more
Manchester. What he saw fundamental questions: What factors cause such poverty? How could factories
there made him condemn that were so efficient at increasing production make the lives of their workers
industrial capitalism as cruel so miserable? In short, Engels wanted to understand the workings of industrial
and inhumane. His first major capitalism.
work, The Condition of the In 1844, Engels returned home to Germany, stopping on the way in Paris to
Working-Class in England in meet Karl Marx. Within two years, the two young men (Marx was only two years
1844, revealed the miserable older than Engels) would be calling themselves communists and calling for an
conditions of industrial work- overthrow of the present economic and political order. But for now Engels went
ers and became a classic of home to write his book. It was published the next year in German, but its dedica-
socialist literature. tion was in English: “To the Working Classes of Great-Britain.” Engels praised Eng-
(Bettmann/Corbis) lish workers, dedicated his book to them, and urged them to fight for their rights
against “the middle classes [who] intend to enrich themselves by your labour.”
This was more than a documented report; it was a political manifesto, and En-
gels called on England’s workers to take control of their own destiny. Scholars at
the time and later complained that Engels exaggerated the misery wrought by
industrialization, provided a one-sided picture of life in Manchester, and based his
sweeping accusations against the middle class on his own narrow experience in
Barmen and Manchester. These criticisms are reasonable, but on another level they
miss the point. Engels was not writing a scholarly analysis; he was trying to change
the world. His conclusion was a warning: “The war of the poor against the rich will
Introduction 597
be the most bloodthirsty the world has ever seen.” This war would be a revolu-
tion, he claimed, that would usher in a world of justice and dignity for all.
In 1848, only three years after the book’s publication, revolutions did sweep the
European continent, including Germany. In the same year, Marx and Engels pub-
lished the famous Communist Manifesto, in which they argued that a workers’
revolution would soon put an end to capitalism. The workers’ revolution did not
come in 1848. For political reasons, both Marx and Engels had to flee their native
Germany and live in permanent exile in England. There they maintained a fruitful
partnership and friendship that lasted until Marx’s death in 1883.
While Engels’s Conditions of the Working Class in England made him famous
among German radicals, it was not published in England until 1891. Still, the
book’s impact was enormous. For some young Russian socialists, Engels’s descrip-
tions of the degradations of industrial capitalism made them hope to avoid indus-
trialism altogether—an aim that Marx and Engels firmly rejected as impossible and
undesirable. Instead, Engels argued, radicals needed to harness industrialization’s
wealth-generating power for the good of all workers and all society. In a sense
Engels did this himself as an individual: he worked all his life as a businessman and
manufacturer, devoting much of his income to radical causes and supporting the
ever-impoverished Marx family. Ironically, industrial capitalism made Engels a radi-
cal and also financed his quest to destroy it.
Chronology
1799–1800 English Combination Acts prohibit strikes 1834 Zollverein (German Customs Union) established to
and unions promote trade
1801 Joseph Marie Jacquard invents the 1835 First German railroad opens
automated loom
1838 Iron steamships compete in race across the
1810s Luddites revolt in England Atlantic to New York
1815 British Parliament passes Corn Laws 1839 Prussia forbids the employment of children under
nine in factories
1815 End of Napoleonic Wars
1840s Beginnings of industrialization in central Europe
1824 Repeal of Combination Acts permits labor unions
1847 British Factory Act limits the number of hours
1820s Industrialization begins in Belgium, northern women and children can work in textile factories
France
1848 Revolutions sweep Europe;
1829 First steam locomotive, the Rocket, travels from Marx and Engels publish The Communist
Liverpool to Manchester in test race Manifesto
1830s–early 1840s Chartists protest British 1859 Samuel Smiles publishes Self-Help
Corn Laws
1851 First major Russian railway opens, linking
1831 Belgium’s independence encourages industry Moscow and St. Petersburg;
Half of English population lives in cities
1831 Workers in Lyon Destroy Jacquard loom to protest
industrialization
Founded in the late eighteenth century by an English entrepreneur, the Le Creusot ironworks in the Burgundy
region to the southeast of Paris became one of the most advanced in France. The company would later develop
into France’s largest arms manufacturer. The enormous amount of pollution generated by the ironworks is
evident in this image. (Roger-Viollet/The Image Works)
resources including coal and iron, and sophisticated to use modern industrial techniques, such as the
scientists and artisans. For example, French gunsmith Jacquard loom. On the whole, however, most French
Honoré Le Blanc had pioneered the use of inter- manufacturers continued to produce small amounts
changeable parts in the mid-eighteenth century, and of high-quality luxury items rather than the cheap
in 1801 inventor Joseph Marie Jacquard invented a mass-produced articles of the industrial age.
power loom that could be programmed to produce French industrialization before 1850 was concen-
different patterns of cloth. On the other hand, most trated in Alsace-Lorraine, in the northeast, and in the
French peasants continued to live on their own small northern part of the country, where coal and iron re-
farms and were not interested in becoming industrial serves were located. In the 1830s the first French rail-
workers, whereas in England large numbers of land- roads were built, and in 1842 the government set
less peasants had little alternative. The French govern- down a master plan for railroad construction. Private
ment, again unlike the British, did little to encourage a firms built the lines, but with considerable government
“pro-industrialization climate”; Le Blanc’s innovation aid and, later, profit guarantees. This cooperation be-
of interchangeable parts was not taken up in France tween government and private business would be-
and had to wait for another inventor, the American come typical for the construction of railroads from
Eli Whitney, to be introduced into manufacturing. France to Russia. By 1850, one could go by rail from
The size of France and the lack of economical trans- Paris to Brussels, Frankfurt, Bordeaux, and Marseilles
port delayed industrialization in many regions until via Lyon. Even greater railroad expansion would
the coming of the railroads. come in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Traditionally, French manufacturing had concen-
trated on high-quality luxury items like silk, fine
carpets, and exquisite furniture. Entrepreneurs and interchangeable parts Precision manufacture of iden-
skilled workers in these traditional manufactures tical parts so that if the original part breaks or wears
out, it can be replaced.
were hostile to the idea of mass production, which,
Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752–1834) French inventor
they claimed, was capable of producing only cheap and businessman who used punch cards to “program”
and shoddy articles. Jacquard’s looms were attacked complicated weaving styles on the power looms called
and destroyed by angry weavers. Despite the resis- by his name.
tance of skilled artisans, industrialization did ad- Alsace-Lorraine Region of northeastern France in
vance in France. In the Paris region, modern textile which French industrialization was concentrated be-
factories were established, and the long-standing silk fore 1850.
industry in France’s second-largest city, Lyon, began
The Spread of Industrialization 601
In the German lands, industry grew up on top of ways took a much more active role in regulating rela-
coal fields in the Ruhr and Saxony, and entrepreneurs tions between capitalists and industrial workers. They
built small factories in the Prussian capital, Berlin. In also protected their new industries through high tar-
1837, August Borsig set up a machine shop there that iffs that discouraged the consumption of imported
would become one of the largest locomotive factories goods by increasing their price. Many argued that
in Europe. Ten years later, Werner Siemens established Britain’s great head start in industrialization made it
a company in Berlin to manufacture telegraph equip- necessary to shield developing industry from a flood
ment; Siemens remains a major manufacturer of elec- of cheap British manufactures. Britain, in contrast, had
tronic goods in the twenty-first century. Despite the long been a promoter of free trade—that is, British
fact that industrialization had come to many German trade.
regions in the 1840s, most Germans continued to live
on the countryside and earn their livelihood from the The Revolution in Transportation
soil. In Prussia, less than 10 percent of the population
lived in cities larger than 20,000, even in 1849, and only New industries required the transport of both raw
two Prussian cities boasted populations above 100,000. materials and manufactured goods. At first, rivers
At the same time, the German Customs Union and canals were sufficient, but they were rapidly sup-
(Zollverein), established in 1834, helped push Ger- planted by railroads. Railroads originated in the coal
man industrialization forward by enabling industri- mines of Britain, where the difficulty of bringing the
alists to sell their products freely across a large area. heavy, bulky coal to the surface called forth a simple
While the Zollverein did not include all German but ingenious solution: coal wagons on metal rails.
states, it laid the groundwork for an economically Soon the principle was transferred outside the mines.
and politically united Germany. Economically, it cre- At first, horses pulled these wagons on metal tracks,
ated a market of 26 million potential customers. Rail- but it was only logical that animal power would be
roads followed rapidly. The first German line ran replaced by steam. The culmination of this process
from Nuremberg to Fürth in Bavaria—a distance of occurred in 1829, when George Stephenson’s loco-
only a few kilometers—in 1835, but by 1850, Ger- motive, the Rocket, won a competition for the new
many could boast of nearly six thousand kilometers
of railroad lines, nearly double that of France. As in
France, in central Europe governments promoted rail- Ruhr Region in western Germany that became a center
road building. Often the Prussian, Saxon, or Austrian of industrial production and metal industry.
governments would guarantee profits for a certain Saxony Region in southeastern Germany, formerly an
stretch of track to the company willing to undertake independent kingdom, important in German industri-
alization.
its construction. Private investors would then pro-
vide the capital for railroad building, confident that Werner Siemens (1816–1892) German inventor and
businessman who established his first factory in Berlin
their investment would make a reasonable return. In in 1847 and was a major figure in the manufacture of
this way, the construction of German railroads in- electrical goods.
volved much more state support than had been the Zollverein German Customs Union, or free-trade area,
case in Britain. dominated by Prussia and important in Prussian unifi-
Industrialization on the continent always looked cation of Germany in 1871.
to the example of Britain. For many, like Friedrich En- Friedrich Engels (1820–1895) Karl Marx’s closest
gels, this example was negative (see Choice). Industri- collaborator, son of a German industrialist who spent
alization in Britain had caused misery for thousands most of his life in England.
of workers, who crowded into the new industrial proletariat Industrial workers or, more generally,
towns and lived in dark and squalid slums. From the people who own absolutely nothing except their own
labor.
start, continental governments feared the revolution-
ary potential of impoverished industrial workers, or capitalists Individuals whose income comes from
capital—wealth in money rather than land—invested
the proletariat, a word that rapidly appeared in many in factories and commerce for profit.
European languages. And they took action in a way tariffs Taxes charged on imported goods that raise
that Britain, devoted to laissez-faire economics, did consumer costs and add to government revenues.
not. Not only did continental governments promote George Stephenson (1781–1848) English railroad
railroads; they restricted the use of child labor and pioneer, inventor, and engineer responsible for some of
more closely regulated the conditions of industrial Britain’s earliest locomotives and rail lines in the 1820s
work than in Britain, hoping to reduce working-class and 1830s.
discontent. In short, governments on the continent al-
602 CHAPTER 21 Industrialization and Society, 1800–1850
Manchester-Liverpool line by traveling at a top speed ficient. In 1838, two iron steamships, the Great West-
of twenty-nine miles per hour over thirty-five miles. ern and the Sirius, raced across the Atlantic to New
The railroad age had begun. York, making the journey in a record-breaking fifteen
In next two decades, more than six thousand miles days. Rapidly, wooden sailing vessels were retired,
of track were laid in Britain. On the European conti- no longer able to compete.
nent, railroad construction was also impressive: by Industrialization spurred improvements in roads
1850, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Frankfurt, and other ma- and overland transport as well. At the beginning of
jor cities were linked by rail. The first railroad entre- the century, roads in most parts of Europe were worse
preneurs envisioned these new “iron roads” mainly than they had been during the Roman Empire eighteen
as means of bringing bulky raw materials like coal or centuries earlier. But by 1850, significant improve-
iron ore to factories and manufactured products to ments had been made, partly in connection with the
market (such as textiles from Manchester to the port creation of a European-wide postal system. Post roads
of Liverpool). Very soon, however, railroads were car- with stations where horses could be changed were es-
rying not just freight but also large numbers of tablished along major trade routes from England to
people. Railroads made it easier for country people to Russia. In Britain, by 1830 more than a thousand pri-
migrate to the city in search of work, thereby increas- vate “turnpike trusts” had built roads and were then
ing the labor pool for further industrialization. charging tolls to recover their investment. John Mc-
Steam engines proved easier to use in locomotives Adam, surveyor for the Bristol Turnpike Trust, devel-
than in ships. Harnessing steam to propel watercraft oped a method of road construction that improved
was plagued by two separate difficulties. First, a high foundations and drainage. His method, using gravel
degree of efficiency was required because of a boat’s and broken rock, formed a hard surface that was
limited ability to carry coal. Second, for an onboard more durable and less muddy than dirt roads. Soon
steam engine, safety was extremely important, as an similar roads were being built throughout Europe,
explosion could well mean the destruction of the en- called in many different languages “macadam.”
tire ship, possibly far out at sea. These problems were Water transport was also important for transport-
effectively solved by the late 1830s, however, and by ing raw materials and manufactured goods. Though
midcentury steamships were replacing even the swift- the Bridgewater Canal, built in 1761 to carry coal by
sailing clippers on the open seas. Steamships were in-
novative not only in their use of steam propulsion but John McAdam (1756—1836) Scottish engineer who
also in their construction, being made of iron instead developed a technique for a harder, less muddy road
of wood. The use of iron in shipbuilding allowed ships surface known as “macadam” in various languages.
to be larger, more durable, and economically more ef-
The Spread of Industrialization 603
barge to Manchester, was hard pressed by competi- required servants, who added to the population. For
tion from the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad, the all these reasons, industrial cities grew at breathtak-
canal’s success in generating an entire network of ing rates, so fast that available housing was over-
canals around Manchester inspired the Erie Canal in whelmed. As thousands of strangers were forced to
New York State. This canal’s completion in 1825, con- live and work together in small, cramped spaces, dis-
necting the Hudson River and Lake Erie, opened the ease and crime were the inevitable result.
American interior to overseas commerce. Even back- The English city of Manchester offers a spectacu-
ward Russia improved its canal system, in 1808 lar example of population growth. Located some
rebuilding the Moscow-Petersburg canal first con- thirty miles from the English port of Liverpool, Man-
structed by Peter the Great, and linking the Vistula, chester had long been a center of wool cloth produc-
Bug, and Dnieper Rivers by canal in 1841 to allow the tion, powered mainly by human muscle. But directly
passage of goods by water from the Baltic to the Black under and surrounding the city were huge coal de-
Sea. Many smaller canals throughout Europe con- posits that would fuel the transition to steam power,
nected industry with raw materials and markets, in- and the opening of the Bridgewater Canal made coal
creasingly working together with railroads. transport cheap. These three factors—closeness to a
port, large reserves of coal, and available skilled la-
The Social Impacts of borers—made Manchester the birthplace of industri-
alization. In 1750, the city’s population was 20,000. In
Industrialization the next twenty-five years, the population doubled,
The most noticeable—even shocking—impact of in- but that was before industrial take-off. By 1831, the
dustrialization was urbanization, the rapid growth population had soared to more than 250,000, and by
of cities. In the first half of the nineteenth century, 1850, it was 400,000.
hundreds of thousands of individuals both in Britain
and on the continent left the countryside for work in
cities. Factory owners needed large numbers of work- urbanization Process by which cities grow as popula-
tion shifts from rural to urban areas; a major effect of
ers, and these were most readily available in large industrialization.
population centers. New factories built in the coun-
New Lanark Cotton mill town on Clyde River in
tryside to take advantage of waterpower, such as the Scotland where Robert Owen combined profit making
mills established at the falls of the Clyde in Scotland, with efforts to improve workers’ lives.
soon drew so many workers that mills became towns— Robert Owen (1771–1858) Scottish industrialist and
in this case New Lanark, Robert Owen’s model fac- utopian socialist who attempted to incorporate cooper-
tory town. Because workers required food, clothing, ative principles in his factories.
medical care, and housing, yet more people migrated Manchester Textile manufacturing city in northern
to the industrialized towns to provide these services. England.
Factory owners and managers in their large houses
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Friedrich Engels Describes the Condition of
the Working Class in England
Friedrich Engels, the son of a German textile manufacturer, saw the impact of
industrialization in England firsthand when his father sent him to work in a family-
owned textile mill there. The conditions in which working-class people labored in
England appalled Engels, compelling him to write his first book, The Condition of
the Working Class in England in 1844. Engels was only twenty-five when the book
was published. It gained widespread attention and favorably impressed young
Karl Marx, who soon became Engels’s friend and collaborator.
604 CHAPTER 21 Industrialization and Society, 1800–1850
Sixty, eighty years ago, England was a country like every other, with small towns,
few and simple industries, and a thin but proportionally large agricultural popula-
➜ Name some of the ways tion. ➜ Today it is a country like no other; with a capital of two and a half million
that industrialization trans- inhabitants; with vast manufacturing cities; with an industry that supplies the
formed England’s society. world and produces almost everything by means of the most complex machinery;
According to Engels, how with an industrious, intelligent, dense population, of
typical was England in this which two-thirds are employed in trade and commerce,
respect in 1844? ➜ and composed of classes wholly different; forming, ➜ What does Engels
in fact, with other customs and other needs, a different mean when he claims
nation from the England of those days. The Industrial that England is “com-
Revolution is of the same importance for England as posed of classes
the political revolution for France. wholly different” and
A manufacturing establishment requires many work- “a different nation” in
ers employed together in a single building, living near 1844 than it had been
each other and forming a village of themselves in the sixty years earlier?
➜ Why would artisans be case of a good-sized factory. ➜ They have needs for
attracted to a growing town satisfying which other people are necessary; handi-
around a factory? craftsmen, shoemakers, tailors, bakers, carpenters,
stonemasons, settle at hand. ➜ The inhabitants of the ➜ Describe the steps
village, especially the younger generation, accustom by which a factory
themselves to factory work, grow skilful in it, and when town becomes an
the first mill can no longer employ them all, wages fall, industrial city, ac-
and the immigration of fresh manufacturers is the cording to Engels.
consequence. So the village grows into a small town,
and the small town into a large one.
➜ What did Engels have in ➜ Londoners have been forced to sacrifice the best qualities of their human
mind when he wrote of nature, to bring to pass all the marvels of civilisation which crowd their
London’s “marvels of city. . . . What is true of London, is true of Manchester,
civilisation”? Birmingham, Leeds, is true of all great towns. ➜ The
dwellings of the workers are everywhere badly planned, ➜ Why do you think
that workers’ housing,
badly built, and kept in the worst condition, badly
clothing, and food
ventilated, damp, and unwholesome. The inhabitants
was of such bad
are confined to the smallest possible space, and at least
quality?
one family usually sleeps in each room. . . . The clothing
of the workers, too, is generally scanty, and that of
great multitudes is in rags. The food is in general, bad.
This rapid growth came at an enormous price: liberal French writer Alexis de Tocqueville observed,
overcrowding, industrial pollution, and filth in the “From this filthy sewer pure gold flows.”
streets that made the stench of Manchester fabled. Unscrupulous landlords threw up cheap, unventi-
The air was full of soot and exhaust gases from the lated, and crowded tenements in which several fam-
coal-powered engines in the factories. A French visi- ilies lived in a single room. Water had to be fetched
tor in midcentury, the journalist Hippolite Taine, de- from outdoor wells, often contaminated by outdoor
scribed the “dreary streets,” full of “masses of livid privies. Food was expensive, in part because Britain’s
children, dirty and flabby of flesh. Even to walk in the
rich quarter of town is depressing.” A medical doctor
described this poverty in 1833: “Too often the dwelling tenements Cheaply built, crowded, and often squalid
of the factory family is no home; it sometimes is a cel- multistory dwellings, often constructed by factory
lar, which includes no cooking, no washing, no mak- owners to house workers.
ing, no mending, no decencies of life.” But as the
The Spread of Industrialization 605
This painting of the industrial city of Manchester in 1851 graphically depicts the enormous impact of industrial-
ization with the dozens of smokestacks pouring pollution into the air, rendering the city’s air hazy and difficult
to breath. The stunted trees in the foreground suggest the impact of industrialization on nature.
(The Royal Collection, © 2004 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
1815 Corn Laws forbade the import of grain. The lack of the time had any—people were obliged to drink
of clean water and the overcrowding made epidemics this foul, polluted water. Little wonder that in indus-
of diseases like cholera and typhoid common; the trial towns, infant mortality was high and life ex-
polluted air caused respiratory problems that often pectancy low.
developed into diseases such as asthma and tubercu- Industrialization changed the human sense of space
losis. By the 1830s, British reformers had realized that and time. With railroads, cities were hours apart in-
only government intervention could help solve the stead of days. But railroads and factories also de-
problems associated with industrialization. manded a more precise keeping of time and spurred
The pollution and environmental degradation was, on another industry—the manufacture of clocks and
literally, breathtaking. Industrial cities were black with watches—as well as standardized time. Railways not
soot; light-colored clothing would be filthy by the end only linked major cities but cut through less devel-
of the day. One early solution to the problems of air oped agricultural regions, ending their isolation. The
pollution in Manchester and other industrial towns physical presence of rails traversing the countryside
was to build factory chimneys ever higher so that reminded rural people that the excitement and eco-
winds would carry the fumes far away from the city. nomic promise of the big city lay mere hours away.
But this method simply spread pollution farther from The Duke of Wellington worried that railways
the factories themselves. Mining ripped up the face of “would encourage the lower classes to move about,”
the earth and brought to the surface toxic substances
that were simply dumped aside unless they had com- tuberculosis Infectious disease that affects the lungs
mercial value. Rainwater ran through these slag heaps, and if untreated often leads to death; a common killer
spreading the poison into rivers. In the absence of in the nineteenth century, now treatable with antibiotics.
municipal water treatment plants—no industrial city
606 CHAPTER 21 Industrialization and Society, 1800–1850
and they did. Inexpensive fares in third-class car- class of one’s birth was an aspiration—and a reality—
riages made possible travel on a scale hitherto un- for many in this era.
heard of: in 1844, 27.7 million railroad journeys were
taken in Britain. Cheap fares encouraged the migra-
tion of impoverished rural people into the growing
industrial cities, further accelerating their growth. By The Middle Classes
midcentury, more-distant journeys to America and
➜➜
Who belonged to the middle classes?
Australia usually began with a train ride to the port,
What moral and political values characterized the middle
where emigrants boarded a steamship. Thus, the classes?
transportation revolution wrought by industrializa-
tion had a major impact not just on Europe but on In the classic formulation, the middle class was, of
the world. course, in the middle—between the aristocracy on
One of the most far-reaching effects of the Indus- the one hand and the peasants on the other. In the
trial Revolution was the creation of social categories nineteenth century, the middle classes distinguished
based on economic, not legal, status. Until industrial- themselves from the working classes, too. This group
ization, most people identified themselves by the so- grew rapidly as industrialization progressed, and as
cial category of their birth—peasant, noble, artisan, they prospered, their political importance and influ-
merchant. These were legal, not merely economic, ence grew as well. Speaking of “middle classes” in
categories. It was quite possible for nobles to be poor the plural suggests the great variety of occupations
and even (though more rarely) for peasants to be and mentalities that this category embraced. But all
wealthy. Industrial societies, however, are ordered middle-class people defined themselves not by their
along class lines. One’s class derives primarily from birth but also by what they did—their occupation
one’s economic position in society, or as Karl Marx and, increasingly, their education. Their shared inter-
would later describe it, one’s relation to the means of ests included pride in their respectability, sobriety,
production. The factory owner controlled the means and hard work, often contrasting these “middle-class
of production (the factory) and derived profit from it; virtues” with the drunken and wasteful behavior of
the workers were an element in the means of produc- both workers and those born into great wealth. The
tion, much like the machine they tended. middle-class home reflected this proud, sober, and
The idea of class also implies a feeling of belonging somewhat smug attitude, with a wife who devoted
together, or class consciousness. This consciousness herself entirely to her family, not needing to earn
was new in the early Industrial Revolution. Nobles money outside the home. To be sure, this was an ideal
had long distinguished themselves from commoners not always realized in reality.
by dress, manners, and luxurious lifestyle. Now the
growing middle classes, or bourgeoisie, differenti- A Variety of Middle Classes
ated themselves from nobles by their emphasis on the
dignity of work and self-improvement, and from the Europe had had a strong and growing class of mer-
working class by their accent, clean clothes, and soft chants since the Middle Ages, and as commerce grew,
hands. Workers, crammed together on factory floors so did banking, investing, and shipping. In the eigh-
and tenement houses, began to recognize their shared teenth century, lawyers, doctors, professors, and other
interests, too. With the coming of industrialization, educated professionals might have felt that their in-
society was no longer divided into three estates—the come and lifestyle gave them something in common
nobles, clergy, and peasants of France—or the lords with those who had grown rich from trade. And in the
and commoners of England. Now it was divided into nineteenth century, these middle classes expanded
capitalists, who had wealth available to invest in the
means of production, and workers, the proletariat,
who had no source of income other than their labor. Karl Marx (1818–1883) German-born radical scholar
and writer, long-time collaborator with Friedrich
Industrialization also enhanced the possibility for Engels, and author of Capital and The Communist
social mobility. An intelligent, hardworking peasant Manifesto.
boy could go to work in the city and hope to rise into means of production Factories, workshops, and other
the lower middle class or, if not he, then at least his tools that produce wealth.
children. To be sure, most of those born poor died class consciousness Identification with other mem-
that way—and died much earlier than their middle- bers of one’s economic class—for example, industrial
and upper-class contemporaries. But the possibility workers or middle-class professionals.
of becoming a “self-made man” and rising above the
The Middle Classes 607
Middle-Class Culture
While some of the self-made men in the
new middle classes had limited school-
608 CHAPTER 21 Industrialization and Society, 1800–1850
ing themselves, they all believed firmly in the value morality derive rather from Protestant Christian tra-
of learning, and they made certain that their sons— ditions. Young people were admonished to avoid the
and, increasingly, their daughters—had good educa- temptations not only of sexual intercourse before
tions. A secondary or university education almost marriage but even of sexual thoughts or masturba-
guaranteed middle-class status, and university en- tion. Many manuals and self-help books for parents
rollments grew steadily throughout the nineteenth and young people warned that “self-abuse” would
century. New universities were founded, often specif- lead to bad eyesight, insanity, and other misfortunes,
ically to fulfill the requirements of the new, industri- including death. Ideally, men and women were to
alizing society, such as University College London, find sexual pleasure only within the bounds of mar-
which provided practical educational opportunities riage. Sexual love between members of the same sex
to middle-class men and women. In Berlin, a Bauaka- was literally unspeakable: the word homosexuality
demie—academy of architecture and engineering— was not coined until 1869. It is not by chance that later
was founded by the Prussian state in 1799 and was generations would use the word Victorian—referring
joined in 1821 by a Gewerbeakademie, or business or to the reign of British queen Victoria—to mean preachy,
trade school. These institutions were merged in 1879 sexually repressed, hypocritical, and narrow minded.
to form the Royal Technical Higher School of Berlin, Still, this characterization is at best one sided. Middle-
the forerunner of today’s Technical University of class ideology in the nineteenth century did have its
Berlin. Significantly, these university-level institu- humorless, self-righteous aspects, but its grinding em-
tions to train engineers and businessmen in Berlin phasis on work reflected a desire to validate middle-
were founded by the government whereas University class identity and to assert that individual dignity
College London arose from private initiative. should be gauged not by birth but by service to society.
In central Europe, the emerging class of the Bil- As members of a largely new and growing social
dungsbürgertum, the educated bourgeoisie, testifies to grouping, middle-class people felt keenly the need to
the importance of education for middle-class status. establish and augment their prestige and respectability,
Despite Wilhelm von Humboldt’s revitalization of often by promoting their values of self-improvement,
German universities in the first years of the nine- education, and sobriety among the less fortunate.
teenth century, training entrepreneurs or technicians Smiles argued that only by adopting middle-class val-
was not seen as the university’s role. Rather, individ- ues and habits could workers lift themselves out of
uals wishing to pursue such practical studies en- poverty. Many middle-class women, especially, en-
rolled in institutions like the business or engineering gaged actively in charity work, sometimes alienating
academies in Berlin. In the decades between 1830 and those they intended to help with their strident self-
1860, the most popular subjects at German universi- righteousness. The temperance movement, for exam-
ties were theology and law (around 30 percent of stu- ple, was a middle-class reform directed mainly at the
dents each), medicine and liberal arts (15 percent working class. Alcoholism was a problem, but work-
each), with only 5 percent of German students major- ers were often put off by the well-dressed preachy
ing in science. women who scolded them for their drinking habits.
While a university education secured one’s middle- The middle-class belief in hard work as the key to
class status, most likely as a member of a profession success implied that poverty was something that
such as law, medicine, or the church, middle-class those who would not work hard enough brought on
people valued hard work equally. The enterprising
writer, physician, and editor Samuel Smiles pro-
vided a formula for success in his 1859 book Self-Help. Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835) German
Thrift, hard work, and sobriety were important, as philosopher, linguist, and statesman, after whom
were self-denial, good habits, and the ability to learn Berlin’s main university is named.
from mistakes. “Life will always be to a large extent Samuel Smiles (1812–1904) Scottish writer who
what we ourselves make it,” wrote Smiles. As inspi- achieved fame through books promising success
through hard work, such as Self-Help, Thrift, Character,
ration, he also wrote biographies of self-made men, and Duty.
such as potter Josiah Wedgwood and engineer George
Victorian Term referring to the reign of Queen Victoria
Stephenson. Smiles also believed that self-improvement (r. 1837–1901) and carrying a connotation of sexual
would contribute to the improvement of society as restraint, humorlessness, and social conservatism.
a whole. temperance movement Movement to ban the use of
In their emphasis on practical knowledge, middle- alcoholic beverages, often affiliated with Christian
class people may be seen as the heirs of the Enlighten- churches and led by middle-class women.
ment, but their strict views on sobriety and sexual
The Middle Classes 609
themselves. Thus, the structural causes of poverty, un- of the middle-class Jews who shed their traditional
leashed by industrialization, were obscured. The his- Jewish garb and habits later abandoned Judaism alto-
torian François Guizot, who dominated French politics gether, as did the children of the preeminent Jewish
in the 1840s, believed that the opportunity for riches Enlightenment figure, Moses Mendelssohn. For them,
was open to all and that failure to achieve wealth re- as for the fathers of Karl Marx, English conservative
flected an individual’s own limitations and weak- statesman Benjamin Disraeli, and many others, social
nesses. Rather than blaming society for their misery, assimilation was the first step toward conversion.
Guizot argued, the poor had only themselves to blame.
If they would stay sober, work hard, and live frugally, The Middle-Class Home
they would better their social condition. Many middle-
class liberals would have agreed, pointing to their As industrialization spread, concepts of home and
own success as proof that hard work alone brought work became increasingly separated. In a preindus-
prosperity and social status. trial society, artisans lived in or near their workshops,
Middle-class respectability involved both self- and peasants lived near the fields they tilled, some-
control and self-righteousness—overall, an avoidance times even sharing their lodgings with their domestic
of extremes. In their churches, the middle classes animals. But in industrial societies, just as “work” be-
avoided ostentatious ceremonies, mysticism, and came associated with a “workplace”—a factory—so,
overly emotional displays of devotion. The Church of for the middle classes, did the home become distinctly
England and the official Protestant churches in cen- apart from the dirt and noise of manufacturing and
tral Europe and Scandinavia reprimanded clergy who the fast-paced and high-pressure world of business.
showed excessive “enthusiasm” or religious fervor, The newly wealthy industrialists built large houses
and pastors who pressed their middle-class parish- away from their factories, and their wives were ex-
ioners too strongly about their sins might find them- pected to create a restful and pleasant haven for their
selves snubbed by the parish. But some Protestants hardworking husbands to return to after a hard day’s
found worship without ceremony and emotion arid work. To be sure, these separate spheres of home and
and devoid of profound religious meaning. A few left work were more an ideal than a reality for all middle-
the Church of England for dissenting chapels, and at class homes, but this ideal had a strong influence on
Oxford, a group of prominent Anglican clergymen middle-class identity and on ideas of a woman’s
who sought to revive certain Roman Catholic rituals “proper place.” Women’s legal status remained un-
drew much attention, particularly when some of changed; legally, women were an extension of their
them converted to Catholicism. fathers or husbands.
As Jews began to assimilate into the middle class, Marriage was a vital and central institution of
dressing and speaking like other members of that middle-class life; this society rejected as peculiar, and
class, they also sought to reform their religious prac- even suspicious, the idea of remaining unmarried,
tices. The traditional long caftan of the rabbi was with a few exceptions, such as Roman Catholic priests.
exchanged for a sober outfit resembling that of a
Protestant pastor. Within the synagogue, a more or-
derly religious service was inaugurated, sometimes François Guizot (1787–1874) French historian and
even with choirs and organs, which were quite for- politician who believed that the poor must improve
eign to Jewish religious traditions. While generally their own economic condition through hard work
remaining true to their religious laws, avoiding cer- without government aid.
tain foods and keeping the Sabbath (Saturday) holy, Reform Judaism Movement to modernize Jewish life,
these middle-class Jews attempted in all other ways retaining the religious core of Judaism but eliminating
to resemble their Gentile neighbors. Their Reform Ju- many differences from Gentiles in everyday life.
daism was strongest in German areas, but even Benjamin Disraeli (1804—1881) English writer and
among the overwhelmingly traditional and Ortho- conservative statesman who was a favorite of Queen
Victoria; the son of a converted Jew but very proud of
dox Polish Jews in Warsaw and Lwów, Reform syna- his Jewish origins.
gogues were opened in the 1840s. More traditional
assimilation Process by which one ethnic or cultural
Jews saw these innovations as the first step to conver- group takes on the attributes of another.
sion to Christianity, and in their own way, they were separate spheres Middle-class ideal whereby home
right. Later Reform Judaism was to significantly relax life was strictly separated from the workplace, with
the strict requirements to eat only kosher food, to ab- women running the household and men earning
stain from work on Saturdays, and to orient one’s life money outside it.
around prayer, worship, and study. Moreover, many
610 CHAPTER 21 Industrialization and Society, 1800–1850
Children in middle-class families were trained to a week. Workers who arrived late were beaten and
be obedient, clean, respectful, and orderly. Physical fined or their pay was docked. Slippery factory floors,
punishment of children was considered normal, in- complex systems of gears and transmission belts, and
deed inevitable, though usually the task of the man: the constant presence of fumes endangered life and
respectable French fathers had a small whip for that limb. If injured, workers could expect to be fired in-
purpose. At the same time, the ideas of Jean Jacques stantly. Workers’ health also suffered from damp and
Rousseau on education and allowing children free dank workplaces, sometimes overheated, sometimes
time for play and physical development were spread- chilled by open windows. The air was always filled
ing. Middle-class children were usually educated at with smells, fibers, and particles of cloth. Tuberculosis
home by governesses and tutors, as there was not yet and cholera were always common. The reformer and
a well-developed educational system. Looking back Manchester native Edwin Chadwick pointed out in
at their childhood later in the century, many middle- 1842 that smoke in Manchester was killing vegetation.
class people recalled the great freedom they had en- In the same report he described workers’ housing in
joyed compared with later youths, who would be another industrial city, Leeds: “walls unwhitewashed
obliged to spend more regimented days in school- for years, black with the smoke of foul chimneys,
rooms. Because of improved nutrition and sanitation, without water, . . . and sacking for bed-clothes, with
middle-class families were likely to have many chil- floors unwashed from year to year.”
dren; it was not unusual for a woman to have ten or As industrialization proceeded, artisans often found
more pregnancies in her lifetime. As the century pro- themselves out of work, replaced by machines. In the
gressed, infant mortality decreased, and the size of early years, artisans’ skills had been essential to fac-
middle-class families grew. tory design and operations. But soon mass produc-
tion deprived tailors, clockmakers, and shoemakers
of their livelihood and way or life. Even more directly
Working Classes threatened were weavers and others engaged in tex-
tile production. Those who found new employment
➜
How did industrialization and urbanization change in mechanized, power-driven textile factories often
everyday and family life?
perceived the change from artisan to worker as painful
➜
boys and girls as young as age eight pushed carts ing. Frequently these babies died in their first months
laden with coal up from narrow shafts. of life, and estimates of child mortality up to the age
Children’s labor brought in much-needed income of five reach as high as 50 percent in the early to mid-
for their families, but increasingly the working family nineteenth century. One common practice for keeping
was separated by work. It no longer functioned as an infants still was to give them drugs such as laudanum
economic unit. From 1802 onward, the British Parlia- or a highly alcoholic “cordial.” Malnutrition and the
ment passed laws limiting child labor, but it was only conditions of early factory work had very negative
after 1833 that these laws were really enforced. Even- consequences for these children’s health. One doctor
tually child labor was banned altogether, as reform- wrote that children working in the Manchester cotton
ers argued that childhood should be spent in school or mills were “almost universally ill-looking, small,
at play—not in mines or textile mills. But few children sickly, barefoot and ill-clad . . . a degenerate race.”
actually went to school. Instead, they were excluded Military leaders also complained that young men
from factory work largely because of the increasing who had grown up in working-class families were
complexity of machines and industrial processes. In smaller in stature, thinner, and less hearty than peas-
Prussia the employment of children under nine in ant lads. More generally, parents came to recognize
factories was forbidden in 1839. In France, the Child that children—despite the pennies they might earn
Labor Law of 1841 forbade the employment of chil- working in a factory—were a drain on the family’s
dren under eight years of age and set down that chil- resources. As industrialization and urbanization pro-
dren under age twelve could not work more than gressed, birthrates almost always declined.
eight hours daily. King Leopold of Belgium proclaimed Workingmen sought refuge from the conditions of
a similar law limiting child labor in 1842. But such factory and tenement in the taverns, which were gen-
laws were very hard to enforce, in particular because erally off-limits for respectable women. Drinking was
governments seldom wanted to pay for inspectors more than an attempt to forget one’s misery in an
who would actually check factories for violations. alcoholic haze; visiting the pub was an integral part
The employment of women was a different matter. of male working-class comraderie. A workingman
Factory owners often preferred to hire women over who never visited the tavern would be considered
men because they could pay women lower wages. abnormal—asocial and probably thinking too highly
Women were also less likely to cause trouble, being of himself. But the money spent on drink meant that
much less inclined to alcoholism, insubordination, much less remained for the family’s support. Not by
and union activity. But as industrialization devel- chance women spearheaded the temperance move-
oped, women’s work in industry was limited to cer- ment, calling on men to abandon the bottle and spend
tain occupational categories, especially in textiles, more time with and money on their families.
and was the subject of considerable debate. Middle- Many working families barely earned a living, and
class women were almost entirely shut out of paid la- the lures of the criminal world described in nineteenth-
bor. But some commentators—usually middle-class century novels were real. Like Fagin’s band of boy
men—denounced work outside the home as endan- thieves in Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist, orphans
gering healthy family life for the working class as in London’s slums engaged in pickpocketing and
well. Others argued that women needed to be pro- other petty crime. Like Sonya Marmeladov in Fyodor
tected from the bad effects of factory work on the del- Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, young women
icate female body and possible harm to their ability to turned to prostitution to support their families. Gin,
produce healthy children. Midwives did, in fact, note opium, games of chance, cockfights, bearbaiting: a vari-
that the babies of factory women were often delicate ety of unsavory and illegal pastimes were available in
and prone to illness, and in 1847 Parliament limited industrial cities, enriching some but impoverishing
the working day of women and children in textiles to
ten hours. Nevertheless, women continued to work,
as their wages were often necessary for the family’s laudanum Opium dissolved in alcohol, a popular
though habit-forming sleep aid in the nineteenth
survival and, if single, they enjoyed the indepen- century.
dence wage work gave them.
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) Famous English novel-
Working families’ domestic life was vastly differ- ist, author of Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, and A
ent from life in middle-class homes. Workingwomen Christmas Carol, among many others.
kept their own house and did their own washing and Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881) Russian writer, au-
cooking in dwellings that were sparse and at times thor of Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov,
even squalid. Young babies had to be “farmed out” to and other novels.
wet nurses so that the mother could continue work-
614 CHAPTER 21 Industrialization and Society, 1800–1850
many. Yet the industrial cities held opportunities that Increasingly, working people recognized their
peasant life could not offer: taverns, theaters, coffee- common interests and joined together to press for po-
houses, and the dream of advancement—the chance, litical changes that would aid them. The workers of
however slim, of making one’s fortune. Manchester who gathered at St. Peter’s Field in 1819
Moreover, family life was not entirely dismal. Par- were protesting the Corn Laws that kept the price of
ents and children celebrated holidays and played grain artificially high. Chartist protests of the 1830s
games together. Religion provided comfort and com- and 1840s were democratic, aiming to gain political
panionship. Working-class people in Britain were of- rights for workingmen, though women also partici-
ten attracted to Methodism, a religious movement pated. William Cobbett, the most famous working-
founded by John Wesley in the eighteenth century class radical, argued tirelessly against child labor and
that preached self-control, frugality, hard work, and the unfairness of a society in which some enjoyed
self-respect. Methodism gave working-class people a great wealth while many could not provide for their
sense of mission, dignity, and community. Methodist most basic needs. “No society,” he proclaimed, “ought
preachers (often themselves of working-class origin) to exist where the labourers live in a hog-like sort of
emphasized that working people were separate from, way.” Cobbett’s protests help bring about Britain’s
but in no way inferior to, members of the middle and 1832 Reform Act, but for many political change was
upper classes. Methodism stressed the fundamental too slow and not enough.
Christian beliefs that honored the meek and humble Some workers resorted to violence. In the second
over the rich and powerful, specifically identifying decade of the nineteenth century, textile workers in
working people with Christ’s teaching that the “poor Britain’s industrial cities occasionally destroyed their
in spirit” would inherit the “kingdom of heaven” and machines. As they claimed to be followers of “Gen-
the “meek” would “inherit the earth.” On a practical eral Ludd,” a mythical figure, they came to be known
level, Methodist preachers often set up Sunday schools as Luddites. In France, artisans attacked the hated
to teach workers and their children how to read and symbol of industrialization, the Jacquard loom. In the
write. Methodist worship services were emotional city of Lyon, the weavers’ guild staged a public exe-
occasions during which preachers and congregation cution for the Jacquard loom in 1806, smashing it to
would shout, groan, leap up, faint, and sing praises. bits, then setting the fragments ablaze. A generation
Methodist revival meetings, often held in the open later, worker dissatisfaction boiled over in a series of
air, attracted thousands of enthusiastic worshipers in bloody riots and insurrections. The largest uprising
the early decades of the nineteenth century. occurred in 1831, again in Lyon, where thousands of
workers, most from the silk industry, took to the streets.
Working-Class Consciousness Government repression of these outbreaks took hun-
and Trade Unionism dreds of lives. On a more personal level, workers
avenged themselves on hated foremen by waylaying
Industrialization brought workers together in densely them after work, sometimes stuffing them headfirst
packed spaces. Most did not enjoy the work. Their into a sack, then soundly beating it.
lives were constricted by factory rules and hours, and Other forms of worker resistance took milder forms.
whatever independence they might have formerly Common was the practice of “blue Monday,” in which
enjoyed as farmers or artisans was gone. So was pride
in their craft and in the products they made: many
early mass-produced goods were less durable and at- Methodism Religious movement in nineteenth-
tractive than items produced by skilled artisans. century Britain that preached self-control, frugality,
Moreover, in the factory no one worker made some- and hard work, appealing primarily to working-class
thing from start to finish. In a textile factory, for exam- people.
ple, spinners spun the thread and weavers wove it alienation Marx’s concept of the breakdown, under
into cloth. In a garment factory, one person cut the capitalism, of workers’ pride in and identification with
the product of their labor.
cloth, another stitched only sleeves, another finished
William Cobbett (1763–1835) English political re-
buttonholes. This division of labor was efficient, but
former who advocated radical working-class politics,
it made work repetitive and monotonous. Workers elected to Parliament after the Reform Act of 1832.
often felt like they were cogs in a machine. Without Luddites Workers and artisans who destroyed the
any control over their work, they sensed they had lost machines depriving them of a livelihood during early
a part of their humanity. Karl Marx would later attrib- stages of industrialization; now anyone who opposes
ute this sense to what he described as factory work- technological change.
ers’ alienation from the product of their labor.
Critics of Industrialization 615
workers—often hung over from overindulgence on Improvements for workers would not come until
their one day of rest—failed to show up for work. their organizations were stronger and their perspec-
Workers also engaged in petty theft or purposely tive put forward in a coherent ideology.
worked at a slow pace. But all these methods had one
great disadvantage: the employer could at any mo-
ment, without justification, fire workers. Thus, any
kind of protest, absence, or work slowdown could Critics of Industrialization
bring unemployment—a word that is itself a product
➜
of industrialization. How did society’s view of poverty change with
industrialization?
Machine breaking and other forms of resistance
➜
What were the main differences between utopian social-
were random and unorganized, and so were many ism and Marx’s scientific socialism?
strikes, when workers just illegally walked off the
job. But coordinated efforts increasingly testified to a Industrialization created enormous wealth and great
strengthening working-class consciousness. In Britain poverty at the same time, and the inequality between
the Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800 severely limited capitalist entrepreneurs and wageworkers struck many
workers’ ability to “combine”—that is, to organize for thinking people as outrageous. These critics of indus-
better wages and working conditions. This law made it trialization called for a more equal sharing of profits
necessary to disguise workers’ organizations as self- and even created complex schemes for perfect societies.
help societies that collected money from members to These first socialists later were themselves criticized
provide support in case of injury, illness, or family by Karl Marx, who insisted that their cooperative,
emergencies. In Russia, even these organizations were nonviolent methods were doomed to failure. Only by
illegal, and in most of Europe, trade unions, worker or- organization and violent revolution, he argued, could
ganizations that demanded higher wages and better the injustices of industrialization be righted.
working conditions, were suppressed until after 1850.
Britain, however, repealed the Combination Acts in Poverty in Industrial Societies
1824, allowing workers to organize openly. The repeal
also permitted strikes in certain cases, but while the Poverty has existed as long as human society, but the
number of strikes did increase after 1824, most often poverty created by industrialization was not only
factory owners found it easy to intimidate or simply more noticeable but also more frightening than rural
fire union organizers and other troublemakers. Never- poverty because it was concentrated in cities, close to
theless, Parliament also took action, passing Conspir- the institutions of government and to the ruler’s resi-
acy Laws in 1825 that again restricted the right to strike. dence. Early concepts of the deserving (hardworking,
British unions concentrated on trying to limit work but unlucky) and undeserving (lazy, drunken, un-
hours. The 1847 act that limited the workday for ruly) poor were hard to apply to the situation in in-
women and children to ten hours was an early success, dustrial cities. Workers had much more money than
though somewhat ironic, as women were excluded peasants; but they also had to pay for everything, at
from union membership. Trade unionists claimed prices that were very high, whereas peasants usually
that workingwomen depressed workingmen’s wages, paid little or nothing for their hut or humble housing
preferring instead to press for a “family wage,” suffi- and often grew at least some of their own food. Peas-
cient for a husband to allow his wife to stay home and ant poverty fluctuated with crop yield, but there was
raise a family. Most trade unions combined practical always a social safety net, as relatives, neighbors, and
activities like schools and clubs with larger appeals even the landlord would usually help out in cases of
for international working-class solidarity. So did the extreme need. In the anonymous industrial city, no
working-class newspapers that began to appear in such safety net existed. Unlike the noble landlord, the
France in the 1830s and 1840s, though their reader- factory owner rarely knew his workers and did not
ship was limited. consider himself responsible for them.
Before 1850, working-class organizations were weak Worker poverty also fluctuated with the success or
and largely ineffective. In most European countries, failure of industrial enterprises and economies in-
such as Russia and Germany, workers had no right to creasingly subject to boom-and-bust cycles. Because
organize whatsoever. In Britain and France, laws re-
stricted the ability of workers to organize and strike. trade unions Organizations having the aim of protect-
Governments tended to side with factory owners ing workers’ rights, improving working conditions,
against the workers, seeing investors and capitalists and enhancing workers’ prosperity.
as necessary for economic development of the state.
616 CHAPTER 21 Industrialization and Society, 1800–1850
of the difficulty of obtaining reliable credit, busi- agreed that the rich should share their wealth, for
nesses often went bankrupt, throwing all their em- both moral and practical reasons. Such a social shar-
ployees out of work. Sometimes, as in the U.S. Panic ing was moral because every human being had a
of 1819, overproduction caused a general depression right to minimal standards of decent food and hous-
throughout the economy as one factory after another ing. It was practical because by lessening the misery
was forced to close down. But one very great differ- of the working masses, the more fortunate classes
ence between poverty before and after the Industrial would defuse anger and hostility that could other-
Revolution must be noted. Previously, poverty meant wise explode into violence.
being on the edge of starvation, and the periodic Like liberalism and nationalism, modern concepts
famines that swept Europe killed thousands. After in- of socialism derive from the French Revolution,
dustrialization, such famines no longer occurred. Eng- which proclaimed “fraternity,” or solidarity among
land and Ireland offer an example; both experienced all citizens, whether rich or poor. During the French
bad harvests in the early 1840s, but industrialized Eng- Revolution, socialist ideas were championed by the
land did not experience famine, while agricultural radical François Babeuf. Shocked by the continued
Ireland, also beset by the potato blight, did. existence of poor and rich, Babeuf demanded not just
The criticisms of industrialization focused less on legal equality for all citizens but “real equality”—that
absolute poverty than on the sharp difference in con- is, an elimination of differences in wealth and social
ditions of life between factory owners and their status. Real equality could be achieved, Babeuf ar-
workers. These critics pointed out the inequitable dis- gued, only by a total elimination of private property
tribution of wealth in a capitalist system, though they and by state control of goods and even state-sponsored
did not generally use that word. Capitalism is an eco- employment programs. While Babeuf made little im-
nomic system in which the means of production are pact at the time—he was executed in 1797—his ideas
privately owned and operated by individuals for a of a state in which all material goods would be shared
profit and in which the market plays a dominant role. formed a cornerstone of socialist thought.
Modern capitalism developed alongside industrial- Babeuf’s ideas influenced the so-called utopian
ization, increasing the efficiency of production, ex- socialists of the early nineteenth century. The term
tending markets around the world, but also bringing itself comes from Karl Marx, who described these
with it new social problems. thinkers as “utopian”—that is, naive, unrealistic,
and impractical—to distinguish them from his own
Early Socialists thought, which Marx termed “scientific.” Like Babeuf,
the utopians looked forward to a harmonious society
The liberal response to the poverty caused by indus-
trialization was to promote a free market that would,
liberals believed, eventually increase prosperity for
capitalism Economic system characterized by private
all. Middle-class liberals extolled individual rights, property and a market economy developed by indus-
property, and rule by the most competent. They were trialization in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
inherently elitist in their insistence that wealthier elitist Belief that a small and superior group of indi-
and better-educated segments of society dominate in viduals (the elite) has the moral right and responsibil-
politics but at the same time potentially egalitarian in ity to make important social and political decisions.
their emphasis on self-help, education, and hard work egalitarianism (from French, “equal”) Belief that all
as the means for improving one’s own economic and people should have the same social, political, and—in
social condition. Other political thinkers held that the its most radical version—economic rights.
economic and political system itself made it impossi- radicalism Political ideologies that strive for thorough-
ble for workers to improve their lives. The discrep- going political and social changes.
ancy between the egalitarian ideals of middle-class socialism Political movement of nineteenth and twen-
liberalism and its elitism in practice fueled political tieth centuries that aimed to end industrial poverty by
spreading profits throughout society.
radicalism, in particular in the form of socialism.
François Babeuf (1760–1797) French revolutionary
Many early socialist writers and leaders were them- who demanded not only legal but also economic
selves from middle-class backgrounds, most famous equality among all citizens.
among them Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. utopian socialists Early socialists such as Saint-Simon,
While liberalism championed the individual’s right Fourier, and Owen who believed that the profits of
to property, socialism put the primary emphasis on industrialization should be used to improve living
the welfare of society as a whole. Socialists disagreed conditions throughout society.
on the status and morality of private property, but all
Critics of Industrialization 617
in which material differences would be minimized. by twelve main passions, ranging from friendship
They did not, however, advocate the total abolition of and ambition to love of intrigue and the five senses
private property, nor did they foresee a violent revo- (taste, smell, touch, sight, and hearing). While all of
lution that would overturn capitalism. In the details these passions are present in every human being,
of the social transformation they proposed, the three the proportion of each differs greatly. Using complex
main utopian socialists—Claude Henri de Saint- and quite incomprehensible mathematical principles
Simon, Charles Fourier, and Robert Owen—differed (Fourier left behind several notebooks containing
significantly. What united them was a desire to har- nothing but equations and mathematical notations),
ness industrialization to improve life for all classes, to he arrived at the idea of the phalange.
avoid social conflicts, and in the end to create a just, Each phalange would include 1,620 individuals,
attractive, and humane society. carefully selected to include a variety of “passionate
Claude Henri de Saint-Simon, born in 1760 to a no- types.” These small communities would live and
ble family, was a grown man during the French Rev- work together, each carrying out the tasks best suited
olution and as an aristocrat came close to meeting his to his or her (Fourier firmly believed in women’s
end at the guillotine. He fought on the American side equality) passions and abilities. For example, chil-
during the Revolutionary War, made a fortune as a dren, who love muck and filth, would carry out trash
speculator during the 1790s, went bankrupt, and spent and clean sewers. While the division of labor would
time in an insane asylum. Despite his aristocratic be retained, it would be based on the most fundamen-
background, Saint-Simon detested kings, the nobility, tal drives and desires of human beings and would thus
and bishops. He admired British society, seeing it as a enhance, not suppress, their humanity. While in-
system that rewarded merit and hard work. Like the equalities in income and wealth would continue to
British liberals, Saint-Simon admired intelligence and exist in the phalange, these differences would not cause
the entrepreneurial spirit. But in contrast to the lib- social discontent because all individuals would freely
eral belief that competition in a free market would choose their own jobs and income. Children would
benefit all, Saint-Simon emphasized social cooperation be brought up and educated communally within the
and planning, led by a dedicated, well-educated elite. phalange, total equality would exist between women
Saint-Simon’s last major work, The New Chris- and men, and restrictions on sexual relations would
tianity (incomplete at the time of his death in 1825), disappear. Best of all, because the phalange would put
attempted to place his ideas on economic justice and human passions to their best use in a just and cooper-
a new society in a Christian framework. Surveying ative community, the need for coercive government,
the history of Catholicism and Protestantism, he crit- police, armies, and prisons would disappear. Fourier
icized both for failing to respond to the problem of believed fervently that if only one phalange could be
poverty. His New Christianity, he claimed, would re- set up, its success would rapidly transform the world
juvenate Christianity’s fundamental rejection of vio- into a community of phalanges.
lence and call for compassion. He charged rulers to: Fourier’s scheme seems eccentric, but it addressed
“Hearken to the voice of God that speaks through me. real social problems and proposed serious methods of
Return to the path of Christianity. . . . Remember that combating them. Industrialization had condemned
Christianity commands you to use all your powers to millions to boring, repetitive, and meaningless work in
increase as rapidly as possible the welfare of the which they themselves became like machines. It had
poor.” These ideas gained considerable prominence destroyed social networks that protected the poor. It
among businessmen, intellectuals, and politicians in had also had a devastating effect on the natural envi-
France, but Saint-Simon’s most significant contribu- ronment. Fourier’s scheme attempted to give people
tion was his linking of industrial growth to general back their humanity, to end exploitation, and to create a
social improvement rather than simply to individual social order consistent with fundamental human psy-
enrichment. chology (Fourier’s “passions”). While no phalange was
Charles Fourier, the most visionary of the utopi- ever set up, Fourier’s ideas in various forms certainly
ans, demanded a far more thorough transformation
of society than Saint-Simon. Fourier was an eccentric
Claude Henri de Saint-Simon (1760–1825) Early
and difficult man. He came from a family of cloth socialist of noble birth whose ideal society was led by
merchants and earned his living in trade. At the same an elite of technocrats.
time, he spent his free moments concocting a utopian Charles Fourier (1768–1830) French thinker who
scheme of grandiose proportions aimed to solve the envisioned socialist communities (phalanges) having a
economic, social, and even spiritual problems of soci- division of labor based on passions and abilities.
ety. Human beings are motivated, Fourier proposed,
618 CHAPTER 21 Industrialization and Society, 1800–1850
dent, he believed that philosophy was the best challenging the old economic order based on landed
method for understanding the world. Soon, however, wealth and replacing it with industrial capitalism.
Marx was ready to go beyond philosophy: “Philoso- Now, however, the leading position had to shift away
phers have only interpreted the world in various from the capitalists—the bourgeois middle class to
ways,” he stated. “The point, however, is to change the industrial workers, the proletariat. In the end,
it.” Marx’s quest to change the world would make Marx insisted, the working masses would rise in re-
him one of the most loved and hated figures in the volt, strip the bourgeoisie of their wealth and power,
late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. and create a just, egalitarian society.
Threatened with arrest by the Prussian authorities Marx’s practical program was violent revolution,
in the 1840s because of his radical views, Marx left his which he saw as the natural outcome of inevitable
homeland. After the publication of The Communist class struggle. It would be naive, he wrote scornfully,
Manifesto in 1848, he always lived abroad. During this to imagine that the bourgeoisie would relinquish
decade he also married, started a family, and began their wealth and power without a fight. Here Marx
his famous collaboration with Friedrich Engels. Meet- differed significantly from the utopian socialists, who
ing first in Paris in 1844, the two men quickly formed stressed cooperation over violence, and he termed his
one of the closest and most productive friendships in program “scientific” to distinguish it from theirs. The
history. Engels’s Condition of the Working Class in Eng- utopian socialists, Marx claimed, had a faulty under-
land (1845) showed that he was far more familiar with standing of history, economics, and society. Thinking
the actual conditions of industrial workers than Marx that persuasion and cooperative efforts could do
was, but Marx possessed the greater theoretical mind. away with the proletariat’s misery, Marx thundered,
Engels was less of an original thinker than Marx but was both absurd and reactionary. Rather, workers had
far more practical and easygoing—and much more to organize and seize power themselves to achieve a
successful in business. Few days in the next four just society. The contours of this future society may be
decades went by without letters between the “Moor” seen by the specific goals mentioned in The Commu-
(Marx) and the “General” (Engels), as they jokingly nist Manifesto: free education for all children, the abo-
referred to each other. lition of inheritance and landed property, state control
Marx’s most famous early work, coauthored with of credit and transportation, a progressive income
Engels, The Communist Manifesto, appeared during tax, and an end to the distinction between urban and
the revolutions of 1848. In a few dozen pages, the rural areas by spreading cultural and educational in-
Manifesto denounced bourgeois society as hypocritical, stitutions outside of cities.
exploitative, and doomed to destruction: “A specter is The impact of Marx’s writing on the revolutions of
haunting Europe—the specter of Communism.” Marx 1848 was minimal. But Marx put forth his ideas about
used the term communism to distinguish his more class struggle and the need for revolution at this time
radical thinking—based on class struggle and an in- and then spent the rest of his life gathering and ana-
evitable violent revolution—from the less confronta- lyzing data to support his thesis. In the second half of
tional schemes of earlier socialists. The Communist the nineteenth century, the influence of his and En-
Manifesto set down in stirring language both an ideo- gels’s ideas would grow. By the end of the century,
logical justification and a practical program for a self-proclaimed Marxist parties existed in most Euro-
thoroughgoing revolution: “Workers of the world pean countries. Even more important, liberals and
unite!” Marx’s program was based on the philosophy even conservatives came to recognize that to avoid
of Hegel, who had argued that history progresses in a “communist revolution,” they needed to respond to
dialectical way. That is, in history, an idea that be- worker demands for improved working conditions
comes prominent is inevitably challenged by its op- and increased pay.
posite, and the resolution of these two opposing
principles produces a higher idea. Marx’s philosoph-
ical innovation was to apply this principle to the ma- communism Radical political philosophy proposed by
Karl Marx, advocating the abolition of private property
terial world and to argue that this struggle over ideas and an inevitable violent workers’ revolution.
would produce revolutionary change in the eco- dialectical Process of thought that achieves a higher
nomic, political, and social structure of society. For synthesis by reconciling two contradictory ideas (“the-
Marx, history could be understood as class struggle: sis” and “anti-thesis”).
slaves versus slave owners, serfs versus lords, and progressive income tax Tax on money earned, with
now the proletariat versus the capitalists. Marx al- high earners paying a greater percentage of income
lowed that the capitalists had previously played a than individuals earning less.
progressive and even revolutionary role in history by
620 CHAPTER 21 Industrialization and Society, 1800–1850
What were the most important economic and social and lived in dangerous conditions. Crowded together
effects of industrialization?
in the unhygienic, polluted new industrial cities,
➜
Describe the rise of class consciousness in diverging workers began to develop their own consciousness—
middle-class and working-class identities.
that is, an identity of belonging together and sharing
➜
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Standardized Time
What time is it? The question is for us simple and natural, but our sense of time is historically new. The idea
of time as precise—registering minutes and seconds around the globe—derives from the needs of industri-
alization. In traditional agricultural societies, there was no need for precise time. People followed the natu-
ral rhythms of sunrise and sunset, working longer during the longer daylight hours of summer than during
the shorter daylight hours of winter. And if the church tower clock in one village said 12:30 while the clock
in the village two miles down the road said 12:40, it did not matter.
Websites 621
New industrial factories, however, demanded more precise timekeeping. Expensive machines could not be
left idle for even a few minutes, so it was crucial that workers arrive on time to start their shifts. Anyone
arriving late was subject to stiff penalties—loss of an hour’s pay, or even a half day’s wages, for a minute’s
tardiness. Working families now had to have a clock in their dwelling, and often the father carried a small
one—called a “watch”—in his pocket (not on his wrist, as this was seen as effeminate).
Even more than factories, however, railroads required timekeeping to be precise and standardized. Differ-
ences in village church clocks could not be tolerated, because a difference of even a minute could mean
catching, or missing, a train. Rail lines announced their timetables, and the village clocks had to comply.
Following some confusion when different rail lines themselves used different times, a nationwide uniform
time was established in Britain. By 1850, all clocks showed the same time—at least in theory.
For large countries such as India, Russia, and the United States, however, a single time zone was impracti-
cal. This problem was solved by the creation of time zones in 1883 and the establishment of Greenwich
(after the Naval Observatory outside London located on the prime meridian, or 0 degrees longitude) Mean
Time (GMT) a year later. From then on, time anywhere on the globe could be calculated by GMT plus or
minus any number of hours: New York is GMT minus five hours; New Zealand, GMT plus twelve hours. At
first, the French set their standard based on Paris rather than Greenwich, but by the early twentieth century,
they, too, had accepted GMT. Today we take standardized times for granted, and atomic clocks are accurate
to one second in 20 million years—precise enough to catch any train.
Suggested Readings
Chamberlin, E. R. The Awakening Giant: Britain in the Indus- Thompson, E. P. The Making of the English Working Class.
trial Revolution. London: Batsford, 1976. An engaging illus- New York: Pantheon Books, 1963. A classic work, written with
trated study. passion and empathy.
Henderson, W. O. Britain and Industrial Europe, 1750–1870. Thompson, F. M. L. The Rise of Respectable Society: A Social
Leicester, England: Leicester University Press, 1972. And ac- History of Victorian Britain, 1830–1900. Cambridge, Mass.:
count of how British techniques and entrepreneurs helped in- Harvard University Press, 1988. A study that is important for
dustrialize the continent. understanding middle-class morality.
Kolokowski, Leszek. Main Currents of Marxism. 3 vols. New Trebilcock, Clive. The Industrialization of the Continental
York: W.W. Norton and Co., 2005. Everything you ever wanted Powers 1780–1914. London and New York: Longman, 1981. An
to know, from Marx’s philosophical sources to post-Stalinism. account that is especially detailed on Germany, France, and
Pollard, Sidney. Peaceful Conquest: The Industrialization of Russia.
Europe, 1760–1970. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981. So-
phisticated explanation of how Europe industrialized.
Websites
Huge amount of information on Marx, Engels, and company, A listing of dozens of different sites on topics from literature
with a definite political agenda, Marxists Internet Archive, at to art to Jack the Ripper, Victorian Literary Studies Archive:
www.marxists.org Victorian Websites, at http://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/
All about the Industrial Revolution in Britain, from inventors ~matsuoka/Victorian.html
to places to workers, Cotton Times, at www.cottontimes.co.uk
622
CHAPTER
The Triumph
of the Nation-State,
1848–1900
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1820s 1824
1810s 1815 Industrialization British
Luddite revolts protest Napoleon is begins in Combination
industrialization in finally defeated Belgium and Acts are
England at Waterloo northern France repealed
Stockholm
ESTONIANS
Pale of Settlement SCOTLAND
Moscow
LATVIANS
Riga
UNITED KINGDOM North
OF GREAT BRITAIN Sea DENMARK Baltic LITHUANIANS
Dublin
AND IRELAND Copenhagen Sea
IRELAND SCHLESWIG
Manchester RUSSIAN EMPIRE
ES
HOLSTEIN
El Danzig
AL
BELARUSIANS
W
be
ENGLAND NETHERLANDS
Vis
London Amsterdam GERMAN EMPIRE tu l
a
Berlin Warsaw
ATLANTIC BELGIUM
KINGDOM OF
POLAND Kiev
OCEAN
R hi
Cologne (Russia)
D n ie
per
ne
Frankfurt
Se
Paris UKRAINIANS
Dn
ALSACE- iest
LORRAINE SLOVAKS er
L o ire AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN
BE
Munich Vienna
EM P I R E
SS
M
AR
Zurich OL
FRANCE Buda Pest
AB
D
SWITZERLAND AV
IA
Lyons HUNGARY IA
TRANSYLVANIA
Ga Milan
ro
n Po Venice CROATIA ROMANIA
Rhône
ne
Black
DA
WALLACHIA
ITALY BOSNIA Belgrade
LM
Danube Sea
AT
HERZE- SERBIA
AL
Eb Marseilles
A
IA
r GOVINA BULGARIA
dr
ia
o
UG
Madrid Elba ti
Corsica c MONTENEGRO
RT
SPAIN
(Fr.)
Se O Istanbul
Rome
a
PO
T
T
Naples O
Sardinia ALBANIA M
Baleric Is. A N
(Sp.)
E M
P I R E
GREECE
Tangier GILBRALTAR Med
(Gr. Br.) ite
rra Sicily
Athens
Algiers ne
an
Tunis
ALGERIA Malta CRETE
MOROCCO
(France) (Gr. Br.) Se
a
TUNIS 0 200 400 Km.
(France)
623
624 CHAPTER 22 The Triumph of the Nation-State, 1848–1900
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Theodor Herzl Creates Modern Zionism
In 1895 journalist Theodor Herzl was in Paris covering the trial of Captain
Alfred Dreyfus, who had been accused of spying for the Germans. Like Herzl
himself, Dreyfus was an assimilated, Europeanized Jew. The trial was held
more than a century after the French Revolution had promised equal rights
to Jewish citizens. But the trial was unfair: Dreyfus’s Jewish background was
held against him. In the streets crowds shouted “Death to the Jews!” Herzl
was shocked, and he wrote in his diary, “I recognized the emptiness and futil-
ity of trying to ‘combat’ antisemitism.” He concluded that Jews would always
be outsiders in the European countries in which they dwelled. They would be
exiles—as Hebrew teachings phrased it—until they had their own Jewish
state. Jews were not just a religious group; they were a nation.
Herzl had experienced antisemitism. As a student at the University of Vienna
in the early 1880s, he had been denied admission into a prestigious fraternity
because of his Jewish origins. He had been furious, for he felt himself Austrian
by culture, upbringing, and language, and more patriotic than most. Being
Theodor Herzl Jewish was just a personal religious matter. But the young Herzl learned a hard
Theodor Herzl, here depicted lesson: for a Jew, no matter how assimilated, wealthy, and intelligent, some avenues
in a poster announcing the were closed. Herzl graduated and became a well-known playwright and journalist in
fifty-year anniversary of the Vienna, indistinguishable from other middle-class Viennese, with an unhappy mar-
Histadrut Zionist trade union, riage, a lifestyle that outstripped his income, and a love for wit and culture.
proclaimed a proud new Vienna was a thriving center for German Jewish culture, with such
Jewish identity. Herzl’s Zion- distinguished writers as Stefan Zweig and Arthur Schnitzler, composers like Alban
ism insisted that Jews were Berg and Arnold Schoenberg, and of course the renowned psychiatrist Sigmund
not just a religious group but Freud. In this environment, surrounded by other Jews like him—German speaking,
a nation and that they could cultured, successful—Herzl tried to believe that Jews could retain their religion
never live in freedom until and still live in harmony with their Christian neighbors. But that was before he
they obtained their own covered what became known as the Dreyfus affair.
state. His dignified bearing Despite the absurdity of the accusation and the flimsy evidence against him,
symbolized the demand that Dreyfus was court-martialed and exiled to Devil’s Island off the coast of South Amer-
Jews be treated with respect. ica. It was later discovered that the army had manipulated and forged evidence
(Library of Congress) against him. By that time, Herzl was already a Jewish nationalist, a Zionist. In 1896
he published a small book entitled The Jewish State, which proposed a political
solution to what Europeans called the Jewish question—the proper relation be-
tween Jews and the states where they lived. Once Jews had their own state, Herzl
argued, the other nations of the world would respect them. Other central and east-
ern European Jewish thinkers had reached similar conclusions before Herzl—in part,
in reaction to the shock of the 1881 wave of anti-Jewish violence in the Russian
Empire—but he apparently did not know any of them. Even the term Zionism had
been used before Herzl, but he gave the movement new political force and vigor.
In 1897, Herzl summoned a “symbolic parliament” of European Jews to the
Swiss city of Basel. At this First Zionist Congress he issued a call for all Jews to unite
to create a Jewish state. Though he did not specify where that state would be
founded, the obvious place was Palestine—for Jews, Eretz Israel (“land of Israel”),
an Ottoman province between Egypt and Syria. After all, Jews prayed every year
The Revolutions of 1848 625
at Passover to meet again “next year in Jerusalem.” Most Jews in western Europe
did not respond to Herzl’s call. Feeling secure and patriotic in France, Britain, and
Germany, they firmly rejected the idea of a Jewish nation and feared that Zionism
could worsen anti-Jewish feelings. But in eastern Europe, particularly in the Rus-
sian Empire, Herzl’s call was received with joy. Visiting Russia in 1903, Herzl was
lauded as “king of the Jews” in towns throughout the Pale of Settlement, where
Russian Jews were forced to reside.
Herzl did not live to see his ideal realized. When he died in 1904, very few
people believed that Zionism could succeed—the political, economic, and religious
obstacles seemed too great. But, as Herzl once remarked, “If you believe it, it is
not a dream.” Forty-four years after Herzl’s death, two thousand years after the
Jewish people were sent into exile, the state of Israel declared its independence.
The Jewish people had their own state.
Chronology
1848 Marx and Engels publish Communist Manifesto 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War ends with French
defeat
1848–1849 Political uprisings sweep Europe
1871 Prussian king William I becomes emperor of
1852 Louis Napoleon declares himself Emperor Germany;
Napoleon III Paris Commune is crushed by French government
1854–1856 France and Britain defeat Russia in 1875 Ottomans crush Bulgarian uprising
Crimean War
1877–1878 Russians defeat Turks in Russo-Turkish
1859 Napoleon III and Piedmont defeat Austria in War
northern Italy;
Italian unification begins 1878 Bulgaria wins autonomy from Ottoman Empire
1861 Victor Emmanuel II is crowned king of Italy; 1894 Dreyfus is convicted of espionage
Tsar Alexander II emancipates Russian serfs
1896 Herzl publishes The Jewish State
1861–1865 America fights Civil War
1897 First Zionist Congress is held in Basel, Switzerland
1863 Polish rebellion against Russian rule fails
1901 First Nobel prizes (for peace, chemistry, medicine,
1866 Prussia defeats Austria, opening the way for and literature) are awarded
German unification
1901 Queen Victoria dies; end of Victorian age
1867 Austria grants Hungary semi-autonomy
prime minister Clemens von Metternich. While dif- fied. In Russia, for example, the government increased
ferent circumstances in each capital city and region censorship and repressed radical thinkers. In Britain,
sparked the uprisings, all demanded a broadening of increased police surveillance following the Chartist
political rights and recognition of nationalist con- agitation prevented revolution, but Queen Victoria
cerns. In the short run, all were unsuccessful. The regarded the events on the continent with worry.
Prussian king and Austrian emperor were threatened The first uprising began in January 1848 in Sicily.
but remained on their thrones. In France, the newly Street demonstrations in Palermo and Naples forced
elected president, Louis Napoleon, declared himself the reactionary ruler of the Kingdom of the Two Si-
Emperor Napoleon III and crushed political opposi- cilies, as the southern Italian state was known, to form
tion. Still, the failure of 1848 helped pave the way a liberal government and issue a constitution. These
for the triumph of national ideas—though not of liberal concessions in one of the most conservative re-
liberalism—some twenty years later, when the nation- gions of Europe electrified rulers and liberals alike.
states of Italy and Germany were created. Similarly, Then, in February 1848, Louis Philippe, France’s
while the constitutions granted in 1848 were not al- “bourgeois king,” was forced to abdicate. Since his
ways respected, the precedent of constitutional rule coronation in 1830 as “King of the French,” Louis
had been established and would gain political au- Philippe had attempted to steer a compromise course
thority in subsequent decades.
between the demands of royalist aristocrats and the tatives of the German nation, demanded a unified
new, wealthy bourgeoisie. Most Frenchmen, even of Germany and organized elections for a constituent
the middle class, continued to be shut out of the polit- assembly, which met in late spring at Saint Paul’s
ical process. In the mid-1840s, middle-class protesters Church in Frankfurt. Among the more than four hun-
began to join with broader peasant and working-class dred elected representatives who gathered to write a
movements demanding relief in the face of bad har- constitution, with political rights for all, were lawyers,
vests and unemployment. Because political meetings government officials, and professors, including the
were illegal, in 1847 a banquet campaign was launched. Grimm brothers, now at work on their German dic-
The king could hardly forbid Frenchmen from eating! tionary. Although there were also four artisans, thirty-
As everyone understood, the main purpose of these four landowners, and one peasant, this Frankfurt
banquets was not cuisine but politics; banquet speak- Assembly, in which 90 percent of the representatives
ers called for an extension of the vote, even universal were educated, was indeed a “parliament of scholars.”
male suffrage. When the government tried to prevent The nationalism apparent in the Frankfurt Assem-
a “monster banquet” in February 1848, clashes with po- bly’s anticipation of a unified Germany was also at
lice and would-be banqueters and students escalated work in Hungary. The Hungarian elite, especially, re-
into major street battles. Seeing no way out of the sit- sented the power of the central government in Vi-
uation, Louis Philippe abdicated and fled to London. enna. In March, led by the fiery speaker Louis (Lájos)
France was declared a republic, and the revolutionar- Kossuth, they demanded an end to imperial rule and
ies began the task of creating a new government. the establishment of a Hungarian parliament. The
With the monarchy swept away, the liberals and Austrian Habsburgs were at first conciliatory, but
radicals began to quarrel. When the national work- when the newly elected Hungarian parliament voted
shops, set up in March 1848 to provide relief and work to create its own army and currency, the emperor sent
for the jobless, could not keep pace with growing un- in troops, and a regular war ensued between Aus-
employment, moderate liberals began to grumble trian (imperial) and Hungarian forces.
about supporting the lazy at the taxpayers’ expense. In the Italian states, revolution also seemed to tri-
Business leaders, too, denounced the national work- umph in the spring of 1848. The insurrections spread
shops as unfair competition and an unbearable tax from Naples to Milan (then belonging to the Habs-
burden. Yet thousands of impoverished men continued burg Empire), Venice (where a republic was de-
to stream into Paris, and many feared the collapse of clared), and Rome. In Rome, the rebels took over the
public order. Elections in April revealed another city as traditional authorities fled—while the pope
growing divide—between Paris and the provinces. sought refuge outside of town in the fortress of Gaeta.
Voters in the provinces overwhelmingly supported Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi worked
moderate or even conservative candidates, while in together to build a “Rome of the People,” establishing
Paris radicals managed—barely—to send radical and
socialist delegates such as Louis Blanc to the National
Assembly. Meanwhile the turmoil on the streets of
national workshops Paris institutions set up in
Paris intensified. On May 15, large crowds declared 1848 to give work to the unemployed at government
the parliament dissolved and attempted to set up expense.
their own radical government. This attempt ended in Louis Blanc (1811–1882) French socialist who advo-
failure and arrests. But tensions continued. cated the right to work and the abolition of competi-
As Metternich once quipped, “When Paris sneezes, tion.
Europe catches cold.” News of the Paris upheavals Frederick William IV King of Prussia (r. 1840–1861)
quickly reached Berlin, Vienna, and other central Eu- who issued a constitution during the Berlin revolution
ropean cities, where liberals soon demanded similar of 1848.
political concessions from their rulers. In the Habs- constituent assembly Meeting to draw up a constitu-
burg lands, street fighting in May forced the imperial tion or to agree on basic fundamentals of a governing
system.
family to abandon Vienna for a more easily guarded
Frankfurt Assembly Representatives elected through-
country estate. Metternich resigned and fled the city
out German states who met in Frankfurt (1848–1849)
alone. In Berlin clashes between the army and local to draft a liberal constitution for a united German
citizens left many dead. The outrage over the killings Empire.
was so great that Prussian king Frederick William IV Louis (Lájos) Kossuth (1802–1894) Hungarian states-
felt himself compelled to issue a constitution and salute man who led his people in revolt against the Habsburg
as heroes the bodies of those shot by his own troops. (Austrian) Empire during 1848–1849.
Liberal Germans, casting themselves as represen-
628 CHAPTER 22 The Triumph of the Nation-State, 1848–1900
During 1848, revolutionaries built barricades in the streets of many cities, as in this image of a barricade built
during the March 1848 uprising in Berlin. The rebels fly the black-red-gold tricolor of German liberalism and
fight for a united, liberal Germany against the Prussian king’s troops. (Landesarchiv, Berlin/akg-images)
freedom of the press, setting up secular schools, and The violence, known as the June Days, demonstrated
handing over some church property to the poor. that liberal governments, like monarchies and conser-
vative regimes, were willing to use violence against
The Restoration of Authority political opponents. After June 1848, the forces of
moderation and order were firmly in control in Paris.
If in spring the revolutionaries seemed to be winning, In December 1848, French voters overwhelmingly
by early summer the forces of traditional authority chose Louis Napoleon, a nephew of the great Napo-
had gained strength, and by fall the revolutions had leon, as president of the French Republic. Their long-
been stamped out nearly everywhere. In Paris, ten- ing for order after a year of revolution would help
sions between moderates and radicals led to a bloody pave the way to his dictatorship as Emperor Napo-
clash set off by the moderates’ abolition of the na- leon III, beginning in 1852. Thus, the immediate out-
tional workshops in late June. These might have been come in France of the 1848 revolution was not a
dismantled without bloodshed had the government
moved slowly. Instead, the overnight action sparked
an armed workers’ uprising, in which more than Napoleon III (r. 1852–1870) Louis Napoleon, nephew
1,500 people, including the archbishop of Paris, were of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was elected president of
killed. After suppressing the uprising, government France in 1848 and declared himself emperor in 1852.
forces massacred more than three thousand workers.
The Revolutions of 1848 629
liberal republic but the Second Empire, which lasted man national state when over half of his subjects in
until 1870. the Austrian and Hungarian lands were non-Germans.
The situation in the Habsburg Empire was compli- After this refusal, the Frankfurt Assembly offered the
cated by its numerous nationalities and the strife be- crown of the future German Empire to King Freder-
tween them. When the Hungarians declared their ick William IV of Prussia. Frederick William indig-
independence from Vienna, the Hungarian depend- nantly refused, calling the offer “from the gutter” and
ency of Croatia aligned itself with the Habsburg em- the crown a “diadem moulded out of the dirt and
peror. Similarly, German liberals in Prague were dregs of revolution, disloyalty and treason.”
offended when the eminent Czech historian Frantis̆ek Rebutted by Austrian emperor and Prussian king,
Palacký refused to participate in elections to the Frank- the Frankfurt Assembly found itself in an impossible
furt Assembly. Palacký pointed out that he was not a position. Lacking the will or ability to revolt against
German but a Czech who was loyal to the Habsburg existing German princes, it was attacked as too con-
Empire. Believing that cultural and political rights of servative by radicals and workers. Ironically, the as-
small nations like his were better assured in a large sembly was rescued by Prussian troops, and the
multinational empire than in a nation-state like the one “scholars” were unceremoniously sent home. Spo-
the representatives at Frankfurt envisioned, Palacký radic attempts at revolution were countered every-
declared, “If Austria did not exist,” he wrote, “it where in the German lands by military action.
would be necessary to invent her.” Unlike the Ger- By the end of 1849, the revolutions were over. In
mans and Hungarians, smaller national groups in the Paris, a moderate liberal government had demon-
Habsburg Empire did not aspire to political indepen- strated brutality toward its opponents. In the Italian
dence but hoped only to be allowed to use their own lands, most of the same rulers were in place, despite a
language in schools, publishing, and perhaps in gov- flurry of granted constitutions and promised political
ernment offices. The Slavic Congress, held in Prague rights. In Berlin, the Prussian king was in control, and
in June 1848, asserted its loyalty to the Habsburg Em- thousands of liberals and radicals were under arrest,
pire while advocating recognition for Slavic languages in hiding, or already in exile. Friedrich Engels and
(Czech, Slovak, Croatian) as equals of German. It also Karl Marx would live the rest of their lives in Eng-
called for closer relations between the Slavic peoples land, but many “Forty-Eighters” fled to the United
of the Habsburg Empire and Slavs in the Russian and States. In Vienna, the Habsburg emperor was once
Ottoman Empires. The congress was dissolved at again firmly in power. Despite the apparent calm,
gunpoint by forces loyal to the new Habsburg em- however, few of the political, national, or social de-
peror, Francis Joseph. mands of the revolutionaries had been dealt with,
By late 1848, the emperor was back in a now sub- and the issues would be raised again. In retrospect,
dued Vienna. The imperial army had established or- 1848 was a watershed.
der in northern Italy and in the Czech lands and was
gearing up for battle with the Hungarians. But the 1848 As a Watershed Year
Hungarians proved hard to defeat, surrendering only
after Russian units had come to the aid of the Austri- The role of ideology in the revolutions of 1848 is com-
ans. Francis Joseph repudiated the constitution he plex. There is no doubt about the importance of lib-
had agreed to in 1848 and vowed to rule as an ab- eral ideals such as constitutionalism, civil rights, and
solute ruler. As in France, in the Habsburg lands it ap- the rule of law to those who tried to overthrow
peared that the upheavals had all been for nothing. regimes in Sicily, Paris, Vienna, and Berlin. But when
In the German Confederation, the revolution ended moderate liberals were confronted with radical and
less violently. Except in Berlin, German states had gen- socialist demands and the destruction of private
erally avoided clashes with their citizens. Most Ger- property, they joined with conservatives in calling for
man princes retained power after 1848, though mainly order. In central Europe, nationalist revolutionaries
after promising liberal political reforms. Since May,
the Frankfurt Assembly had been debating plans to
unify Germany: Should Germans unite under Habs-
Slavic Congress Assembly of Slavic nations—Poles,
burg rule, the so-called grossdeutsch, or “big Ger- Balkan peoples, Czechs, Ukrainians, and one Russian—
man,” solution, or should a new German Empire be in Prague in 1848 that called for cultural recognition for
formed with the Prussian king at its head, the klein- Slavs.
deutsch, or “small German,” solution? At first, most Francis Joseph (r. 1848–1916) Habsburg emperor of
delegates favored the grossdeutsch solution. But Fran- Austria from 1848 and king of Hungary from 1867.
cis Joseph could not agree to being the head of a Ger-
630 CHAPTER 22 The Triumph of the Nation-State, 1848–1900
promoted liberal ideas, only to find themselves op- to the left. Few thinking Europeans continued to de-
posed by other liberal nationalists who remained fend divine-right monarchy, and increasing numbers
loyal to traditional authority. In central Europe, na- of educated middle-class people embraced political
tionalist slogans combined with liberal ideas and pro- liberalism or even socialism as solutions to society’s
posals. Socialist ideas were also discussed, though problems. The liberals are particularly interesting in
the actual influence of socialism in 1848 was small. this context. Before 1848, they constituted a small mi-
Liberalism was certainly the most important po- nority in the politics of every European country save
litical ideology in 1848. The revolutionaries called Britain. After midcentury, liberal ideas and liberal fig-
for constitutions, popular representation, and an end ures took on new importance not only in Britain,
to censorship. In Paris, liberalism momentarily tri- France, and other western European countries, but
umphed, then was challenged from the left. In central even in Russia, the Habsburg lands (after 1867,
Europe, middle-class liberals learned that the masses Austria-Hungary), and southern Europe. Thus, the
of workers and peasants were not always willing to liberals who were defeated in 1848 had by 1900 be-
follow their lead, especially if liberal policies did not come an important—in some cases, a predominant—
also promote low bread prices, decent wages, and part of the political landscape. And by this time they
employment opportunities. recognized that the greatest challenge to liberalism
Marx and Engels’s Communist Manifesto, published came not from conservatives but from the growing
in 1848, had been written before the revolutionary socialist movement.
outbreaks, and its influence was small, in part be- Yet conservatism was not dead. The peasant unrest
cause it was available only in German. Socialist ideas of 1848 convinced rulers to abolish the last vestiges of
such as the abolition of inheritance and landed prop- serfdom in Europe, except in Russia. After 1848, the
erty, state control of credit and transportation, and peasantry in western and central Europe became a
free education had not yet gained broad support. bulwark of conservative and religious forces. The
Only in Paris did avowed socialists like Louis Blanc, Catholic Church, badly shaken by the year’s events,
father of the national workshops, play a significant which had temporarily forced Pope Pius IX to flee
part in the revolutions. On the whole, however, re- from Rome, turned away from any kind of liberal re-
belling workers and peasants in 1848 knew nothing form. Until nearly the end of the century, the Catholic
about socialism. Their demands were more tangible: Church would be a solid bulwark of traditional au-
lower taxes, cheaper food, jobs. Only later in the nine- thority, condemning constitutions, nationalism, and
teenth century would Marx’s pamphlet become basic popular representation in government.
reading for a mass audience. Many of the rejected national demands of 1848
Nationalism played a very visible role in 1848, were resurrected a generation or so later. Italian uni-
though it scored few victories. Neither Germany nor fication took place in the 1860s, partly through Gari-
Italy was united, the Hungarian attempt to secure au- baldi’s continued efforts. The Hungarian demands to
tonomy and national rights was put down by Vienna, Vienna in 1848 were granted two decades later in the
and the Slavic Congress in Prague was dissolved. In Compromise of 1867, which gave the Hungarians
most parts of Europe, most people did not yet think in domestic autonomy in the empire. The Slavic Congress
national terms. People spoke local dialects that were of 1848 can be seen as a precursor of the Pan-Slav
often far from standard written forms of, say, the Ger- movement of the 1870s that aimed to unite all Slavic
man language that the Grimm brothers were working peoples from the Adriatic to the Pacific under the Ro-
so hard to define. People identified themselves more manovs. Thus, immediate failures of 1848 masked fu-
often as inhabitants of a village, as Catholics, or as ture triumphs.
Jews than as Hungarians or Czechs or Germans. But
nationalist movements in 1848 helped popularize the
idea that languages like Czech, Ukrainian, Romanian,
Slovak, and Croatian deserved respect—and rights.
Pius IX (r. 1846–1878) Pope who became a staunch con-
Crucially, the central idea of nationalism—that a state servative, refusing to acknowledge Italian unification
must defend the values of a nation—was expressed by and condemning all forms of modernity.
revolutionaries from Paris to Berlin, from Palermo to Compromise of 1867 Agreement between Austria and
Budapest. While the revolutions of 1848 did not estab- Hungary dividing the country into two autonomous
lish nation-states in central Europe, they helped spread parts, linked by a common budget, military, and for-
the ideals of nationalism. eign policy.
After 1848, the political center shifted significantly
New Nation-States and Nationalist Tensions 631
How, in politics and personalities, were the processes of ter of Piedmont, Camille Cavour, saw the alliance
German and Italian unification similar? with France as a means to position his state as the nu-
➜
How did national identity differ in the United States from cleus of a future united Italy. In his own personal be-
nationality identity in Poland, Bulgaria, and Norway? How
do you explain these differences? liefs, Cavour reflected the changes in nationalism
before and after 1848. In that year, he had urged the
In the second half of the nineteenth century, national- king to issue a constitution, had sponsored some lib-
ists translated their ideas into political realities. The eral policies, and had worked to end Austrian rule in
greatest triumph of the national principle was the cre- northern Italy. Ten years later, Cavour continued to
ation of two large, unified states in the middle of pursue the goal of expelling the Austrians from Milan
Europe: Italy and Germany. Both had conservative and Veneto, but now specifically with the aim of en-
constitutions under powerful monarchs (the Prussian hancing the power of his king, Victor Emmanuel II.
king took on the title of Kaiser (emperor), to the disap- First Lombardy (with its capital of Milan), in 1859,
pointment of liberal nationalists. Norway and Bulgaria and then Veneto, in 1866, were ceded by Austria to
also became independent states in this era. Nations the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. In the south the
lacking states stressed ethnic unity and linguistic unification movement was spearheaded by Garibaldi,
solidarity. Throughout Europe, nationalism became backed up by his famous Red Shirts. This informal—
exclusionary. Across the Atlantic, the United States though effective—army fought its way across Sicily,
experienced a mass immigration of European peoples. defeating the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In 1860,
this vast region joined Piedmont, as did the central
The Unification of Italy Italian states of Tuscany and Parma. Thus by 1860, the
entire Italian peninsula except for Veneto in the north
Since the 1830s, the idea of the Italian nation had been and the Papal States around Rome were under the rule
promoted by Giuseppe Mazzini, who exemplified the of Victor Emmanuel II, who would be crowned king of
enthusiasm and almost mystical quality of early, lib- Italy in 1861. These last two areas would become part
eral nationalism. His impassioned writings reminded of the new kingdom of Italy by 1870, though the pope
Italians of their glorious Roman past and called for would not reconcile himself to the new political situ-
national unity, democracy, and equal rights for all. ation. Surrounded by Italian territory that he refused
Mazzini inspired thousands of his countrymen to think to recognize, Pope Pius IX remained in self-imposed
beyond the boundaries of their local town or commu- imprisonment in the Vatican for the rest of his life.
nity and aspire to be “Italians.” He demanded “a sa- Italian unity had been achieved, but the resulting
cred devotion to the fatherland” and urged Italian men constitutional monarchy was very far from the demo-
to “cancel from your minds every idea of superiority cratic ideal envisioned by Mazzini and Garibaldi.
over Women.” Mazzini’s importance lies in his writ- Mazzini died in 1872, bitterly disappointed by the
ings and the enthusiasm for the Italian idea he spread. form in which his dream had been realized by the less
The idea of a united Italy had a lot to overcome, as idealistic—but more realistic—Cavour. The new Italy
following the revolutions of 1848 it was still divided was a constitutional monarchy with universal male
into numerous sovereign political units. In the north- suffrage, but the king and his ministers held much
west, centered on the city of Turin, was the small but more power than the parliament. The problems of il-
stable kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, ruled by the literacy and poverty, especially in the southern half of
House of Savoy. Southern Italy was dominated by the the country, were an enormous challenge to the new
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which stretched from rulers and would continue to be so well into the
the island of Sicily to Naples. In between were the Pa-
pal States, including Rome and Bologna, an area in
which the pope not only was the spiritual head but Camille Cavour (1810–1861) Prime minister and ad-
also ruled as a secular lord, much like the dukes of viser to the King of Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel II, who
Milan or Modena. In the northeast, the provinces of in 1861 became the first king of united Italy.
Veneto and Lombardy remained under Austrian rule. Vatican Seat of the Catholic Church and the pope’s
As Metternich had famously put it, Italy was no more residence, in central Rome on the Tiber River.
than a “geographical expression.”
632 CHAPTER 22 The Triumph of the Nation-State, 1848–1900
NORWAY Stockholm
North SWEDEN
BOSNIA Bucharest
AL
ED
Florence SERBIA
KIN
TUSCANY PAPAL
MON
UG
SPAIN
GDOM
STATES
O
T
RT
T AND SARDINIA
Corsica Rome T
O
PO
MONTENEGRO
(France) M
A N
OF
Naples KINGDOM
E M
P I R
Sardinia E
OF THE
MAP 22.1 Revolutions of 1848 During 1848 uprisings occurred throughout the continent, with the
major exceptions of England and Russia.
twentieth century. In 1870, most subjects of King Vic- dominate a unified Germany. This was the Prussian
tor Emmanuel spoke not standard Italian, but di- chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
alects, and retained strong regional identities. As one Bismarck combined great energy, determination,
statesman put it, “We have made Italy; now we must and loyalty to the Prussian ruling house with cold
make Italians.” calculation. He resembled Metternich in intelligence
and ruthlessness, though Bismarck lacked Metter-
The Unification of Germany nich’s elegance and refined manners. Born into a
moderately wealthy landowning family, Bismarck
“Germany” immediately after 1848 was like Italy: no had been shocked by the revolutions of 1848 and dis-
more than a geographical or cultural expression. appointed by the king’s concessions to the liberals. A
Dozens of German states existed, from powerful Prus- staunch conservative who had served in the Prussian
sia to the tiny city-state of Hamburg. When the 1848 Landtag (parliament) and as ambassador to Russia
revolutionaries offered the crown of a new German
Empire to the king of Prussia, he rejected it. His brother
would accept it in 1871 as William I, but under vastly Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) Prominent conserva-
changed circumstances. As in Italy, conservatives tive Prussian statesman, chancellor (prime minister)
gained most from German unification. In particular, and architect of German unification in 1871.
one man was responsible for Prussia’s rapid rise to
New Nation-States and Nationalist Tensions 633
PIEDMONT
FRANCE PARMA
A
EN
ROMAGNA
Genoa
OD
Bologna
M
NICE
T
H
OTTOMAN EMPIRE
(To France 1860) E
K
LUCCA M
AR
I N
A
TUSCANY
D O
dr
ia
ti
T i be r
c
M
Elba Se
a
O F
PAPAL STATES
CORSICA
(1870)
(France)
P I E D M O
Rome
Bari
Naples
N T - S A R D I N I A
Taranto
SARDINIA
Tyrrhenian Sea
KINGDOM OF
THE TWO SICILIES
Medit Palermo
err
ane Strait of
an Messina
Se SICILY
a
0 50 100 Km.
0 50 100 Mi.
MAP 22.2 Unification of Italy In the decade between 1860 and 1870, Italy was united. This process
brought together regions of great economic and social diversity under the rule of Rome, which officially
became the capital of the newly united Italy in 1871.
and France, Bismarck rose to power by chance. In marck directly defied the Landtag, acting as if it did
1862, King William I became entangled in a dispute not exist. Bismarck’s brash behavior revealed the weak-
with the Landtag over the state budget, in particular ness of Prussia’s parliament in the face of a strong
the funding for the Prussian army. In despair, the and ruthless statesman.
king appointed Bismarck chancellor, hoping that he Bismarck declared that the biggest mistake of the
would be able to find a compromise. Instead, Bis- 1848 liberals was their attempt to unite Germany
634 CHAPTER 22 The Triumph of the Nation-State, 1848–1900
through “speeches and majority resolutions” rather to the Russian Empire in the east; to the south Austria
than “blood and iron.” By this he meant military might remained isolated.
and warfare. In the next decade, Bismarck waged three Bismarck had eliminated his chief rival in the Ger-
wars that would realize the primary goal of the liber- man lands. Now he looked to eliminate his chief rival
als in the Frankfurt Assembly—a united Germany. on the continent—France—which felt threatened by
The first war came as Denmark attempted to take over the rise of a unified, aggressive German state. Again
the province of Schleswig, previously an indepen- Bismarck skillfully manipulated events—the candi-
dent duchy. Prussian and Austrian troops invaded dacy of a Hohenzollern prince for the throne of Spain—
Schleswig early in 1864, forcing the king of Denmark to push strained Franco-Prussian relations over the
to withdraw his claims. Austria and Prussia were to brink. In a brilliant, though dishonest, media maneu-
administer the territory jointly, an arrangement Bis- ver, Bismarck took a telegram—the Ems Dispatch—
marck knew would soon lead to conflict. After vari- he had received from King William I on this matter,
ous frictions and provocations, Austria and Prussia doctored it in a way that was insulting to the French,
went to war in mid-1866. and leaked the provocative document to the press.
The Prussians humiliated the Austrians at a single Napoleon III foolishly took Bismarck’s bait and de-
decisive battle. The peace terms Bismarck offered clared war on Prussia.
were mild: Austria lost no territory and paid no war The Franco-Prussian War (1870—1871) was a dis-
indemnity, but henceforth Austria would be excluded
from the North German Confederation carved by
Prussia from the old Austrian-dominated German Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) Conflict provoked
Confederation set up at the Congress of Vienna. Now by Bismarck, resulting in the defeat of France and end
the North German Confederation, dominated by of Napoleon III’s reign; also led to German unification.
Prussia, stretched from the Dutch border in the west
New Nation-States and Nationalist Tensions 635
aster for France and for Napoleon III personally. The vinces, the Commune annexed to France the working
French badly underestimated the training and equip- people all over the world.”
ment of the Prussian forces and were further ham- In January 1871, before the Commune and even be-
pered by poor military leadership. At the Battle of fore a peace treaty could be negotiated, King William I
Sedan in early September 1870, the Germans encir- had himself crowned “Emperor of the Germans”—
cled a large French force, capturing more than a hun- symbolically—in Louis XIV’s magnificent Hall of
dred thousand men, including Emperor Napoleon III Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. Bismarck had
himself. The French declared their emperor deposed achieved his goal—a united German Empire. In the
and formed a provisional government, which sued peace settlement, Germany took from France two
for peace. German-speaking provinces along the Rhine River—
Radical Paris, though surrounded by German Alsace and Lorraine—and received from France an
troops, was outraged and disgusted by the actions of indemnity of $2 billion. Germany was united, but the
the provisional government. Rather than surrender, French swore revenge.
the adult male citizens of Paris voted in March 1871 The American president, Ulysses S. Grant, congrat-
to declare the Paris Commune. The Commune passed ulated the new German government on forming a
legislation granting free education, moderating rents, federal union like the United States and expressed the
reducing church power, and generally supporting hope that Germans would soon enjoy the benefits of
the working class. Two months later the provisional democracy. In fact, the German constitution did grant
government, which had temporarily withdrawn to universal male suffrage (to those aged twenty-five
Versailles, sent troops to storm Paris and crush the and older) in elections to the Reichstag, or federal
Commune. More than twenty thousand people were parliament, but German states retained considerable
killed, more than during the entire Reign of Terror
of the French Revolution. This slaughter of mainly Paris Commune Radical regime in Paris after Franco-
working-class people by the middle-class government Prussian War, brutally suppressed by the French gov-
would long be remembered by socialists, as would ernment in May 1871.
the myth of the Commune as the first workers’ state. Reichstag German federal parliament for united Ger-
Writing immediately after the crushing of the Com- many that met in Berlin starting in 1871 and was
mune, Marx exclaimed, “Within sight of the Prussian elected by universal male suffrage.
army that had annexed to Germany two French pro-
636 CHAPTER 22 The Triumph of the Nation-State, 1848–1900
citizens. Despite pressure from the western powers, develop, Dmowski’s argument continued, the Jews
Romania refused to grant full citizenship to members must either assimilate totally—shedding Jewish cul-
of these ethnic groups, treating them like foreigners. ture and identity—or leave Poland. Dmowski’s ap-
Poles were a unique national minority in nineteenth- peals exemplified the beginnings of mass politics in
century Europe. They looked back to a large and Poland. On the one hand, he and his National De-
powerful Polish state in the medieval and early mod- mocrats helped organize Poles against Russian and
ern period, before it was partitioned by Russia, Aus- Prussian cultural and political oppression; on the
tria, and Prussia in the late eighteenth century. Polish other, he rallied Poles to reject their Jewish neighbors
written culture was well developed, and a Polish no- and to embrace an aggressive, almost biological, form
bility continued to exist, despite the disappearance of of nationalism.
the Polish state. While the Polish peasantry did not While the Poles would have to wait until the twen-
always identify with the “Polish nation” in midcen- tieth century for independence, Bulgarian religious
tury, the existence of a Polish nation—without a and national leaders wrested their own state from the
state— could not be questioned, even by hostile Rus- Ottoman Empire by manipulating international ten-
sians and Prussians like Bismarck. The Polish case sions. The Ottomans tolerated Bulgarian Orthodox
stood in marked contrast to that of neighboring Slo- Christianity, but the ruling class in the region was
vaks, Belarusians, and Ukrainians, who lacked a long made up primarily of Muslims. By the late nineteenth
tradition of statehood or written culture. century, growing numbers of middle-class Bulgari-
The majority of Poles lived under Russian rule in ans, most educated in missionary or church schools,
the so-called kingdom of Poland, but after the Polish came to resent their subordination to Muslim Ottoman
insurrection of 1830, little remained of its autonomy. authorities. They turned to Russia, which shared its re-
A second insurrection in 1863 failed disastrously. In ligious traditions, spoke a similar language, and also
its aftermath, thousands of Poles were arrested, had used the Cyrillic alphabet. Russia had long seen itself
their property confiscated, and were exiled to Siberia as the protector of Orthodox Christians in the Ot-
or fled abroad. Government schools used Russian as toman Empire.
the language of instruction, Poles were excluded Launching an uprising in the spring of 1875, Bul-
from many government jobs, and strict censorship garian nationalist leaders drew all Europe’s attention
was applied to the Polish press. The next generation to their oppression, especially after violent reprisals
of Polish intellectuals, known as the Warsaw posi- by Ottoman forces took the lives of many thousands
tivists after the French intellectual movement of that of Christian Bulgarians. Britain’s former prime minis-
name, emphasized economic and cultural develop- ter William Gladstone produced an overwrought
ment over national unity. They recognized that devel- account of the massacre, The Bulgarian Horrors and
oping a strong, literate, and prosperous Polish nation the Question of the East. When, in 1876, another Sla-
was under present circumstances more important vic people in the mountainous province of Bosnia-
than fighting for independence. Herzegovina rose up against Ottoman rule, Russia
From the 1890s onward, however, the cautious ap- intervened, in defense of Orthodox Christian Serbs and
proach of the positivists did not satisfy the more im- Montenegrans. In the Russo-Turkish War, Russian
patient socialist and nationalist Polish youth. They
argued for direct action against the repressive Rus-
sian Empire, even for revolution. The Polish Socialist Polish Socialist Party Political party founded in 1892
Party was both nationalist in its political ideas (de- that combined socialist ideology with the demand for
manding an independent Polish state) and socialist in an independent Polish state.
its economic ideas (demanding state ownership of National Democratic Party Nationalist and antise-
factories and means of communication). At the end of mitic Polish party formed in 1897 that advocated limit-
the 1890s, it was challenged by the National Demo- ing the number of non-Poles—especially Jews—in a
future Polish state.
cratic Party, which stressed nationalism and rejected
Roman Dmowski (1864–1939) Polish politician and
socialism. Led by Roman Dmowski, the National leader of the nationalist and antisemitic National De-
Democrats were aggressive and exclusivist in their mocratic Party.
approach, refusing to accept non-Poles, and espe- William Gladstone (1809–1898) British politician and
cially Jews, as a part of the Polish nation. Dmowski, a prime minister; important figure in the Liberal Party.
biologist, was influenced by the social sciences. He Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) Major war in the
argued that the large Jewish minority living among Balkans with Serbia and Russia fighting against the
the Poles had taken over middle-class occupations, Ottoman Empire.
pushing out Poles. Thus, for a healthy Polish nation to
638 CHAPTER 22 The Triumph of the Nation-State, 1848–1900
Königsberg
SCHLESWIG
North Sea Danzig
Kiel EAST PRUSSIA
HOLSTEIN
Lübeck
Hamburg POMERANIA WEST PRUSSIA
MECKLENBURG
Bremen
OLDENBURG Elb A
e
HANOVER
Wa Vistul
BRANDENBURG I rta a
Amsterdam Hanover Berlin
NETHERLANDS S POSEN
Warsaw
S RUSSIAN EMPIRE
U
WESTPHALIA R
Essen P
Ru
Mu
Antwerp POLAND
hr Oder
lde
Leipzig
BELGIUM Cologne
Bonn Weimar Dresden
RHINE
SAXONY SILESIA
PROVINCE
Sadowa
e
ell
Frankfurt 1866
Mai Cracow
os
n Prague
M
Sedan
1870 Luxembourg BOHEMIA
N Olmütz
Nuremberg
Vl
eck
i ne
Verdun
tav
E
ar
Rh
MORAVIA
a
LORRAINE Karlsruhe
va
R
ra
Stuttgart BAVARIA
Nancy
Mo
I
Strasbourg WÜRTTEMBERG P
Da n u b e M
CE
Inn E
ALSA
Munich Vienna
BADEN N
A
I Pest
FRANCE R Buda
T
S
Innsbruck A U
SWITZERLAND
Prussia before 1866
Conquered by Prussia in
Austro-Prussian War, 1866
Austrian territories excluded from
North German Confederation, 1867
ITALY Joined with Prussia to form
North German Confederation, 1867
Major battles South German states joining with
Prussia to form German Empire, 1871
German Confederation boundary, 1815–1866
Won by Prussia in
Bismarck's German Empire, 1871 Franco-Prussian War, 1871
MAP 22.3 Unification of Germany, 1871 Germany was unified in great part through the efforts of
Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. The creation of this large German state in central Europe put
severe strains on the diplomatic balance of power existing in Europe since the Congress of Vienna.
African Americans, Du Bois helped found the Na- ended Japanese immigration in 1907. Asians were
tional Association for the Advancement of Colored denied American citizenship well into the twentieth
People (NAACP) in 1909. Asians who had migrated century.
to the United States’ West Coast in large numbers As a nation of immigrants, American national
beginning in the mid-nineteenth century were also identity was complex and problematic. For those
subject to discrimination. Congress ended Chinese with white skin, it was a chosen identity. By the end
immigration in 1882, and a diplomatic arrangement of the nineteenth century, more and more Europeans
640 CHAPTER 22 The Triumph of the Nation-State, 1848–1900
chose the United States as a new homeland. Millions political issues, read newspapers, and traveled (often
left Ireland, Germany, Italy, Russia, and other European seeking employment) throughout their countries,
countries to take up a new life in the New World. they gained a sense of national identity that tran-
America was particularly attractive to those who suf- scended local and religious ties.
fered political repression in their native land or who In Britain the nation-state was firmly established by
longed for greater economic opportunity. As great the nineteenth century, and parliamentary traditions
numbers of Poles, Italians, eastern Europeans, and Jews were strong. In 1832, in a triumph of British liberalism,
began to arrive, some of the earlier immigrants and the Reform Acts had granted the vote to middle-class
their descendants opposed further immigration, claim- men. The Reform Acts of 1867 and 1884 extended suf-
ing that people from southern and eastern Europe frage to male heads of households; further extensions
could not be assimilated into the American nation. brought almost universal male suffrage by the early
They were wrong. While immigrants often worked twentieth century. Regional identities remained strong,
long hours in unhealthy conditions and fought off but they did not challenge the dominance of a British
feelings of alienation and homesickness, many pros- identity fostered by London.
pered and proudly watched their children grew up Throughout this period, Great Britain was plagued
“100 percent American.” Most European immigrants by the Irish question—what to do with the Irish,
to the United States quickly became great patriots, poverty-stricken, Catholic peasants in a mainly Protes-
proud of their American citizenship and their Ameri- tant and industrialized British nation. The horrific
can identity. For Americans of African or Asian descent, famine of the mid-1840s had reduced the population
however, both political rights and social acceptance of Ireland by over one-third and poisoned relations
were denied. between Irish Catholic peasants and their Protestant
landlords. One proposed solution to the Irish question
was home rule—autonomy for the Irish provinces
with their own parliament in Dublin. Irish demands
The Expanding Role for home rule increased at the end of the nineteenth
of the State century.
France also enjoyed a strong national tradition,
➜
In what ways did states expand their role in the life of prestigious culture, and prosperity. The centrality of
their citizens? What role did nationalism play in this expan- Paris and the strength of the central state apparatus
sion of state power?
and of French culture overshadowed the linguistic
➜
Third Republic, and from 1871 onward, Frenchmen The impact of this expanding political participa-
would always enjoy voting rights. tion was enormous. With mass political participation
Elsewhere in Europe political rights also increased. came the need for governments to respond to public
In newly unified Italy and Germany, all men could opinion. Some governments used secret subsidies to
vote. Even in backward Russia, most men could vote influence the opinions newspapers expressed. For ex-
in Duma elections after 1906, though the votes of the ample, it was an open secret that the Russian govern-
wealthy counted far more than those of peasants and ment paid large sums to the Belgian daily Le Nord,
workers. Universal male suffrage came to Austria which then gave favorable coverage of Russian af-
(though not to Hungary) in 1907. In Finland, still an fairs. Governments also paid editors to print favor-
autonomous principality within the Russian Empire, able news and suppress embarrassing information.
women were granted the vote in 1906. Women could Most governments attempted to limit the information
also vote in local elections in some western states in reaching their citizens through censorship, but as the
the United States. Democracy was far from universal amount of information freely available to citizens
even in the early twentieth century, but great strides grew, politics could no longer remain confined to a
had been made in that direction since 1848. few wealthy families.
Technology played a role in nation building. Steam The new political power of peasant and working-
presses and advances in papermaking technology class men changed the agendas of political parties.
made newspapers cheap and abundant after the 1860s, Conservative parties attempted to gain peasant sup-
and increased literacy meant that more people read port by appealing to Christian (often Catholic) values
them. Newspaper reading helped establish and spread and denouncing “godless” urban socialists and, in
a standard form of the language and thus weakened some cases, the Jews. Liberal parties increasingly
local dialects. Industrial development also strength- modified their laissez-faire attitudes to support limits
ened national feelings. Railroads encouraged mobility
between town and countryside and reduced differ-
ences between peasants and town dwellers, reinforc- Third Republic (1870–1940) Longest continuous re-
ing the idea that “we are all Frenchmen” (or Germans, public in French history, beginning with the defeat in
or Russians, or Italians). The telegraph, which dates the Franco-Prussian war and ending with military
from 1844, twenty years later spanned the European defeat by Hitler.
and American continents, helping bring citizens in Duma Russian legislature, granted by Tsar Nicholas II
closer contact and aiding governments in administer- in 1906 and lasting until the Revolution of 1917.
ing their territories.
642 CHAPTER 22 The Triumph of the Nation-State, 1848–1900
on employment of children and the length of the nized the importance of schools for forming the pop-
working day and provision of assistance to ill or in- ulation into well-trained workers and patriotic citizens.
jured workers. Nationalist politicians often took up Everywhere, literacy improved, though at unequal
antisemitic slogans, blaming Jews as responsible for rates. At midcentury, more than 70 percent of the
higher prices. population in Scandinavia, Germany, Scotland, and
Working-class political organizations grew steadily. the United States was literate; by 1913, the figure was
In England, the Labour Party, founded in 1900, rap- over 90 percent, not only in those countries but also in
idly challenged both the Tories and the Liberals, whose Great Britain (including Ireland), Australia, New
party had developed from the Whigs. In other coun- Zealand, Austria, and France. Even in backward Russia,
tries, socialist parties sought to represent labor, though nearly half of the population was literate by this time.
they were often harassed or disbanded by govern- Generally, literacy rates were higher in urban than ru-
ments. The Social Democratic Party of Germany was ral areas, among men than women, and in Protestant
powerful enough to attract more votes than any other countries than in Catholic countries, probably be-
party in the 1913 elections, but it was still kept out of cause of Protestantism’s emphasis on Bible reading.
the government. In France, when a socialist, Alexan- The spread of mandatory elementary education,
dre Millerand, accepted a cabinet post in 1899, he was though not rapid, was steady. From the late eighteenth
soundly criticized by other socialists for participating century onward, Prussia obliged parents to send their
in a bourgeois government. Russian socialists, on the children to school. In France, a law promising free,
other hand, were forced to operate underground. These compulsory, and universal elementary education was
illegal groupings were split between the peasant- passed in the wake of the 1848 revolution, though it
based Socialist Revolutionaries, who embraced ter- took several decades to be implemented. Great Britain
rorist methods, and the Marxist Social Democrats, who instituted universal primary education in 1871, and
themselves split into Bolshevik and Menshevik fac- this system grew rapidly in the next few decades. Even
tions in 1903 over questions of party strategy. Every- in Russia, where the spread of literacy was hampered
where, socialists believed that as the numbers of by poverty and the government’s distrust of teachers,
working-class people grew, their triumph over capi- who were suspected of revolutionary sympathies, the
talism was increasingly certain. numbers of primary schools increased significantly in
Mass politics took varied and even contradictory the decades up to 1914, and plans were under way to
forms. When the British prime minister William Glad- introduce free and universal primary education.
stone, a Liberal, toured the country by rail in the 1870s The nature and philosophy of education changed
to influence voters, he was participating in mass pol- radically, with its practical—rather than moral or
itics. When, in the 1890s, the Polish political leader religious—aspects getting more attention. In Prussia,
Roman Dmowski and the National Democrats pub- traditional classical high schools, or Gymnasien, that
lished the newspaper Kurier Wszechpolski in Austrian emphasized Latin and Greek were supplemented by
Galicia, in part so it could be smuggled into the Russian more practical secondary schools teaching mathemat-
Empire, they were also participating in mass politics. ics and science to prepare workers for a new industrial
Mass-circulation newspapers attempted to influence economy. New institutions of higher learning—in
public opinion with their coverage of events and ex-
posés of political corruption. French writer Émile
Zola’s article denouncing the French army’s attempt Labour Party British political party founded in 1900
to frame Captain Alfred Dreyfus, “J’Accuse!” (“I Ac- with the help of trade unions to represent the interests
cuse”), is a famous example of such an exposé. of the urban working class.
Social Democratic Party of Germany Europe’s most
powerful and popular socialist party in the late nine-
Education and the Nation-State teenth and early twentieth centuries.
Socialist Revolutionaries Russian underground
Before 1848, few European states compelled their cit-
political party, founded in 1901, that carried out terror-
izens to attend school. By 1914, universal schooling was ist acts against tsarist government.
accepted as a goal—though it was not yet a reality— Bolsheviks and Mensheviks Two branches of the
throughout Europe and increasingly around the world. underground Russian Social-Democratic Party, the
By the early twentieth century, literacy and access to more radical of which was the Bolsheviks.
education were coming to be seen as a primary re- Émile Zola (1840–1902) French writer, author of “J’Ac-
sponsibility of governments. In most countries of cuse,” an article accusing the French army of trying to
western, northern, and central Europe, parents were frame Dreyfus.
obliged to send their children to school. States recog-
The Expanding Role of the State 643
particular the technological universities—concentrated time, less privileged people were getting more and
on producing well-trained chemists, engineers, and more education that allowed hundreds of thousands
other specialists vital to Germany’s growing indus- to take up jobs as bank clerks, government bureaucrats,
tries. In other countries, too, science and technology teachers, and telegraph operators. Mass education thus
found a place in the curriculum, and technological in- helped expand the middle class, which in turn in-
stitutes were set up in St. Petersburg, Warsaw, and creased demands for broader political rights.
Boston, where the Massachusetts Institute of Technol-
ogy was founded in 1861. The Growing Power of the State
In many parts of Europe, the state sought to reduce
the influence of the church on education. The secular Nation building aims to convince citizens that they
French state instituted state-run primary schools with have a stake and a voice in the nation-state. The nation-
state-employed teachers, the instituteurs, who saw state’s political legitimacy derives in the end from the
themselves as countering the forces of backwardness nation—that is, all citizens taken as a whole. But the
and reaction they perceived as embodied in the state also demands that citizens fulfill various obliga-
Catholic Church and the local priest. In Germany, one tions: paying taxes, serving in the military, obeying
purpose of Bismarck’s Kulturkampf was to eject the the law. Now citizens were asked to fulfill these obli-
Catholic priest from the classroom. In other European gations as part of a social contract between them-
countries, the tension between state education and re- selves and the nation-state. At the same time, citizens
ligious authority was less open, but everywhere con- increasingly expected the state to protect them not
servatives and traditional religious leaders felt uneasy only from domestic or foreign enemies but from the
about mass education, worrying that it could pro- devastation of sickness, poverty, and old age. In the
mote radical thinking and atheism. second half of the nineteenth century, state power
Mass education also aimed to strengthen patriot- expanded in the form of increased government inter-
ism. Italian schools insisted that the pupils use stan- vention in everyday life, but in return the state prom-
dard Italian, a language that children in many regions ised order, more protection for weaker segments of
could barely understand. Ukrainian and Belarusian society, and international prestige.
children were taught—if at all—in Russian, since the Classical liberalism argued that the state should
government claimed that their languages were only interfere as little as possible in economic matters,
dialects of Russian. But the patriotic lessens taught in holding that legal equality would give all citizens
schools went beyond language. In Italian schools, equal access to fame and fortune. By the last decades
children learned that they had inherited the glories of of the nineteenth century, even liberals allowed that
ancient Rome. Russian pupils were taught that the the state had a role to play in the economy. The failed
tsar was a kindly father looking out for all his subjects example of France’s national workshops of 1848 be-
in their broad motherland, which covered one-fifth of gan to seem like a reasonable idea during periods of
the earth’s surface. British children learned pride in high unemployment. Most state intervention in the
their democratic traditions and love for the queen economy, however, aimed to assure investors’ profits.
and the British Empire, on which “the sun never In the building of railroads in Russia and Austria, for
sets.” In Prussia, the values of order and discipline example, where investors put forth capital, the state
were stressed. guaranteed a certain percentage return, at least for a
Even while opening up opportunity for a few specific period. The state also sought to assure decent
gifted individuals, mass education also reinforced ex- working conditions. From Britain to Russia, govern-
isting class lines. While more peasants and workers ment factory inspectors examined working conditions
now sent their children to school, few could afford with the power to fine or even shut down workplaces
secondary or higher education. The British public that were dangerous. For some factory owners, such
school system prepared the sons of the gentry and measures seemed an outrageous example of govern-
upper middle class to enter Oxford and Cambridge ment interference in their businesses.
and from there to occupy positions of power in gov- The technology of war also contributed to nation
ernment and industry. There, and elsewhere, univer- building and the growth of state power. By the 1870s,
sity students came overwhelmingly from the middle nearly every European country, with the exception of
class and upper levels of society, and higher educa- Britain, demanded military service from its male citi-
tion was far from common. In 1900 there were fewer zens. Serving in the Russian or French or Italian army
than thirty thousand university students in France helped young peasant lads to see themselves as part
and fewer than fifty thousand in Germany—less than of a larger group—the nation. Before 1917, more Rus-
1 percent of the population in both cases. At the same sian boys were taught to read in the army than in
644 CHAPTER 22 The Triumph of the Nation-State, 1848–1900
schools. Similarly, bringing together young men from Integral Nationalism, Racism,
different parts of France and Italy helped encourage
Antisemitism, Zionism
use of the standard language rather than local di-
alects and impressed on the soldiers that they served After 1848, conservatives took up the nationalist
not only their family, village, or region but the entire ideas and slogans that had been the hallmarks of lib-
nation. And the existence of a strong national army eralism before the uprisings. After 1860, nationalists
was a matter of pride and international prestige: few began to preach a more exclusionary and aggressive
Europeans could imagine a self-respecting nation- creed, stressing struggle and dominance rather than
state without a well-trained army in flashy and dis- cooperation and mutual assistance. At the same time,
tinctive uniforms. Throughout Europe the cost of conservatives recognized the utility of nationalism as
these armies was nearly universally the largest item a tool for rallying the masses. By painting radicals
on the state budget. and socialists as internationalists, the conservatives
To intervene in industrial development, educate suggested that leftists would support foreign inter-
citizens, and build strong armies, states needed taxes. ests over patriotism. Most important of all, now
With the exception of Great Britain, which introduced everyone was expected to identify with one nation,
an income tax—levied only on those with higher not with a local village or religious faith. This growth
incomes—in 1842, European states collected revenue in national self-consciousness was encouraged by
from tariffs and indirect taxes, such as taxes on salt, government schools, mass publications such as news-
kerosene, and matches. In Austria-Hungary the state papers and calendars, and various political parties.
had a monopoly on the sales of tobacco products, and Toward the end of the nineteenth century, nation-
in Russia the state budget was covered in large part alism took on increasingly narrow and aggressive
by taxation on vodka. Tariffs and indirect taxes pushed forms. This phenomenon has been termed integral
up prices and fell disproportionately on the poor. nationalism, to stress its all-encompassing character
Throughout Europe taxes rose in the course of the and distinguish it from earlier liberal nationalism.
nineteenth century. These nonliberal nationalists stressed struggle between
nations and domination of other nations. Dmowski in
Poland, for example, argued that only a struggle be-
tween Poles and Ukrainians would determine whether
the Ukrainians would survive as a nation. Another
Nationalism and key ingredient of integral nationalism was a narrow
its Opponents definition of the nation, focusing in particular on who
did not belong and usually seeing a nation as a com-
➜
What links developed in the later nineteenth century munity of birth, not an identity that one could choose.
between nationalism and racism? German nationalists came to insist that birth deter-
➜
Why did anarchists, socialists, and the Catholic Church mined German identity. Although France and the
oppose nationalism? In each case, what aspects of nation-
alism did they dislike? United States theoretically defined their nations as
open to anyone accepting their political ideals, dis-
Despite its growing influence, nationalism was not crimination belied this open, liberal attitude.
without opponents in this period. Some objected to its Narrow and exclusionary definitions of the nation
increasingly aggressive, even racist, aspects, which came together with the rise of racialist thought. As
pitted nation against nation in contests that defined Europeans engaged in a new wave of colonizing in
some as inferior, others as superior. Both conservatives Africa and Asia, the idea of race emerged as a bio-
and radicals, for different reasons, saw nationalism as logical reality and object of study. Though race is
a destructive, even evil, movement. The conservative now understood as lacking a scientific basis and the
multinational empires in central and eastern Europe
opposed nationalism as a threat to their continued
survival. The Catholic Church condemned both the
indirect taxes Taxes levied on products of common
democratic politics of some nationalists and the racism use, like salt, alcoholic beverages, or kerosene, as op-
of others. Socialists denounced nationalism as a tool posed to direct taxes, such as income tax.
of the ruling classes to distract ordinary people from integral nationalism Form of nationalism common in
real social and economic issues, to disguise exploita- the later nineteenth century, characterized by an ag-
tion with nationalist slogans, and to increase profits gressive stance toward other ethnic groups.
through the sale of armaments.
Nationalsim and its Opponents 645
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Theodor Herzl Speculates on the Impact of
Jewish Immigration to Palestine
When Theodor Herzl proposed the creation of a Jewish state in 1896, he focused
not on a location or an exact form of government but on the simple fact that Jews
should have their own state to shelter them from persecution and to foster their
national pride. In his writings, however, he envisioned an economically modern
state that would be liberal and democratic in its politics. He also envisioned good
relations between Jews and Arabs. In this passage from Old-New Land, a fictional
English visitor speaks with an Arab landowner about the impact of Jewish immi-
gration to Palestine.
A pair of French cartoons illustrates the bitter controversy caused by the Dreyfus Affair within French society—
and even within individual families. The first cartoon reads “Above all let’s not talk about the Dreyfus Affair”;
the second—“They talked about it.” (Archives Charmet/The Bridgeman Art Library)
Nationalsim and its Opponents 647
diversity of humankind as being unclassifiable in such traumatic for Europe’s Jews. In 1881, in the wake of
terms, scientists and philosophers in late-nineteenth- the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in St. Peters-
century Europe developed a racial system of human burg, a wave of pogroms, or organized attacks on
classification based on a strict hierarchy, with white Jewish life and property, swept the southwestern
Europeans on top. This scientific racism claimed that provinces of the Russian Empire (today’s Ukraine).
humanity was divided into three races with different Despite the small number of deaths in the pogroms,
physical, mental, and sexual capacities. their moral impact was devastating. Most Jews—and
Racism and integral nationalism fused most noto- Russian liberals—concluded that the Russian govern-
riously in antisemitism. The word itself was first ment itself was behind the attacks (a view now re-
used by the obscure German writer Wilhelm Marr in jected by historians), and by the end of the 1880s, tens
1879 in his pamphlet Victory of the Jews over the Ger- of thousands of Jews were leaving Russia every year,
mans to describe a new phenomenon. While religious mainly for the United States.
hatred and discrimination against Jews had long ex-
isted in Christian Europe, antisemitism attacked not
the Jewish religion but all those of Jewish birth Strains in the
(“race”), no matter what their religious beliefs, as en- Multinational Empires
emies of all Europeans and their society (the term
Aryan was often used in this context to mean non- While Jews felt directly threatened by the new aggres-
Jews). Antisemites insisted that Jews by their very na- sive nationalism, the conservative multinational em-
ture could not be part of European nations, much to pires of eastern and central Europe were indirectly
the anger of middle-class Jews, who, believing in as- threatened. The Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary,
similation, considered their religion no obstacle to and Russia were all defined by dynastic loyalties and
their strongly felt identity as patriotic Frenchmen, contained within their borders a wide diversity of
Germans, or Poles groups increasingly conscious of their national and
Antisemites held that Jews unfairly monopolized ethnic identities. Their demands for cultural and polit-
commerce and banking; were dishonest in their deal- ical rights undermined the stability of these empires.
ings with non-Jews; and exercised a corrupting moral The Ottoman Empire was a kaleidoscope of ethnic
influence through their activities as journalists, law- diversity, including, at midcentury, Slavs, Albanians,
yers, and doctors. Jews were identified with modern Arabs, and others—it was not a “Turkish” state. Sultan
capitalist society—disrespectful of social traditions
while energetically and unscrupulously accumulating
wealth and power. Antisemitic political parties, such scientific racism Nineteenth-century biological theory
that claimed humanity is divided into three races with
as Dmowski’s National Democrats, appealed to work- different physical, mental, and sexual capacities.
ers and lower-middle-class voters, whose economic antisemitism Anti-Jewish political movement arising
and social position were threatened by industrializa- in Germany in the 1870s and spreading to many coun-
tion and large-scale capitalist commerce. Antisemitism tries, in particular in eastern Europe.
gained significant popular support in the 1870s and Wilhelm Marr (1819–1904) German writer who coined
1880s in places where Jewish populations were sub- the word antisemitism, arguing that Jews posed a major
stantial, as in Austria-Hungary and Russian Poland, threat to European peoples and culture.
and where Jews were noticeable in society, despite Aryan Designation for non-Jews, implying that Jews
their small numbers, because of their achievements in belonged in a specific “semitic” race, while other white
business or the free professions, as in Germany. But Europeans belonged to the “Aryan” race.
antisemitism within European society was so general Theodor Herzl (1860–1904) Viennese journalist who
founded modern Zionism.
that when the Austrian journalist Theodor Herzl,
covering the Dreyfus affair in Paris, witnessed pub- Dreyfus affair Series of trials between 1894 and 1906
involving the false accusation of Captain Alfred Drey-
lic demonstrations of hatred toward all Jews, he con- fus, a Jewish officer on the French general staff, of
cluded that no Jew was safe, not even in enlightened, spying for the Germans.
republican France (see Choice). Declaring that Jews Zionism View that Jews were not merely a religious
constituted a nation, not just a religious community, community, but a nation; also a movement advocating
Herzl initiated a movement, known as Zionism, call- the formation of a modern Jewish state in Palestine.
ing for the establishment of a Jewish state in the his- pogrom In Russia in 1881 and later, organized attacks
torical home of the Hebrews in Palestine. on Jews and Jewish property.
The final decades of the nineteenth century were
648 CHAPTER 22 The Triumph of the Nation-State, 1848–1900
Abdul Hamid II himself was born to an Armenian rupt, and state budgets had to be approved by the
mother, and among his wives were women of various empire’s European creditors.
ethnic groups. In the Ottoman Empire, religion was The Russian Empire was even larger and more di-
much more important than nationality. Religious tol- verse than the Ottoman Empire. Stretching from Fin-
eration was practiced, though Islam was considered land to the Pacific Ocean, it covered one-fifth of the
the most perfect religion. In practice, business and earth’s dry land. Like the Ottoman Empire, Russia was
commerce were dominated by Christians and Jews, not a nation-state. The census of 1897 indicates that
and the population of Istanbul—the former Constan- not quite half of Nicholas’s subjects were ethnically
tinople—was more Christian than Muslim in 1900. Russian. The empire encompassed Ukrainians, Poles,
National and ethnic strife was not entirely absent, Jews, Lithuanians, Germans, pagan Udmurts, and
however, in the Ottoman state. When Armenians, for Muslim Tartars. Germans predominated among Rus-
example, were suspected of disloyalty to the sultan, sia’s diplomats, and German names—Benckendorff,
they were subjected to violent attacks. Totleben, Kaufmann—were common among the high-
In the course of the nineteenth century, Greeks, est officials and generals of the empire. The Finns
Romanians, Serbs, and Bulgarians gained their inde- enjoyed broad autonomy, having their own coinage,
pendence from the Ottoman Empire, while Bosnia- postal system, and legislature. The legal status of
Herzegovina was transferred to Austria. These most non-Russians in the empire was, however, far
territorial losses were just one sign of Ottoman weak- less favorable.
ness. Though the sultan exercised absolute power in Russia had been considered a major European
principle; in reality the empire’s unwieldy size and power only since the Napoleonic Wars, and this sta-
inefficient bureaucracy meant that he could never
be sure his orders would be carried out in distant
provinces. Local elites from the Balkans to northern Armenians Christian ethnic group living in the Rus-
Africa often took control into their own hands. Even- sian and Ottoman Empires, subject to violent attacks
tually, the economic problems of the Ottoman state under Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
became so acute that in effect the empire went bank-
Nationalsim and its Opponents 649
tus was severely shaken by its defeat in the Crimean the Russian Empire in the early twentieth century, na-
War (1854–1856). Tsar Nicholas I died a broken man tionalism was one of the most threatening.
in the midst of the war, admonishing his son Alexan- Whereas the Russian Empire adopted a policy of rus-
der II to learn from his mistakes. While no liberal, sification and repression, Austria-Hungary attempted
Tsar Alexander II recognized that only sweeping re- reconciliation. After the Compromise of 1867 divided
forms could save Russia’s status as a great power. In the empire into two separate halves, Austria and
1861, he emancipated the serfs in the first of a series Hungary ran their own domestic affairs separately,
of Great Reforms that ended in 1876 with universal sharing military and diplomatic affairs. They also
military service. Censorship was also lightened, but shared, of course, a ruler: Francis Joseph was emperor
Alexander refused to consider the creation of any (Kaiser) in Vienna, but king (király) in Budapest. The
kind of elected legislature, even of an advisory sort. rights of minority nationalities were assured by law
Even before the Great Reforms, religious toleration throughout Austria-Hungary, but in practice the
had been practiced in the Russian Empire, but the Hungarians tried to impose their language on the
Russian Orthodox Church was officially the “reign- Slovaks and Romanians who lived in Hungary. Any-
ing religion,” its primacy taken for granted. Catholics one wishing to gain an education and rise socially
were regarded as untrustworthy, and Russian offi- would have to master the difficult Hungarian lan-
cials closely monitored the movements and actions of guage. Rather like in Russia, this harsh policy had the
Catholic priests and bishops. The Jews were worst off: opposite effect of what Budapest hoped for. Slovak
their residence, with few exceptions, was restricted to and Romanian peasants were easily propagandized
the southwestern part of the empire, the so-called Pale by nationalists, who pointed out that they would
of Settlement; they were discriminated against in have better economic, cultural, and educational op-
government jobs and secondary and higher education. portunities in their own national states.
Russia differed from the Ottoman or Habsburg In Austria, the national issue was a source of con-
Empires, however, in the predominance of one reli- stant political complications. Among the larger non-
gion and one language. While the tsar’s subjects were German groups were Czechs, Poles, and Ukrainians
generally free to speak their native tongues at home, (Ruthenians). Poles were given broad autonomy in
Russian was the usual language in government of- the eastern region of Galicia, where they lived in
fices and schools, courts, and universities. The Rus- large numbers. Somewhat later, the Ukrainians of
sian tsar had to be Russian Orthodox in religion, but eastern Galicia were granted special language rights.
in the nineteenth century, every tsar married a foreign Little by little, Czechs also made significant gains,
princess, though they all converted to Orthodoxy as a such as being able to use their language in schools
condition of marriage. The last tsar, Nicholas II, mar- and state offices. The 1882 split of Prague University
ried a German princess, Alix—or Aleksandra Fyodor- into German and Czech institutions was also a major
ovna, as she was known after her conversion—who achievement for the Czechs. These concessions served
had been brought up in England at the court of to embolden rather than pacify the nationalists. At
Queen Victoria. At home, the imperial family usually the same time, German nationalism was on the rise,
spoke English, though sometimes German and French, and in Vienna it was difficult to piece together a last-
as well as Russian. ing government coalition from the various battling
In the second half of the nineteenth century, the
tsar attempted to introduce a more centralized ad-
ministration using Russian. This process, usually de- Crimean War (1854–1856) War fought on the Crimean
scribed as russification, did not aim to make Finns, peninsula in which Russia’s defeat by France and
Poles, Jews, and others into Russians, but rather to Britain led to Tsar Alexander II’s Great Reforms.
create a more unified empire where Russian could Great Reforms (1861–1876) Series of Russian reforms
serve as the means of communication among all of that included emancipation of the serfs, lessening of
the empire’s inhabitants. Nevertheless, russification censorship, and reform of the military and judicial
systems.
caused great resentment among non-Russian elites
Pale of Settlement Area in the southwestern Russian
who, like Dmowski, would form the nucleus of na-
Empire—roughly equivalent to present-day Belarus,
tionalist movements throughout the empire. By 1900, Lithuania, and western Ukraine—where Jews were
nationalism was a powerful antigovernment force, in allowed to reside.
particular in the empire’s western borderlands. At the russification Effort to culturally assimilate minority
same time, Russian nationalism was also growing, national groups in the Russian Empire, in particular in
often exhibiting an aggressive anti-Polish and anti- the second half of the nineteenth century.
Jewish attitude. Among the many problems facing
650 CHAPTER 22 The Triumph of the Nation-State, 1848–1900
themselves to international solidarity and solemnly in 1889 with the publication of her best-selling novel
declared that they would never go to war. Practically Lay Down Your Arms! Suttner dedicated the remain-
speaking, however, they admitted that socialist orga- der of her life to encouraging pacifism and working
nizations would need to be created on a national to prevent war. One of her greatest achievements was
level. Sometimes national and socialist agendas were to persuade the Swedish industrialist and inventor of
pursued simultaneously. The Polish Socialist Party, dynamite, Alfred Nobel, to fund an annual prize for
for example, aimed to overthrow the existing political those promoting the cause of peace. The Nobel Peace
order and establish an independent—and socialist— Prize, along with prizes for chemistry, medicine, and
Polish republic. literature, was first awarded in 1901. Appropriately,
Some who sought to overthrow the political order Suttner herself was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in
described themselves as anarchists. Like the social- 1905. The pacifist movement could point to several
ists, anarchists looked forward to a world of shared successes during this period, including the establish-
prosperity, diffusion of political power, and the de- ment of international treaties on the conduct of war
struction of the powerful centralized state. But while known collectively as the Geneva Conventions that
socialists increasingly accepted the Marxist program resulted from meetings called by Tsar Nicholas II in
of industrial development and a worldwide revolution, 1899, and the Hague conferences and tribunals (1899–
anarchists used more flexible tactics, from education 1907), which used arbitration as one method of set-
and propaganda to terrorism and assassination. Some tling diplomatic disputes.
anarchists thought that killing a powerful political
leader would strike a blow against state repression. anarchists Political radicals of late nineteenth century
The most famous anarchist, Mikhail Bakunin, once who distrusted central government authority and
famously declared, “The urge to destroy is also a cre- advocated violent means to overthrow the existing
ative urge!” Among the victims of anarchist attacks political order.
were Tsar Alexander II (1881), President Sadi Carnot terrorism Use of violence to intimidate individuals,
of France (1894), Spanish premier Antonio Canovas ruling groups, or entire nations to achieve an individ-
de Castillo (1897), Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1898), ual’s or group’s political-ideological goals.
and U.S. president William McKinley (1901). Mikhail Bakunin (1814–1876) Russian anarchist and
Where the anarchists often used violent means to revolutionary who espoused a political ideology op-
posed to all forms of state authority.
achieve peaceful ends, pacifists aimed to prevent war
pacifists Individuals who oppose war and violence on
at all costs. As technology and militarism advanced, principle and seek peaceful solutions to state conflicts.
the prospect of war became ever more horrific. Why
Baroness Bertha von Suttner (1843–1914) Austrian
not, the pacifists argued, take the millions spent on writer and pacifist organizer whose novel Lay Down Your
armies and weapons and use it for better housing, Arms! (1889) gained her an international reputation.
sanitation, cultural facilities, and education? Perhaps Alfred Nobel (1833–1896) Swedish industrialist who
the most famous pacifist of this period was the funded the Nobel prizes, which he hoped would en-
Baroness Bertha von Suttner. Daughter of an Austrian courage world peace and the development of culture.
field marshal, Suttner became a worldwide celebrity
Why were the revolutions of 1848 so important for tutions in most of central Europe in 1848, and by the
political and national histories in Europe?
end of the century, absolute rule had given way to
➜
How was nationalism transformed as an ideology parliamentary politics almost everywhere. Liberal-
from the early to late nineteenth century?
ism in its political and economic form achieved great
➜
Europe with the unification of Italy in the 1860s and among their subjects through policies such as russifi-
of Germany in 1871. Nationalism became an almost cation, these multinational empires could not subdue
universal political program throughout the continent, the nationalist movements that aimed to split up the
as stateless peoples from Ireland to Estonia de- empires. The political and national identities of these
manded cultural and political rights for their nations. empires’ ruling classes increasingly diverged from
The success of nationalism also caused it to be those of the empires’ subject masses.
adopted by conservative forces. Increasingly, nation- Socialists, pacifists, and even the Catholic Church
alists expected struggle and domination, not harmo- also criticized nationalism as an aggressive and divi-
nious cooperation, among different nations. sive movement. Still, the idea that every culture
Both the newly unified Italian and German states, deserves respect and perhaps even political rights
and older ones like Russia, Britain, and France, used was gaining ground. At the same time, more and
various means to strengthen their influence on their more Europeans came to see their own nation as su-
people. This process of nation building included the perior to others and proclaimed the right of “superior
establishment of free public education, the extension nations” to dominate the “inferior.” Such conceptions,
of suffrage, and the imposition of military service. transferred from the national to the racial sphere, also
The state also intervened increasingly in the econ- influenced the course of European imperialism.
omy, whether to encourage industrial development
through tariffs or through programs of health and old-
age insurance. Increased government responsibilities ➜
Thinking Back, Thinking Ahead ➜
meant larger government budgets and higher taxes.
States promoted nationalist loyalties to convince their How do you imagine that early liberal national-
citizens that such increased burdens were necessary. ists such as the Grimm brothers viewed the
In eastern Europe’s great multinational empires, actual shape nationalism took during and after
however, nationalism posed a direct threat to stabil- the unification of Germany?
ity. Despite their efforts to reduce cultural differences
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
National Anthems and National Identity
We take national anthems for granted, but they are largely nineteenth-century inventions. France led the
way during the Revolution, when “La Marseillaise” was sung during the march on Paris in 1792 and de-
creed the national anthem in 1795. Its stirring phrases about defending the homeland against the forces of
tyranny, whose “impure blood” should “water our fields,” led Emperor Napoleon to ban it during his time.
Authorized after the July Revolution of 1830, it was again banned by Napoleon III and not reinstated until
1879. The German national anthem, a poem written in 1841 and sung to the music of Joseph Haydn,
originally began with the words “Deutschland, Deutschland, über alles / Über alles in der Welt” (“Germany,
Germany above all / Above everything in the world”). By this the poet expressed a longing for German
unity and a German identity above all local identities. But during the Nazi era, the words were taken to
express an aim of German world domination, and at the end of World War II, the Allies banned this verse,
which also cited German boundaries along rivers that were now solidly in France, Germany, Italy, and the
Soviet Union. Today only the poem’s third verse is sung on occasions when a national anthem is called for.
Thus, national anthems reflect not only national identity but national history. The Polish national anthem,
written after Poland was partitioned, portrays a spirit undaunted: “Poland is not lost, as long as we are
alive.” Sweden’s anthem praises the old, free, and mountainous north—even though many of the moun-
tains were lost to Norway in 1905. Israel’s “Ha-Tikva” (“The Hope”), written in 1878, expresses the two-
thousand-year-old hope for a return to Zion and Jerusalem. Czechoslovakia had two quite distinct national
anthems, both sung to the same melody. The Czech anthem stated, “Czech land is my fatherland!” while
the Slovak version declared, “Slovaks are awakening.” After the Russian revolution, the new Soviet Union
Websites 653
took “The Internationale” of the world socialist movement as its anthem. Only later was a Soviet anthem
written, praising the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a bulwark of peace and harmony led by the party
of V. I. Lenin and Joseph Stalin. After Stalin’s death, the text underwent some revision.
Americans are generally more emotional about their national anthem than are Europeans. Typically Euro-
peans stand silently when their anthems are played, while Americans stand with their hands over their
hearts, sometime even joining along in song.
Suggested Readings
Brubaker, Rogers. Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Mack Smith, Denis. Cavour and Garibaldi, 1860: A Study in
Germany. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992. Political Conflict. New York: Cambridge University Press,
A well-documented presentation of two opposing concepts of 1985. An account that captures the two main personalities of
nationhood. Italian unification.
Hobsbawm, Eric J. Nations and Nationalism Since 1780: Pro- Sperber, Jonathan. The European Revolutions, 1848–1851. 2nd
gramme, Myth, Reality. Cambridge, England: Cambridge Uni- ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. A well-written
versity Press, 1992. A well-argued synthesis that combines synthesis.
theory and history. Taylor, A. J. P. Bismarck, the Man and the Statesman. London:
Lindemann, Albert S. Esau’s Tears: Modern Anti-Semitism and New English Library, 1974. A readable and balanced account.
the Rise of the Jews. Cambridge, England: Cambridge Univer- Weeks, Theodore R. Nation and State in Late Imperial Russia.
sity Press, 2000. An argument for the close connection between DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1996. A look at rus-
social change and the rise of antisemitism. sification in the western part of the empire.
Websites
On the history of anarchism, with a definite political agenda, Excellent material on the unification of Italy, part of a rich site
Anarchist History, at http://struggle.ws/history.html on the Victorian Age, The Risorgimento or Unification of
An encyclopedia of people, places, and events of the 1848 rev- Italy (1815–1871), at http://www.victorianweb.org/history/
olutions, Encyclopedia of Revolutions of 1848, at www.ohiou risorgimento/1.html
.edu/~Chastain/contents.htm
654
CHAPTER
The Culture of
Industrial Europe,
1850–1914
CHAPTER OUTLINE
NORWAY SWEDEN
Oslo Helsinki St. Petersburg
Railroads, 1870
Railroads, 1914 Stockholm
Vo l
Industrialized area, 1914 ga
Glasgow Moscow
Edinburgh
Boundaries, 1914 Riga
North
Belfast Newcastle
Sea DENMARK
Baltic
Dublin GREAT Copenhagen Sea
BRITAIN
Manchester
Birmingham El Hamburg Danzig
be
NETHERLANDS
Vis
London Amsterdam GE RM ANY tul
a D on
Antwerp Berlin Warsaw RUSSIA
AT L A NT I C BELGIUM
Brussels
Lodz
Kiev
OCEAN
R hi
Líege Cologne Dn ie
per
ne
ne Prague Cracow
i
Paris Dn
iest
Stuttgart er
Budapest
SWITZERLAND
Lyons
Oviedo Ga
ro FRANCE Turin
Milan
n Venice ROMANIA
Rhône
Bilbao Po
ne
Belgrade
Danube
E Sea
UG
Marseilles
A
Florence
br
SPAIN BULGARIA
o
RT
dr
ia MONTENEGRO
SERBIA
Elba ITALY ti
PO
Madrid
Lisbon
Corsica c
Rome Se Istanbul
a O T T O M A
ALBANIA
N E M
Naples
P I
Baleric Is.
Sardinia
R E
GREECE
TUNISIA
(France)
lllll
l Suez Canal
l ll
1869
l
1907
Bakelite, first plastic, is invented
1885 1900
First skyscraper Planck formulates 1908
is completed quantum theory Ford Motor Company
produces first Model T
655
656 CHAPTER 23 The Culture of Industrial Europe, 1850–1914
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Marie Curie-Sklodowska Chooses
to Study Physics
Maria Sklodowska, better known to the world as Madame Curie, chose to
dedicate her life to science. Born at a time when women scientists were rare
and almost unthinkable, she left her native land, obtained a university edu-
cation, and made her mark in scientific research. Her life reflects a period
when dynamic women could defy social norms and succeed. Her career paral-
lels the enormous growth in the importance of scientific discovery for the
economy and everyday life.
Maria was born into an educated middle-class family in Warsaw in late
1867. Her father taught physics and mathematics at a Warsaw gymnasium.
Her mother was also educated and served as the director of a local school for
girls. But, as Poles, her parents could not teach in government schools, and
the salaries they received in private schools were meager. Education in
Poland was, at the time, under severe restraints. Following the Polish insur-
Marie Curie rection of 1863, Russian authorities curtailed the use of the Polish language in
Maria Curie-Sklodowska, schools. Almost all teachers had to be native Russians, and they treated Poles with
known as Madame Curie, contempt and hostility. It was in this atmosphere that Maria Sklodowska received
was the first woman to re- her primary and secondary education. Then, when Maria was only nine, her
ceive the Nobel Prize in mother died, leaving behind four children.
Physics and the first person Finishing high school at age fifteen, at the top of her class, Maria was forced by
to receive the Nobel Prize family circumstances to seek employment as a governess. Many years later, she
twice (the second time in remembered these years with pleasure, recalling that she had set up secret circles
chemistry). Her important to teach children literacy in Polish, an activity strictly forbidden by the Russian
discoveries in the field of authorities. She also studied at the underground “flying university” that Polish
radioactivity are remembered intellectuals had set up for young Poles. But even so, educational opportunities in
in the name of two elements, Russian Poland were limited, so Maria vowed to continue her education abroad as
polonium (after Poland, her soon as possible. Gathering her meager savings, she left for Paris in 1891 and two
native land) and curium (for years later met Pierre Curie. The two married in July 1895.
Curie) One of the largest Pierre Curie had just completed his doctorate in physics and was teaching at a
universities in Poland, in the Paris secondary school. The Curies’ economic situation was far from enviable, but
eastern city of Lublin, also their work carried them through. Soon they had two daughters, but Marie (as she
bears her name. (Bettmann/ was now known) refused to give up her scientific work. With the help of a servant,
Corbis) she balanced her roles as mother and scientist. Pierre’s teaching position and
Marie’s occasional tutoring brought in modest sums, and they were forced to carry
out their research in their spare time and in a small laboratory that was little more
than a shack outfitted with homemade equipment. Marie was interested in the
study of x-rays—peculiar rays emitted by uranium salts—and, as she put it, “de-
cided to undertake an investigation.”
For several years the Curies studied the nature of what we now call radioactiv-
ity. In 1903 they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics along with the French
physicist Antoine Becquerel. When Pierre was killed in an automobile accident in
1906, Marie continued their work on her own. She discovered two new elements,
polonium and radium, for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in
The Second Industrial Revolution 657
1911. At this time she was named to the faculty of the prestigious Sorbonne in
Paris, the first woman to be so honored. Under her leadership, research in chem-
istry and physics blossomed there. Her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie also became a
distinguished scientist. Marie Curie died in 1934, one year before Irène and her
husband Frédéric were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Marie Curie’s discoveries advanced scientific knowledge of radioactivity that
would be later expanded on to produce both nuclear power and atomic arms. But
her choice to dedicate her life to science had other important consequences. Her
dedication to science challenged conventional views of national minorities and the
capabilities of women. After Marie Curie, young women could more easily envi-
sion their own place as scientists, professors, and even Nobel Prize winners.
Chronology
1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition takes place in London 1888 Kodak box camera is perfected by George
Eastman
1859 Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of
Species 1891 Work begins on Trans-Siberian Railroad
1862 Ivan Turgenev publishes Fathers and Sons 1892 Rudolf Diesel patents internal-combustion engine
1863 Edouard Manet paints The Luncheon on the Grass 1899 Sigmund Freud publishes The Interpretation of
and Olympia Dreams
1867 Alfred Nobel patents dynamite 1900 Max Planck formulates quantum theory
1867 Karl Marx publishes volume 1 of Capital 1903 Wright brothers successfully fly the first airplane
1869 Suez Canal opens in Egypt 1904 Max Weber begins publication of The Protestant
Ethic and the Birth of Capitalism
1872 Friedrich Nietzsche publishes The Birth of
Tragedy 1905 Albert Einstein publishes paper on special theory
of relativity
1876 Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
1907 Bakelite, the first plastic, is invented
1879 Thomas Edison invents the electric light bulb
1908 Ford Motor Company produces first Model T
1885 First skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building in
Chicago, is completed
the Second Industrial Revolution. These innovations New Materials, New Industries,
included the widespread use of steel and electricity in New Technologies
industry, major breakthroughs in chemistry, the in-
creasing use of petroleum to supplement coal and The stages of early industrialization in Britain and on
other power sources, and a variety of new inventions the continent had been driven by the mass production
that revolutionized transportation and communica- of textiles in factories using first water power and then
tions. All these new industries created new categories coal-driven steam engines. The railroad was a second
of jobs and required corporate organization on a scale driving factor in the economic upsurge that spread to
previously unknown. Industrial advances increased the continent following the Napoleonic Wars. In the
pay and decreased working hours, allowing Euro- second half of the nineteenth century, however, while
peans to consume more material goods and enjoy textiles and iron continued to be vital to the industrial
more leisure than ever before. The prosperity of the economy, new products and processes—steel, chemi-
period gave new possibilities to artists and writers, cals, petroleum—revolutionized industrial production.
whose works were viewed and purchased by large The most important of these was mass-produced
numbers of people. Science played a dual role in steel. Steel combines the advantages of pig iron (be-
these changes, both enabling new, more efficient in- ing hard and durable) and wrought iron (being flexi-
dustrial techniques and calling into question long-held ble and resistant to cracking). The advantages of steel
views about humanity’s place in the world. For some, had long been known, but before the mid-nineteenth
the discoveries and claims of science threatened tra- century, there had been no economical method of
ditional religious beliefs. This was an optimistic era, mass-producing steel. Then, in the 1850s and 1860s,
believing in progress and eagerly anticipating new the Siemens-Martin (open-hearth) process revolu-
advances. At the same time, some worried darkly
that cold scientific rationality and mediocre mass so- Siemens-Martin (open-hearth) process Technologi-
ciety could destroy the very foundations of moral life cal advance that allowed mass production of steel.
and society.
The Second Industrial Revolution 659
drawings, etchings, and other artworks in multiple novel means of transmitting power over distance.
copies, making artwork more affordable for a mass Knowledge of electricity was not new, but the inno-
audience. vation of the later nineteenth century was to harness
The original Industrial Revolution was fueled electricity for practical use and to perfect methods of
mainly by coal, but coal was difficult to mine and ex- generating and supplying it over large distances. The
pensive to transport, especially to countries that harnessing of electricity meant that industrial plants
lacked natural deposits, so industrialists sought new could be located away from coal fields or other sources
forms of energy. Coal gas came to be used for street- of energy, such as water power. Unlike bulky steam
lights in all major cities early in the nineteenth century. engines, small electric motors could be transported
Later it was replaced by natural gas, often discovered from one location to another.
when drilling for oil, and petroleum products, from Within the factory, the use of electricity eliminated
kerosene to gasoline, became increasingly sought many of the dangerous belts and pulleys that had
after. Kerosene was widely used in lamps, where it connected the steam engine to machinery. As cables
produced greater light with less danger of fire than and insulation to carry electricity became more effi-
candles. Petroleum was also adopted for use aboard cient, hydroelectric power could be generated and
steamships, where the liquid fuel eliminated the need used over a broad area. The spread of electric light,
for stokers, and the reduction in labor costs helped using Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb
offset the higher cost of the fuel itself. Two other dis- (1879), proceeded in tandem with the establishment
tillations of petroleum, gasoline and diesel fuel, were
used to propel the first automobiles; the diesel engine
was patented in 1892, and the Ford Motor Company’s John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) Founder of the Stan-
Model T—the first mass-produced automobile—rolled dard Oil Company, which dominated the American
off the assembly line in 1908. By 1900, the petroleum petroleum market.
industry was growing enormously, especially in Rus- Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American inventor of the
sia and the United States, making John D. Rocke- microphone, record player, and the first commercially
feller one of the world’s richest men. practical light bulb.
Electricity is not so much a source of energy as a
The Second Industrial Revolution 661
of public power stations. The first of these was set up in St. Petersburg to check up on governors in distant
in England by the Siemens brothers in 1881, and by Kamchatka or Tashkent, businessmen to keep in
1914, electricity for offices, industry, and households touch with offices abroad, and ordinary people to
was available in all major cities of Europe, though contact loved ones, though usually only in emergen-
only the richest and most up-to-date families had cies because of the high cost.
electricity in the home. In 1876, the American Alexander Graham Bell per-
Werner von Siemens created a family dynasty fected a device that carried not just electrical im-
through his inventions and business know-how in pulses but actual sounds over a wire: the telephone.
the growing field of electrical devices. Trained as an Unlike the telegraph, the telephone provided a direct
engineer, Siemens quickly saw the commercial possi- link from person to person, though few working-
bilities in the electrical telegraph, and in 1847, with class people could afford the new invention at first
his partner Johann Halske, he founded Siemens and and some aristocrats, such as Emperor Francis Joseph
Halske Telegraph Construction Company in Berlin. of Austria-Hungary, refused to speak on the tele-
At first the firm mainly built telegraphs for the Pruss- phone at all. Still, many in business and government
ian army and railroads (Werner was also a Prussian quickly recognized the advantages of the telephone,
military officer), but by the 1860s, the Siemens fam- and by 1900 telephone exchanges had been set up
ily expanded into long-distance telegraphs and other throughout Europe and North America, from Lon-
businesses based on Werner’s patents, such as the don to Moscow, Berlin to Los Angeles. In Germany,
Siemens-Martin open-hearth steel manufacturing pro- the Siemens and Halske Company enjoyed a near
cess (1869), electric trams in Berlin (1881), and elec- monopoly in building telephone networks. In 1912,
trical power stations. Founders of a company that is among the ten cities with the most telephones per
still one of the largest in Berlin, the Siemens family capita, five were in the United States, three in Scandi-
showed how scientific research could lead to techno- navia, and two in Germany. The invention was also
logical advances that could, in turn, be translated into used to transmit other forms of sound, such as musi-
business success. cal performances and news. By the 1890s, the théâtro-
phone in Paris allowed subscribers to hear the latest
operas and concerts, while in Budapest thousands
Communications and subscribed to a service providing news, musical per-
Transportation Networks formances, plays, stock market reports, and lectures
by telephone.
Perhaps no invention symbolized the compression of Soon another invention of the 1890s, the wireless
time and space during this period better than the tele- or radio, made telephonic concert and news services
graph, invented in the United States in the late 1830s. obsolete. Perfected for practical purposes by the Ital-
By the late 1860s, telegraph lines ran from one end of ian Guglielmo Marconi, wireless telegraphy, as it
Europe to the other and were even connected by was then called, seemed useful primarily for commu-
transatlantic cable to the United States. By the end of nication between ships at sea. In 1899, the first dis-
the century, all continents were connected by under- tress signal from a ship at sea was sent. When the
water cable, meaning that a message could go from state-of-the-art ocean liner the Titanic went down on
London to Johannesburg to Calcutta to Sydney to its first voyage on the night of April 14, 1912, it sent
Vancouver in a matter of minutes. Telegrams were out distress signals; unfortunately the telegraph op-
sent using Morse code, a system of dots and dashes erator on the nearest ship was not on duty. A ship
representing letters invented for this purpose, and
flew through wires as electrical impulses. The tele-
graph required skilled operators who could translate Siemens brothers German brothers (Werner, Wilhelm,
the dots and dashes into words, offices where indi- and Carl Heinrich) who, starting in 1847, established
viduals could send messages, and messenger boys (in branches of their electrical firm in England, Germany,
and Russia.
this period, nearly always male) to bring telegrams—
Morse code System combining dots and dashes repre-
often with bad news—to offices and residences. The
senting letters, invented by the American Samuel
impact on government, industry, and private life was Morse for sending messages over the electrical
enormous. At the beginning of the nineteenth cen- telegraph.
tury, news could travel no faster than horses or pi- Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937) Italian physicist best
geons. By 1900, news traveled at the speed of light known for perfection of radio (“wireless telegraphy”);
from one corner of the globe to the other. On a practi- awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909.
cal level, the telegraph enabled, for example, the tsar
662 CHAPTER 23 The Culture of Industrial Europe, 1850–1914
three times as far away did receive the signals, but Isambard Kingdom Brunel, opened in 1859, stretching
when it arrived some two hours later, most of the Ti- 455 feet over the river Tamar in southern England.
tanic passengers were already dead in the frigid wa- Most famous of all was the Brooklyn Bridge, com-
ters of the North Atlantic. Wireless and telegraph pleted in 1883 after a decade of construction. Span-
communications meant that by the following morn- ning almost 1,600 feet, it connected Manhattan with
ing, people all over the world could read in their local what was then a still mainly rural Brooklyn. Building
newspapers that the ship had struck an iceberg and bridges involved new materials like dynamite and
had sunk rapidly with the loss of more than 1,500 steel; similar techniques and materials were used by
lives. But few heard of the tragedy by radio, which Gustave Eiffel in the tower named for him in Paris,
did not become a common household appliance until completed in 1889.
the 1920s or later. New forms of transportation also took to the air.
The world was connected not only by telegraph Germany became a leader in the production of dirigi-
wires and cables but also increasingly by steamship bles or blimps, flying an airship called a zeppelin
service and railroads during these decades. For the (named for the German Count Zeppelin) for the first
British, the steamship was vital in linking the home- time in 1900. An even more startling development
land with India, though in the 1850s the one-way trip was the Wright brothers’ successful flight in 1903,
took around a month. The opening of the Suez Canal opening the skies to heavier-than-air flying machines.
in 1869 cut travel between the Mediterranean Sea and While few people actually traveled by air, thousands
the Indian Ocean in half and speeded up mail service watched in awe at dirigibles and primitive airplanes
between Britain and its colony India. Steamship whose impact on warfare, the economy, and culture
travel between Europe and the Americas became in- in the new century would be profound.
creasingly rapid, cheap, and—in the first- and second-
class cabins—comfortable. By the 1890s, a steamship New Places and Patterns of Work
ticket from Italy to Argentina had become so inexpen-
sive that many Italians traveled to Argentina to work As Europe industrialized, it also urbanized as hun-
as agricultural workers there during spring and sum- dreds of thousands of people left farms and villages
mer, then returned to do the same in Italy, taking ad- for better wages and a more exciting life in the cities.
vantage of the reversed seasons in the Northern and In 1800 there was only one city—London—with a
Southern Hemispheres. Travel from northern Europe population of over 1 million; only twenty-three cities
to New York took less than two weeks, and millions had more than 100,000 inhabitants. By 1900, Lon-
of immigrants made that journey in search of eco- don’s population had grown to over 4 million and
nomic and political freedom. The Panama Canal, five more European cities had over 1 million inhab-
opened in 1914, connected the Atlantic and Pacific itants (Paris, Berlin, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and
Oceans. Cutting through mountainous terrain, it was Vienna); 135 cities had populations over 100,000.
a marvel of engineering. Manchester had by then topped 600,000.
By the 1870s, railroads linked all the European The population of Berlin increased from around
capitals (Istanbul, or Constantinople, the name used 500,000 at midcentury to over 2 million sixty years
by nineteenth-century Europeans for the city, followed later. The Polish textile town of Lód (not by chance
in 1883). European capital and engineers also extended known as the Polish Manchester) exploded in size,
railroads through South America, India, Africa, and from a mere 519 inhabitants in 1809 to more than
Russia. The Trans-Siberian Railroad, begun in 1891, 300,000 at the end of the century. Throughout Europe,
helped Russia transport hundreds of thousands of
soldiers to Manchuria to fight the Japanese in the
Russo-Japanese War a little more than a decade later.
Military planners recognized the key role that effi- Suez Canal An artificial waterway connecting the Red
cient railroad transportation could play in warfare. Sea and the Mediterranean, built by the British and
French and opened in 1869.
The fact that Germany had the most developed rail-
Panama Canal An artificial waterway connecting the
road network in Europe was perceived as a direct Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, built from 1904 to 1914 by
threat by the French and Russian general staffs. American military engineers.
The increased traffic on rail and road required new Trans-Siberian Railroad Russia’s ambitious railway
bridges. In 1849, Buda and Pest were finally linked by project connecting Moscow with the Pacific Ocean,
a permanent bridge over the Danube, a first step to begun in 1891 and completed in 1916, which caused
the unification of the two cities. The Royal Albert friction with Japan.
Bridge, designed by engineer and railroad innovator
The Second Industrial Revolution 663
1800 1900
St. Petersburg
Moscow
Copenhagen
Dublin
London Hamburg
Amsterdam Warsaw
Berlin
Paris
Vienna
Lyons
Milan Venice
Marseilles
Madrid
Lisbon Barcelona Rome
Naples Istanbul
Valencia
Palermo
MAP 23.1 European Cities with Populations over 100,000, 1800 and 1900 The rapid growth of
population combined with migration from rural to urban areas in Europe is reflected in the significant
increase in large cities during the course of the nineteenth century, as shown in this map.
cities such as Budapest, Rome, Madrid, and Ham- Berlin, also opened in Budapest, Milan, and else-
burg grew impressively. where. But saving money was also a middle-class
Most of the newcomers to cities lived in wretched concern; the number of banks increased and, with
and expensive lodgings and tenements. In some them, the number of clerks. Similarly, the number of
cases, overcrowding was so severe that beds were lawyers, physicians, and dentists went up markedly,
rented out in two or more “sleeping shifts” on a and these professionals employed even larger num-
twenty-four-hour basis. Hygiene and health suffered bers as receptionists and assistants. Government bu-
greatly in such places, and tuberculosis was rampant, reaucracies also burgeoned as the state’s role in the
claiming thousands of lives yearly, including that of economy and everyday life grew. While most of these
Marie Curie’s mother. But running water and central new positions were filled by young men, women were
heat were increasingly available, even for the less well- also able to find employment in banks, department
off, and electric tramways and—in Paris and London— stores, and professional offices. They were, however,
subways made it possible for workers to live in less expected to quit work upon marrying.
crowded, leafy suburbs and commute to work. Lon- In western and central Europe, by the late nine-
don’s “underground” was the first to open, in the teenth century the average workday had shrunk, partly
1860s, and the Paris “metro” dates from the first because of technological innovations and partly un-
decade of the twentieth century. By that time, even der pressure from organized labor. As fewer workers,
smaller cities such as Warsaw and Stockholm had both in offices and in factories, lived adjacent to their
streetcars and trams connecting the suburbs and down- places of work and workdays shrank to ten and even
town. Public transportation allowed workers to live eight hours, the routine of transport/work/transport
farther from the factories, and cities became increas- became common. Through all layers of society in the
ingly differentiated by social class. In Berlin’s West
End, the bourgeoisie built villas, while workers lived
across town in tenements. white-collar Employment that does not involve physi-
Many of the people riding the streetcars to work cal labor, such as that of professionals (lawyers, doc-
were employed in new white-collar positions. As tors, teachers) and office workers.
prosperity increased, so did the places to spend or Bon Marché First department store, opened in Paris in
save that money. Department stores, such as the Bon 1852 and catered primarily to middle-class people.
Marché in Paris and KdW (Kaufhaus des Westens) in
664 CHAPTER 23 The Culture of Industrial Europe, 1850–1914
industrialized countries, one fact was constant: the portray their own impressions of light, color, and
entire day was no longer taken up by work, freeing shadow. Photography also facilitated the spread of
up precious hours for leisure. another popular diversion: pornography.
Railroads made travel for pleasure possible for the
The New Concept of Leisure masses. When the Great Exhibition of the Works of
Industry of All Nations, better known as the Crystal
As the predominant form of work became employ- Palace Exhibition, was opened in London in 1851,
ment with a fixed number of hours per day, con- about one-fifth of the people of England visited, in
tracted to an employer, employees also found they part on package tours from the travel entrepreneur
had “free time,” time after work that was open to Thomas Cook. Many of the visitors had never been
other pursuits. The concept of leisure was new, and it far from their hometown or village. After the St.
was much enjoyed in the second half of the nine- Petersburg–Warsaw railroad opened in 1862, travel-
teenth century, especially as the workday shrank to ers could embark from Moscow in a sleeping car and
about ten hours and the idea of a work-free weekend emerge in Paris a few days later. From 1883 onward,
took hold. Most Europeans had both more time and they could take the Orient Express from Paris through
more money for leisure activities than had their grand- six countries, ending up in the exotic Ottoman capital,
parents’ generation. Electric lighting meant that dance Istanbul. Russian aristocrats could now spend their
halls and nightclubs could stay open well into and summers on the French Riviera. Wealthy Europeans
even through the night. Alcohol consumption in- traveled by railroad to spas such as Baden-Baden and
creased considerably, worrying religious authorities Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic),
and middle-class moralists who had chosen for them- where they “took the waters,” relaxed, played cards,
selves more “high-brow” entertainment such as con- flirted, and engaged in other diversions. Christian
certs, operas, and plays. pilgrims numbering in the hundreds of thousands
Nearly everyone in large cities frequented cafés annually took the train to Lourdes, where the peasant
and dance halls. There one could eat and drink, listen girl Bernadette Soubirous claimed to have seen a vi-
to music, experience light comic and dramatic perfor- sion of Virgin Mary in 1858. And even workers of
mances, and, of course, dance. Some cafés catered to modest means could take suburban railroads for day
a select middle-class audience, but for commercial trips to the countryside. The rich could travel in com-
reasons, most desired the largest possible number of fort, riding in first class or even hitching their own
patrons and served anyone who enjoyed drinking, private railcars onto trains. They stayed in new and
dancing, listening to music, and watching clown shows magnificent luxury hotels such as the Hotel Adlon in
and comedy acts. By the 1890s, the Spanish flamenco Berlin, where the Kaiser put up his own guests.
and Argentine tango competed with more traditional Workers also enjoyed sports, both as active partic-
popular music and dance for public attention. Magic ipants and as spectators. First in Britain, then through-
lantern slide shows were increasingly popular, allow- out Europe, football in the forms of soccer and rugby
ing mass audiences to experience—at least visually— brought together enthusiasts in increasing numbers.
travels to exotic destinations around the world. By the early twentieth century, it is estimated, some
Around 1900, the moving picture became technically half million British men regularly played. Golf, spread-
and commercially viable, and cinema houses sprang ing outside Scotland, became the sport of choice for
up in all major European cities. In the United States, by the well-to-do. After the chain-driven bicycle was
far the leader in this new technology, millions went to perfected in the early 1890s, cycling swept western
the “picture show” every week. The early picture shows Europe. Social conservatives were outraged by the
were often long on sensation and short on memorable mobility and personal freedom that bicycles gave
artistic value, but the new medium of film opened up
vast possibilities for artists in the new century.
The new technology of photography, perfected in leisure Time for relaxation or recreation, new in the
later nineteenth century owing to industrial and social
the late nineteenth century, allowed amateurs to make advances.
pictures with their own cameras. The word Kodak,
magic lantern Early form of the modern slide projec-
specially created by American businessman George tor that projected images painted on glass plates onto
Eastman in 1888 to market his small cameras, passed a screen.
into several languages. Photographic technology, Crystal Palace Exhibition Great Exhibition of the
which produced an image as exact as the best sketch Works of Industry of All Nations, opened in London’s
or painting, had an important impact on artists, who Crystal Palace in 1851.
no longer needed to copy the world but could instead
Mass Society 665
Mass Society
➜➜
How did economic changes alter society and family life?
What impact did science have on society?
speech, were reduced. Factory-produced textiles and blurring of social distinctions outrageous and com-
manufacture of garments made clothing so cheap plained that it was becoming impossible to distin-
and colorful—reflecting the availability of cheap syn- guish “people of good family” from servants by dress,
thetic dyes—that few peasants even in less developed and increasingly even by speech and manners.
countries like Russia continued to make their own
clothes. In fact, peasants could now afford several
Public Health
changes of clothes, including undergarments—a nov-
elty at the beginning of the century, but a basic by 1900. The population of Europe more than doubled between
Cheap newspapers and magazines, distributed 1800 and 1900 (from around 200 million to 430 mil-
widely by the thickening rail networks, meant that lion), despite the departure of millions of emigrants
even people in remote regions could see and seek to for the Americas. This population explosion can be
imitate the latest fashions from Paris or St. Petersburg. explained partly by better nutrition and the lack of
And mass production brought prices down so that massive epidemics or major wars after 1815, but im-
more and more middle- and sometimes working- provements in medical knowledge and treatment
class people could afford to dress fashionably. The fa- were also a factor. Medical research paralleled work
mous department store Bon Marché was hailed as “a in physics: both were searching for invisible causes
cathedral of commerce for a congregation of con- for certain phenomena. In physics, these were gamma
sumers” by the ironic French writer Émile Zola. The rays, x-rays, and radiation; in medical science, the in-
name Bon Marché means both “good market” and visible cause was the germ, which was discovered in
“inexpensive” in French—and the idea of a store for the 1880s. But long before that, scientists knew that
the masses was the creation of a self-made man, Aris- something spread diseases, and they devised practical
tide Boucicaut, and his wife, Marguerite. Their first programs to prevent disease transmission. In the
store, opened just after the 1848 revolutions, intro- eighteenth century it had been discovered that using
duced the novelty of clearly marked prices and wel- matter from cowpox pustules created an effective
comed people—mainly women—to come and look vaccine against smallpox. Similarly, the connection
over the merchandise without obligation to purchase. between dirty water, rotting waste, and disease had
The revolutionary concept of allowing potential cus- long been made—but most continued to think that
tomers to look without necessarily buying amounted disease was spread by foul smells.
to the invention of shopping as a pastime—and was Around 1820 cholera, a disease spread by unclean
wildly successful. In 1869, Boucicaut resolved to build water, spread from India and Central Asia to Russia
a large new store using the most modern architecture. and western Europe. Crowded towns with minimal
When the palatial structure opened in 1887, it de- hygiene and limited access to clean water were an
lighted customers with its sumptuous decorations, ideal breeding ground for the disease, which caused
sweeping marble staircases, and electric elevators. epidemics in a number of cities. In London a major
Shoppers are still delighted by Bon Marché, a palace outbreak in 1854 allowed the physician John Snow to
in which to shop and be seen shopping. Boucicaut was promote his theory that the disease spread not through
a masterful businessman, offering such novel services the air but by bad water. Snow’s data showing that all
as a catalogue of merchandise, free delivery, a money- the cholera victims had drunk water from a single
back guarantee, and various sales like the “white source, the Broad Street pump, convinced even his
month” in January. Zola wrote a novel about the de- critics. Snow was also one of the first physicians to
partment store—The Ladies’ Paradise (1883)—and a use chloroform and ether to deaden pain. His most
metro station was given Boucicaut’s name. famous patient was Queen Victoria, who was grateful
Thousands of attractive young women were hired for his treatments during childbirth.
as department store clerks, though previously selling Around the same time in France, Louis Pasteur
had been regarded as unseemly for women. Women was demonstrating that heating wine to 55 degrees
also joined the growing lower middle class as teachers,
nurses, postal clerks, typists, and telephone opera-
tors. Although large numbers of young women con-
John Snow (1813–1858) English physician who proved
tinued to work as servants into the twentieth century, that cholera is spread by drinking water and who
the higher pay, greater personal autonomy, and social pioneered the use of chloroform to deaden pain.
prestige of these new occupations attracted many. Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) French scientist who devel-
While the salaries were low, the job allowed—indeed oped a process for heating liquids to kill disease-caus-
required—women to dress and behave like members ing organisms, now known as pasteurization.
of a more privileged class. Conservatives found this
Mass Society 667
Celsius killed the disease-causing microorganisms in children could reasonably assume (at least in western
it. His technique, called pasteurization, was later ap- and central Europe) that ten would survive to adult-
plied to beer and milk. Pasteur also pioneered meth- hood. But these children would be expensive to raise
ods for vaccinating against a number of diseases, and educate, especially as the number of years re-
including rabies and anthrax. Perhaps most impor- quired for a good education increased. In these de-
tant for medical practice, Pasteur demonstrated cades, family planning in the form of contraception
methods of sterilization that reduced the risk of infec- and medical abortions became widespread. Nearly
tion in surgery and hospitals. Pasteur’s suggestion everywhere, both were illegal, but laws did not pre-
that tiny particles of organic matter floating through vent women from attempting to limit the number of
the air could contaminate matter and cause fermenta- their offspring.
tion was seized on by the English surgeon Joseph Lis- Throughout Europe, birthrates went down, but
ter, who showed that treating wounds with carbolic unevenly. French politicians, not coincidentally all
acid significantly reduced infections. Lister’s antisep- male, expressed grave concern at France’s falling
tic technique cut in half the number of deaths from in- birthrate, the lowest among the Great Powers. The
fection following surgery and was later immortalized German birthrate, though relatively high, went down
in the mouthwash Listerine. steadily in this period. Birthrates remained high in
Pasteur’s path-breaking work in microbiology was the least developed areas, such as Russia, Italy, Spain,
continued by Robert Koch in Germany. While pre- and the Balkan Peninsula.
viously scientists had suspected the existence of Among the middle classes, having fewer children
microorganisms too small to be seen under the micro- meant that women had more time for other activities.
scope; Koch proved their existence by isolating the Before 1848, women could not study at most univer-
cholera bacillus in 1883. He showed that every dis- sities, but during the second half of the nineteenth
ease had its own microbiological cause and devised century these barriers gradually broke down. Women
treatments and vaccines for these diseases. During seeking higher education often went to Switzerland
the last part of his life, Koch devoted himself to the to receive training as doctors, lawyers, or economists,
cause and treatment of the infectious lung disease tu- such as the famous Polish-Jewish socialist Rosa Lux-
berculosis, that plague of factory workers and city emburg. Other exceptional women, like Marie Curie,
dwellers. In 1905 Koch was awarded the Nobel Prize studied in Paris, though not all professors—or male
in Medicine in recognition of his achievements. students—were comfortable with women students.
Until the mid-nineteenth century, a sick person was While few women actually succeeded in surmount-
more likely to die if admitted to a hospital, where un- ing the great economic and social obstacles and com-
hygienic conditions often led to infections and death, pleting the university course, these first successful
than if treated at home. Florence Nightingale, who pioneers demonstrated that women were in no way
helped organize military hospitals in Istanbul during intellectually inferior to men.
the Crimean War, returned to Britain to improve hos- Yet women’s educational opportunities, especially
pital care there. She virtually invented the profession in secondary and higher education, remained lim-
of nursing, which from the start was an almost exclu- ited, and it was often difficult for an educated woman
sively female occupation—and in Catholic countries to earn her own living. The laws of most European
often carried out by nuns. Building on the discoveries countries did not recognize women as adults. Very
of Snow, Pasteur, and Lister, Nightingale worked
throughout her long life to create modern, antiseptic,
but welcoming hospitals. By the early twentieth cen- Robert Koch (1843–1910) German bacteriologist who
tury, the chances of dying after surgery, during child- established that many diseases like anthrax, tuberculo-
birth, or in a hospital had been much reduced. sis, and cholera were caused by bacterial infections.
Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) English reformer
and creator of nursing as a profession who was instru-
Families and Feminism mental in creating hygienic, well-organized hospitals.
The technological and economic changes wrought by Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) Polish-Jewish socialist
who worked with V. I. Lenin and was murdered in
industrialization penetrated all aspects of public and 1919 by right-wing nationalists after a communist
private life. In the industrial cities, families no longer uprising in Berlin.
functioned as production units, and children came to Marie Curie (1867–1934) Polish-born chemist and
be recognized as more of an economic burden than a physicist who studied radioactivity and radium, the
benefit. Medical advances reduced infant mortality winner of two Nobel prizes.
rates, so a woman who gave birth to, say, a dozen
668 CHAPTER 23 The Culture of Industrial Europe, 1850–1914
often a woman could not even open a bank account, without separate acts of Parliament (previously any
sign a contract, or purchase property without her divorce needed to be approved by Parliament as a
husband’s (or, if single, her father’s) permission. specific, separate act), few women could afford the
Women also had little protection against abusive hus- expense—and social scandal—of a divorce trial. Sim-
bands. Despite the passage of the Matrimonial ilarly, in France, divorce was made legal from 1884
Causes Act in Britain in 1857, which allowed divorces onward, but the procedure was so complicated and
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Marie Curie Recalls Her Youth
in Russian Poland
In an autobiographical memoir that appeared in 1930, Marie Curie described the
major events and milestones of her life. This memoir was published together with
autobiographical sketches by American activist Jane Addams, Japanese feminist
Sugimoto Etsu Inagaki, and other women. The editor of this volume, Helen Ferris,
wanted to provide young women with positive role models and evidence that
women could make their mark on society. In this passage, Marie Curie recalls
teaching Polish children under repressive Russian rule in the 1880s.
➜ Why did the Russian ➜ Since my duties with my pupils did not take up all my time, I organized a small
government oppose education class for the children of the village who could not be educated under the Russian
for these Polish children? government. . . . We taught the little children and the girls who wished to come
Why might the Russian gov- how to read and write, and we put in circulation Polish books which were appreci-
ernment see education as ated, too, by the parents. Even this innocent work presented danger, as all initia-
dangerous? tive of this kind was forbidden by the government and
might bring imprisonment or deportation to Siberia.
My evenings I generally devoted to study. ➜ I had ➜ How important do
heard that a few women had succeeded in following you think the example
certain courses in Petrograd or in foreign countries, of other successful
and I was determined to prepare myself by preliminary women was for inspir-
work to follow their example. . . . ing Maria to try to
➜ What were the advan- ➜ My solitary study was beset with difficulties. The find a way to study
tages and drawbacks of scientific education I had received at the lyceum [high abroad? What do you
solitary study for Curie? school] was very incomplete; it was well under the think motivated
bachelorship program [high school curriculum] of a Madame Curie to
French lyceum; I tried to add to it in my own way, with write this short
the help of books picked up at random. This method memoir?
could not be greatly productive, yet it was not without
results. I acquired the habit of independent work, and
learned a few things which were to be used later on. ➜ What does this
➜ I had to modify my plans for the future when my passage reveal about
eldest sister decided to go to Paris to study medicine. family responsibilities
We had promised each other mutual aid, but our in this period? How do
means did not permit our leaving together. So I kept they differ from fam-
my position for three and a half years, and, having ily obligations today?
finished my work with my pupils, I returned to Warsaw,
Art and Industrial Society 669
Source: Helen Ferris, ed., When I was a Girl: The Stories of Five Famous Women as Told by Themselves
(New York: MacMillan, 1930).
expensive that few actually used it. In many coun- come only with socialist revolution. But the idea that
tries, like Russia, divorce was not a possibility and women should have the same professional and polit-
men who grew tired of their wives often simply aban- ical rights as men was gaining ground.
doned them, along with their children. Socialists like
Friedrich Engels mocked the morality of middle-class
sexuality and family life, calling it little more than a
legalized form of enslavement and prostitution. Art and Industrial Society
Despite their legal disabilities, women were in-
➜
creasingly literate and active in society. Whether rais- What impact did the economic and social changes of the
ing children or working in factories, hospitals, or late nineteenth century have on the visions and techniques
of artists and writers?
offices, women were increasingly well informed on
➜
Ilya Repin’s works exemplify the realist style in Russian art and often portray the poorest Russians, as in this
painting, Volga Barge-Haulers, 1870–73. Like other realists, Repin did not intend merely to show a scene from
Russian life: he wanted to shock viewers and remind them of the grinding poverty and social injustice present
in their country. (State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg/The Bridgeman Art Library)
tographic realism, artists like Claude Monet sought in France all her life. The Spaniard Pablo Picasso ar-
to capture the artist’s perception of light and shadows— rived in Paris in 1899 and also spent most of his life
a technique labeled Impressionism by a hostile critic. there. With its academic traditions, the masses of
The label stuck but soon lost its negative connotation. young artists rebelling against those traditions, gov-
The Impressionists sought to convey not an image of ernment support for the arts, and a large wealthy and
an object but rather the artist’s perception and tech- sophisticated society of art lovers, Paris attracted
nique for depicting color, light, and shadow. Mo- thousands of artists from everywhere in Europe and
net’s paintings of haystacks at different times of day throughout the world.
showed how the play of light created entirely different
colors and images. Impressionists such as Edgar De-
gas, Auguste Renoir, and Georges Seurat painted the
new amusements of the day—dance halls, boating Claude Monet (1840–1926) French Impressionist
trips, and cafés. The great graphic artist Henri de painter best known for his studies of light on land-
scapes, such as haystacks and the Rouen Cathedral.
Toulouse-Lautrec, who was close to the Impression-
ists, raised the poster to an artistic form, thereby blur- Impressionism Artistic movement in France begin-
ning in the 1870s that aimed to reproduce the painter’s
ring the distinction between art and advertising. impression of light on a scene.
Toulouse-Lautrec’s posters advertising the Chat Noir Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) French artist
(Black Cat) nightclub, the singer Jean Avril, and the Le who created bright and compelling posters advertising
Moulin Rouge (Red Mill) dance hall became classics. nightclub singers and dance halls.
During the last decades of the nineteenth century, Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Spanish painter, founder of
Paris became the center of the entire art world. Amer- the Cubist school, and lifelong experimenter with
ican painters like James McNeill Whistler and Mary abstract techniques.
Cassat came to live and paint there; Cassat remained
672 CHAPTER 23 The Culture of Industrial Europe, 1850–1914
Vasily Perov’s famous 1872 painting of the novelist Fyodor Art for the Masses
Dostoevsky shows the writer’s intense gaze and haggard
Advances in technology—especially lithography and
expression. Subject to epileptic seizures and plagued by an
addiction to gambling that never allowed him to achieve photography—were both welcomed and denounced
material prosperity, in certain ways Dostoevsky resembled by artists. On the one hand, lithography allowed a
one of his own tortured characters. (Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow/ work of art like Toulouse-Lautrec’s posters to be
The Bridgeman Art Library) printed by the thousands. On the other, artists were
disturbed when their images were poorly copied and
distributed in distorted, cheapened form. Some purists
Turgenev’s contemporary Fyodor Dostoevsky also also attacked Toulouse-Lautrec and the Czech poster
wrote novels in the realist style. But Dostoevsky, who artist Alphonse Mucha for “prostituting” their art in
despised Turgenev as a weak liberal overly fond of posters that advertised cigarettes, bicycles, singers, and
western European culture, combined psychological dance halls. For others, the brightly colored posters
depth with political and religious passion. As a young were a form of art available for the enjoyment of those
man in the 1840s, Dostoevsky had been condemned who could never afford a painting. Posters bridged
to death for his involvement in a liberal reading cir- the gap between “high” and “low”—a single, dynamic,
cle. The death sentence was called off at the very last brightly colored figure presented in a style unconven-
moment, after the first of the condemned had already tional enough to catch the attention. The success of
been bound to a post to be shot. Dostoevsky was ex- these poster artists is apparent in the continued pop-
iled to Siberia, where he rejected liberalism and redis- ularity of their images a century later.
covered his Christian faith. In his best-known novel, Lithography and photography also made possible a
Crime and Punishment (1866), an impoverished uni- great proliferation of illustrations in books, periodicals,
versity dropout, a would-be great man like Napoleon, and as prints. In Russia, hardly a peasant home was
plans the perfect crime—the killing of a vile money-
lender. After carrying out the murder, his guilt proves Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881) Russian Realist nov-
that no man is above God’s law. In another work, The elist whose expansive narratives examine conscience,
Possessed (or, translated more accurately, The Devils, character, and redemption.
1871–1872), Dostoevsky delves into the psychology copyright Legal protection for authors and artists,
of Russian radical terrorists of the late 1860s. giving them specific rights to profit from the works
Going beyond realism, Émile Zola described his they create.
own approach as “naturalist,” and he exposed—in
674 CHAPTER 23 The Culture of Industrial Europe, 1850–1914
without the lubok: a cheap lithographed print sold by vanced by Charles Darwin. By suggesting that human
peddlers. These prints were mass-produced on zinc beings evolved from less complex animals, evolution
plates and then often brightly colored by hand. Fa- struck at the very heart of traditional religion: the idea
vorite subjects for the lubok were popular heroes, that humanity was created in God’s image. Even time
images from Russian history or mythology, and reli- and space were no longer constants, as Albert Ein-
gious scenes. Similar mass-produced prints brightened stein’s theories in the field of physics showed. While
the homes of the poor in other parts of Europe, some religious leaders of nearly every faith furiously
though middle-class critics complained of their low attacked the new science, others pointed out that sci-
artistic value, crude workmanship, and garish colors. entific observation cannot provide a basis for moral-
But it would be wrong to distinguish too sharply ity and argued for a reconciliation between science
between “popular art” for the masses and works by and religious faith. The arguments that started in these
“great artists” such as the Impressionists and Cubists. decades continue to fuel controversy more than a
In Paris, tens of thousands flocked to the Salon, espe- century later.
cially on days when admission was free. Poster art was
broadly exhibited and accepted, and even the paint- The Science of Society
ings of great artists were quickly available in prints
and popular magazine illustrations. Some artists Sociology was the newest and perhaps the most am-
seized on mass production to argue that it should aim bitious of the new fields of inquiry into human exis-
to produce beautiful things. William Morris, founder tence. As its name suggests, sociology saw itself as
of the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain, designed the “science of society,” claiming that human society
books, tapestries, and even wallpaper, applying me- can be studied, quantified, and understood like any
dieval designs to modern uses. His burning desire to other part of the natural world. Indeed, nineteenth-
see artistic beauty incorporated into everyday life century sociologists called their discipline the queen
came together with his commitment to equality as a of sciences, from which all other human sciences de-
socialist who worked with Karl Marx’s daughter. Mor- rived. Others were less sure that scientific methods
ris aimed to merge the useful and the beautiful. “Have could explain the inner workings of human society, and
nothing in your house that you do not know to be use- some feared that trying to do so would strip away the
ful or believe to be beautiful,” he advised. But Morris mysteries of human relations and impoverish life.
and his followers failed to find a broad following. His The beginnings of sociology may be found in the
decorations and graceful designs were simply too ex- philosophy of Auguste Comte, a student of Claude
pensive for most peasants and working-class people. Henri de Saint-Simon. To understand world history,
Comte proposed the law of three stages, which ex-
plained history as the steady progress of humanity’s
understanding of the world through rational obser-
Science and Social Science vation. The first stage of history he called the “theo-
logical,” the era when people’s primary means of
➜
How did science expand and change in the late nine- explaining the world was through reference to God.
teenth century?
The second stage was the “metaphysical,” during
➜
be known as positivism. In the positive era, the world ered samples of thousands of exotic species. He wrote
would be explained exclusively by verifiable scien- many books on topics ranging from fossils to barna-
tific data and method, and all branches of human cles, orchids to carnivorous plants, worms to coral
knowledge would come together in a unified scien- reefs, and, most famously, On the Origin of Species
tific system. The natural and social sciences would (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871).
supplement each other, but both would share a com- Darwin’s primary contribution to science was not
mon methodology based on mathematics and the sci- the idea of evolution—many previous thinkers, in-
entific method. cluding his own grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, had
Comte’s call for a scientific study of society and the noted the possibility of evolutionary change in na-
idea and method of positivism were widely influen- ture. What Darwin offered, however, was an explana-
tial. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the tion of how evolution took place: natural selection.
discipline we now know as sociology was created in In his revolutionary On the Origin of Species, Darwin
great part along Comtian lines. Among its most fa- suggested, on the basis of a wealth of examples taken
mous practitioners was Émile Durkheim, who used from his extensive career as a naturalist, that in any
empirical methods and statistics to examine the com- population of animals, certain features give individu-
mon values that held societies together. In his Divi- als a greater chance for survival. For example, a bird
sion of Labor in Society (1893), he argued that the that feeds mainly on nuts and seeds needs a strong
division of labor—so hated by Marx—actually had bill to crack these open. Over time, natural selection
positive effects on society by allowing “organic soli- favors these strong-billed birds, and the species evolves
darity” to arise, in which the various parts of society in that direction. For birds feeding on fruit or insects,
worked together like organs in a healthy body. His however, other characteristics are more important.
classic work on suicide, first published in 1897, attrib- Random mutations that enhanced survival played
uted rising suicide rates (a widespread fascination of a key role in evolution. At the time, Darwin could not
the period) to a breakdown in commonly held values. explain just how mutations arose and how these
Comte’s insights also found resonance in Ger- changes were transmitted to future generations. The
many. There, two sociologists, Friedrich Tönnies and discovery of the gene and the rediscovery in 1900 of
Georg Simmel, made the now classic distinction be- the experiments in genetics carried out earlier by
tween Gemeinschaft, a traditional community of shared Gregor Mendel helped buttress Darwin’s theories. The
values, and Gesellschaft, modern industrial society in Descent of Man put forth the even more controversial
which individuals seldom knew their neighbors and
felt no strong emotional attachment to the people
around them. Max Weber looked into the inner work-
positivism Comte’s philosophy of knowledge empha-
ings of authority and obedience. He coined the term
sizing empirical observation and the idea that all natu-
charisma to explain why some political leaders are ral and human phenomena can be explained in
successful in commanding respect and power. His scientific terms.
short work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capital- Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) French sociologist influ-
ism (1904–1905) aimed to explain the role that reli- enced by positivism who used empirical methods and
gious and moral values played in the development of statistics to study society.
modern capitalism. In their own ways, all of these empiricism Belief that all knowledge can be derived
early sociologists were attempting to come to terms from scientific observation.
with the social change and dislocation of this era. Max Weber (1864–1920) German sociologist who
Their work reflected concerns also present in the considered religious belief, charisma, and bureaucracy
works of Karl Marx, whose Das Kapital (Capital) ap- central influences on political and social life.
peared in three volumes between 1867 and the 1880s. Charles Darwin (1809–1882) English scientist who
formulated the theory of natural selection and au-
thored On the Origin of Species (1859).
The Influence of Charles Darwin evolution Biological theory that diverse animal and
plant species developed over time through a combina-
Perhaps the greatest challenge to traditional values tion of genetic mutation and environmental influence.
and outlooks on the world was presented by the natural selection Darwin’s theory that better-adapted
thought of Charles Darwin. Darwin was the son of a species survive (and reproduce) while others are
self-made man, a physician who grew wealthy from eliminated.
his tireless work and financed his son’s studies and, Gregor Mendel (1822–1884) Austrian monk credited
crucially, a trip around the world on the HMS Beagle with the discovery of theory of genetic heredity.
(1831–1836), during which Darwin sketched and gath-
676 CHAPTER 23 The Culture of Industrial Europe, 1850–1914
as representatives of a superior civilization, which The revolutionary work of Albert Einstein built
they contrasted with the object of their research, so- on these scientists’ research but, in another sense,
called primitive or savage peoples, doomed to extinc- completely reformulated physicists’ understanding
tion by human progress, whose culture was put on of the universe. In 1905, the young scientist published
display in museums and exhibitions. a paper proposing the special theory of relativity,
suggesting that as particles approach the speed of
Chemistry and the New Physics light, their speed cannot be predicted by Newton’s
laws of motion. Two years later Einstein developed
In chemistry and physics, too, new research was funda- these ideas further, leading to the now famous equa-
mentally changing the understanding of the physical tion E = mc2—energy is equivalent to mass multiplied
world. Dmitri Mendeleev’s periodic table, first pub- by the square of the speed of light. Einstein postu-
lished in 1869, advanced chemistry by classifying ele- lated that light travels through empty space at a con-
ments according to atomic weight and periodical—that stant speed, thereby eliminating the need for any
is, recurring—properties. Mendeleev’s arrangement of medium like ether. Einstein’s theory of relativity also
the elements allowed chemists to predict characteristics challenged concepts of absolute space and time be-
of unknown elements according to their atomic weight cause these were shown to depend on the relative ve-
and place in the table, thus paving the way for later dis- locity of the particle and the observer.
coveries, such as Marie Curie’s radium. Within a few years, Einstein’s theory was being
Up to this time, following Isaac Newton, physics hotly debated by scientists, many of whom attempted
had understood all phenomena and motion as the re- to verify or discredit relativity experimentally. As
sult of the action of one particle on another. But this Einstein’s special theory of relativity gained accep-
mechanical view made it difficult to understand the tance on both sides of the Atlantic, he followed it with
action of light and other invisible rays that traveled the general theory of relativity in 1915, which dealt
rapidly across space and appeared to have no mass. For with gravity. In this theory, Einstein predicted that
Newtonian physics to work, scientists had theorized starlight passing near the sun would be curved by the
that a substance called ether permeated the universe, pull of gravity. This prediction was verified in 1919
though it had never been discovered or measured. during a solar eclipse, and Einstein suddenly became
The search for ether would lead to the discovery of an international celebrity. He was awarded the Nobel
many other invisible rays and forces that in the end Prize in Physics in 1921.
would establish the existence of fields of force that Few scientists at the time could appreciate Ein-
operated over great distances. Through experiment- stein’s relativity theories or the radical new under-
ation and rational analysis, scientists postulated a standing of the atom, the quantum theory, advanced
physical world more complex than previous genera- by the German physicist Max Planck in 1900 to ex-
tions had imagined. plain the behavior of energy within the atom. While
One practical challenge was to understand the na- physicists struggled with the implications of relativity
ture of electricity. The work of James Clerk Maxwell, and quantum theory, for many in the general public
though mainly on a theoretical level, paved the way these disturbing new ideas symbolized a destruction
for practical applications of electricity for use in light- of certainty. Just as Darwin had called into question
ing and motors. Maxwell also predicted the existence accepted notions about the natural world and its ori-
of radio waves and theorized that light itself was a gins, Einstein and Planck stripped away certainty
form of electromagnetism. The German scientist Hein- from even the most fundamental elements of percep-
rich Hertz proved Maxwell correct by broadcasting tion: time and space.
and receiving radio waves in the late 1880s. In late 1895,
Wilhelm Röntgen discovered x-rays, a form of electro-
magnetic radiation. This discovery spurred others—
the Curies among them—to search for other forms of Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German physicist most
famous for his theory of relativity.
radiation (see Choice). All of these discoveries were
rapidly developed into practical inventions by other special theory of relativity Einstein’s theory stating,
among other things, that the speed of light is always
scientists and by industry: electricity was put to work constant while distance and time are relative to the
in the electric light bulb, phonograph, and innumer- observer.
able other inventions by Edison; Hertz’s findings Max Planck (1858–1947) German physicist and author
were translated into the radio by Marconi; Röntgen’s of quantum theory who won the Nobel Prize in
x-rays found practical application in healthcare and Physics in 1918.
his name became the German word for “to x-ray.”
678 CHAPTER 23 The Culture of Industrial Europe, 1850–1914
The Battle Between Science belief in a Supreme Being, however defined. While
Pope Pius IX condemned materialism in the Syllabus
and Religion
of Errors of 1864, and “modernism” was denounced
Darwin’s theories, especially regarding human evo- by the later Pope Pius X in 1907, many educated
lution, stirred great controversy, and some of his Catholics sought to reconcile their religious beliefs
main opponents were religious leaders who under- and elements of modern thought.
stood evolution as directly challenging not only the In the shtetls of eastern Europe, Jewish boys were
biblical story of creation but the majesty of God. An- punished for daring to read “modern” authors—even
glican bishop Samuel Wilberforce of Oxford decried in Hebrew translation. Traditional Jews claimed that
Darwin’s work as “a tendency to limit God’s glory in the Torah, Talmud, and other religious works con-
creation,” while the Catholic cardinal Henry Edward tained enough of human wisdom to satisfy anyone,
Manning denounced Darwin’s ideas as “a brutal phi- but their attempt to shut out the modern world was
losophy—to wit, there is no God, and the ape is our in the long run doomed to failure. Some Jews dis-
Adam.” But the controversy between science and re- carded religious beliefs entirely in their desire to be-
ligion went far deeper, representing a profound crisis come modern, rational Europeans, while others
of consciousness in the nineteenth century. Geolog- pointed out that great Jewish scholars from earlier
ical discoveries, in particular those associated with ages had studied natural science, claiming that the
the British geologist Sir Charles Lyell, had already study of science was but another way of understand-
proved that the earth was vastly older than the num- ing the greatness of God’s creation. While religion
ber of generations in the Bible between Adam and could not ignore new scientific discoveries, neither
Jesus Christ. In addition, the fossil remains of dino- could scientific materialism be entirely satisfying for
saurs and other animals not mentioned in the Bible most people. While the scientific method could ex-
further eroded conventional Christian faith in literal plain much, it was mute when faced with life’s most
biblical truth. While most Europeans still professed basic question: why are we here? Even Comte con-
Christianity, the content of their beliefs changed un- ceded the existence of a Supreme Being in his posi-
der the weight of scientific evidence. The biblical ac- tivism, and Darwin fudged: “There is a grandeur in
count of creation came, for example, to be understood this view of life, with its several powers, having been
more and more in a symbolic rather than a literal way. originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or
In second half of the nineteenth century, many into one.” Rationality and empirical experimentation
young Europeans rejected religious belief as unscien- could only explain so much of human existence.
tific, irrelevant, or even immoral. As early as the 1840s,
Marx had exclaimed that religion was the “opiate of Critiques of Reason
the people.” In other words, religion diverted people’s
attention from the real causes of their poverty and, Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the opti-
most important, hindered their action to bring about mism that came with prosperity, scientific advances,
social justice. While Marx and other socialists were and the philosophy of positivism began to falter.
atheists, rejecting religion, they believed fervently in Some thinkers saw mass production less as a triumph
progress, science, and humanity’s ability to better it- than a threat, burying differences and local peculiari-
self. This radical rejection of a religious worldview ties in sterile uniformity. Max Weber warned darkly
was also shared by the fictional hero in Turgenev’s about the “iron cage” of bureaucracy. The German
Fathers and Sons, Evgeny Bazarov, whose views were philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche called on gifted in-
summed up by a friend: “He doesn’t believe in prin- dividuals to resist mass society, which he termed “the
ciples, but he believes in frogs [to dissect].” Like
Bazarov, many young radicals rejected religious au-
thority and demanded that any principles, whether Sir Charles Lyell (1797–1875) English geologist whose
moral, political, or scientific, be proven by empirical Principles of Geology (1830–1833) suggested that the
world must be far older than hitherto imagined.
methods. In a sense, they were simply reformulating
shtetls (in Yiddish, “small cities”) Towns inhabited
Comte’s positivism. Not religion but empirical scientific
mainly or exclusively by Jews, in particular in eastern
methods—in both the social and physical sciences— Europe.
would bring about true progress. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher
For most people, however, a world without God renowned for his demand for a complete revision of
was unthinkable. Even scientists were not generally human ethics and who notoriously despised mass
atheists, though they often did not accept all aspects society.
of church dogma. Most continued at least to cherish a
Science and Social Science 679
common herd.” Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud tradicted by Nietzsche’s denunciation of Germany’s
used scientific methodology to probe into the irra- antisemites as typical of the herd mentality. Nietzsche
tional motivations of human behavior. Just as artists scorned biological explanations of human differ-
were rejecting representations of the external world ences. On the other hand, his no less vehement at-
for explorations of individual perceptions, writers tacks on such Christian values as forgiveness, charity,
such as Gustave Le Bon and Henri Bergson described kindness, and mercy seem at times to parallel Nazi
the limits of rationality in human experience, arguing ruthlessness. In the light of rationality, elements of
that passion and intuition played a key role in social Nietzsche’s thought seem contradictory, but he
and individual behavior. Despite advances in science, claimed that his philosophy operated at a higher—or
politics, and technology, both seemed to say, human deeper—level, concerning the innermost reaches of
behavior remains profoundly determined by basic, the human soul.
even primitive, drives and passions. Nietzsche died in 1900, one year after Sigmund
Nietzsche himself bore both physical and psycho- Freud’s most famous work, The Interpretation of Dreams,
logical scars from his service as a medical orderly in appeared. While the two men were utterly different
the Franco-Prussian War. Returning home, he rapidly in background, professional training, and tempera-
published his first book, The Birth of Tragedy (1872), ment, both had an enormous impact on modern con-
which gained him a professorship at the University sciousness. Freud was born into a lower-middle-class
of Basel, an almost unheard-of distinction for a man Jewish family and lived nearly his entire life in Vi-
under thirty. The Birth of Tragedy emphasized the role enna. Like many young Jews of his generation, he
of passion and ecstasy (which Nietzsche associated studied medicine, aiming to dedicate his life to med-
with the Greek god Dionysus) in the genesis of Greek ical practice and research and discarding traditional
tragedy, an argument that was so novel and sugges- religious belief along the way. As early as the 1880s,
tive that Nietzsche became a celebrity outside of aca- Freud noticed in some of his patients—who were pri-
demic circles as well. marily middle-class women—symptoms that could
In the next decade and a half, Nietzsche produced not be explained by physical illness alone. Gradually
thousands of pages of books, essays, polemics, and he developed his theory of repression, claiming that
poetry, returning time and again to the themes of per- patients repressed—that is, denied and refused to ac-
sonal freedom and intellectual and moral self-reliance. knowledge on a conscious level—traumatic memo-
He despised many aspects of modern life, including ries, usually of a sexual nature. Having diagnosed the
mass society, and lashed out against liberal demo- problem, Freud began to develop a treatment. Like
cracy, German nationalism, antisemitism, and tradi- others before him, Freud differentiated between con-
tional moral standards—in particular, the “slave scious and subconscious levels in the human psyche.
morality” of Christianity. He denounced mass soci- On the conscious level, we may be rational, consider-
ety, which he perceived as his era’s “herd mentality” ing pros and cons and thinking through the conse-
and preference for the safe and comfortable. Instead, quences of our actions. But Freud insisted that our
he demanded that human beings recognize their own rational decisions were always liable to be influenced
freedom, admit that “God is dead,” and then cele- and sometimes overpowered by the subconscious.
brate the enormous liberation that this fact implies. His “talking cure” (today we know it as psychoanaly-
Nietzsche’s philosophy emphasized the role of the sis) aimed to reveal the subconscious by a steady
will and passion over cool, calculated reason, and his probing of a patient’s memories, reactions, behavior,
insistence that humans discard all traditional values and dreams. Dreams were a key component because
and create their own moral world is perhaps the most for Freud they often revealed repressed desires that
radical modern restatement of Immanuel Kant’s fa- existed at a subconscious level.
mous dictum, “Dare to know!” To describe the human personality, Freud divided
Nietzsche was never a systematic philosopher, and the psyche into three components: the id, ego, and
the sheer sparkle and wit of his writing may get in the superego. The id consists entirely of drives, hungers,
way of his ideas. These qualities, combined with his
meandering writing style, open his works to many
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian psychiatrist who
different interpretations. In the twentieth century, the emphasized the role of fundamental and prerational
German National Socialists (Nazis) tried to appropri- drives, including sexual desire, in human behavior.
ate his ideas for their cause, claiming that Nietzsche’s repression Freud’s theory that memories and desires
superman—a man whose passion and will would not acknowledged by a person’s conscious thought can
create a new moral world—was identical to the Nazi lead to physical and mental disorders.
Aryan ideal. But this interpretation is directly con-
680 CHAPTER 23 The Culture of Industrial Europe, 1850–1914
and desires; a baby, for example, may be seen as an their instinctual drives. But for some neurotics the de-
example of pure id. The ego develops as the child en- mands of the superego become so demanding as to
counters reality and realizes that not all wants can be make normal life impossible.
filled. The superego, the last part of the personality to Freud’s thought combines the rationalist method of
develop, incorporates the moral values, taboos, and the later nineteenth century with a recognition of the
behavioral models that children internalize as they limitations of rationality. In his own life, Freud was
mature. According to Freud, all three components ex- very much the model of the positivist scientist, rejecting
ist in every human being; none are inherently bad or the idea of a Supreme Being and insisting on an empir-
good. Hysteria and other neuroses appear, however, ical approach in psychology. But he also recognized
when the three are out of balance. For example, in that in human behavior, irrational—or at least sub-
any society, individuals must control and regulate conscious and prerational—elements often prevailed.
What was the Second Industrial Revolution? What left Europe forever, to seek a new and better life in
impact did it have on society and culture?
overseas colonies and the Americas.
➜
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Tourism
In the twenty-first century, tourism is one of the largest and most rapidly growing industries in the world.
But although there have been travelers throughout history, mass tourism is a product of the late nineteenth
century. Starting in the late eighteenth century, wealthy and adventurous individuals traveled to cultural and
historic cities. These “Grand Tours,” often lasting months, were an integral part of any gentleman’s—and
even young lady’s—education. Wealthy travelers in Florence and Rome, sketching artwork and rereading
Latin classics, or in Istanbul and Jerusalem, usually with Bible in hand, can be seen as the precursors of
modern tourists. In that age, before the lithograph or photography had been invented, the only way to see
famous paintings or works of architecture was to visit them.
But for tourism to become a mass phenomenon required something more. It was the railroad that allowed
middle-class people—and even artisans and laborers—to become tourists. One man can be fairly called the
father of modern tourism. The devout Baptist Thomas Cook began organizing tours in the hopes of divert-
ing workers from more sinful entertainment, especially of the alcoholic variety. In 1851, Cook organized his
first package tour, a day trip from the central English town of Leicester featuring an eleven-mile journey by
train, musical entertainment, lunch, and temperance speeches. Cook’s Tours took thousands to visit the
Crystal Palace Exhibition in London. By the time of his death in 1892, thousands more had traveled on
Cook’s Tours to Europe, Africa, Asia, and even around the world. Cook made travel not only more afford-
able but fun and carefree. By paying one fee, tourists rid themselves of worries about tickets, customs, rude
innkeepers, and inedible restaurant food. Perhaps even more important, Cook’s Tours allowed middle-class
people to meet others like themselves and insulated them from encounters with local people. In an age
when strangers did not normally address one another, the organized tour created a kind of tourist commu-
nity in which travelers felt safe and at home.
The term Cook’s tour also entered the English language, defined as “a rapid or cursory survey or review.”
Even today Cook’s Tours offers tens of thousands of package holidays, and competitors like American Ex-
press, Wagons-Lits, Neckermann, and Club Med send hundreds of thousands to all corners of the globe.
Suggested Readings
Gay, Peter. The Bourgeois Experience: Victoria to Freud. 5 vols. 1750 to the Present. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University
New York: Norton, 1984–1998. An ambitious study looking into Press, 2003. A path-breaking work with clear explanations.
various aspects of middle-class life in the nineteenth century. Romein, Jan. The Watershed of Two Eras: Europe in 1900. Mid-
Himmelfarb, Gertrude. Darwin and the Darwinian Revolu- dletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1978. A huge vol-
tion. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1996. A well-written, clear narrative. ume full of interesting facts and arguments.
Kern, Stephen. The Culture of Time and Space, 1880–1918. Schorske, Carl. Fin-de-Siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture. New
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003. A fascinat- York: Vintage Books, 1981. A modern classic of cultural history.
ing synthesis of culture, technology, ideas, and everyday life. Trebilcock, Clive. The Industrialization of the Continental
Landes, David S. The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Powers, 1780–1914. London: Longman, 1981. A work that com-
Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from bines theoretical models with lots and lots of facts.
Websites
Information in French and English about August Comte, the Charles Darwin’s life, travels, and works, About Darwin.com,
founder of sociology, Auguste Comte and Positivism, at http:// at www.aboutdarwin.com
membres.lycos.fr/clotilde
Detailed chronicle of Friedrich Nietzsche’s life, Nietzsche
Chronicle, at www.dartmouth.edu/~fnchron
682
CHAPTER
The Age
of Imperialism,
1870–1914
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Choice: Cecil Rhodes Creates the Imperialism and the Muslim World
Rhodes Scholarship Russian Expansion
Introduction The Ottoman Empire
Muslims, Christians, and Zionists
Motives and Methods of the
New Imperialism The Far East
Economic Motivations The French in Indochina
Domestic Politics and National Rivalries The Dutch in Indonesia
Christian Missions Concessions in China
“The White Man’s Burden” The Westernization of Japan
GREENLAND
(Denmark)
ALASKA
GREAT
BRITAIN
RUSSIA
CA N A D A
NETH. GERMANY Sakhalin
BELG.
AUSTRIA- KARAFUTO
FRANCE HUNGARY MANCHURIA
UNITED STATES
SPAIN
ITALY OTTOMAN
PORTUGAL KOREA
EMPIRE JAPAN
ATLANTIC TUNISIA CYPRUS AFGHANISTAN CHINA
OCEAN
MOROCCO PERSIA PACIFIC
ALGERIA
BAHAMA IS.
RIO
LIBYA
EGYPT
OCEAN
DE
ORO I NDI A Taiwan
BURMA
ERITREA
BR. HONDURAS FRENCH WEST AFRICA FRENCH Mariana Is.
GAMBIA ANGLO- HADHRAMAUT INDOCHINA PHILIPPINE IS.
IC A
TOGO EGYPTIAN
HAWAII PORT. GUINEA NIGERIA SUDAN Marshall
AFR
F CONGO TC
GERMAN H E S
EAST AFRICA A ST INDIE PA
SOUTH PU
A Solomon
NORTHERN Is.
RHODESIA NYASALAND
PACIFIC AMERICA ANGOLA New Hebrides
MOZAMBIQUE
INDIAN OCEAN (Gr. Br. and France)
OCEAN GERMAN
SOUTHWEST
SOUTHERN
RHODESIA
MADAGASCAR
AFRICA BECHUANALAND New
AUSTRALIA Caledonia
SWAZILAND (France)
UNION
OF LESOTHO
SOUTH AFRICA
NEW
ZEALAND
ANTARCTICA
1885 1900
Congo Free State Foreign powers crush
is established Boxer Rebellion in China
683
684 CHAPTER 24 The Age of Imperialism, 1870–1914
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Cecil Rhodes Creates the
Rhodes Scholarship
For Cecil Rhodes, as for many other young, energetic Europeans of the
late nineteenth century, establishing colonies around the world was not
just an adventure or means of gaining wealth but a moral duty. They
wanted to spread European values and culture around the world.
Born in 1853 into a middle-class family in a country town in England,
Rhodes had been singled out early as an intelligent boy. His adoring and
powerful mother sheltered him in his early years, and he grew up self-
confident, sure of his own destiny. At age of sixteen, he set off for Africa
with his parents’ blessing. In the 1870s, he divided his time between Africa
and Oxford, earning his degree in 1881. Already by this time—before his
thirtieth birthday—he had made a fortune in South African diamonds. His
ambitions helped extend British power far to the north, into a region
named Rhodesia (today Zambia and Zimbabwe) in his honor.
As a businessman and government official, Rhodes was known for
Cecil Rhodes ruthlessness and an authoritarian style that created enemies among his white
contacts and fear among Africans. As prime minister of Cape Colony, he author-
Cecil Rhodes was one of the
ized a military excursion that he hoped would unite South Africa as a British
best-known advocates of the
colony. Its failure led the House of Commons to pronounce him guilty of grave
new imperialism of the late
breaches of duty, and he was forced to resign. Rhodes died a rich but embittered
nineteenth century, and he
man in 1902, not even fifty years old.
reflected the mindset of the
But Rhodes had already made provision for funding the Rhodes Scholarships,
age. A cartoon in the English
for which he is best known today. Though a businessman and colonial official,
humor magazine Punch
Rhodes was also a visionary who believed that English culture should conquer the
showed Rhodes as a colossus
world. Convinced of English superiority, Rhodes maintained that the more the
whose mighty stride took in
world came to resemble England, the better. So to preserve and spread English
the entire African continent.
culture, Rhodes funded scholarships that would allow the most talented men
It related specifically to
(women could not enter most British universities at the time) to study in
Rhodes’s pet project of a
England—at the oldest of English universities, Oxford.
railroad running the length of
At first, Rhodes proposed thirty-six scholarships for “young colonials” from New
Africa, from Cairo to the
Zealand, Australia, Canada, and South Africa. Later, scholarships were added for
Cape of Good Hope, a proj-
young men from the United States and Germany. In all cases, Rhodes’s aim was the
ect that was never realized.
same: to produce cultured, educated English gentlemen. Rhodes had little interest
(Punch Limited)
in producing scholars or independent thinkers: among the qualifications he listed
for selecting scholarship winners were “manly sports,” “qualities of manhood,”
and “moral force of character,” as well as “literary and scholastic” excellence.
Rhodes Scholars, he hoped, would not be mere bookworms but would carry on
his own values and those of upper-class, wealthy Britons dedicated to the good
of the empire.
Rhodes set down that the scholarships would be open to all male candidates,
regardless of “race or religious opinions.” Rhodes did not mean race as it is under-
stood today; he meant nationality, and by this he intended that the Dutch in South
Africa—Britain’s rivals for control—should be eligible. He certainly never expected
Motives and Methods of the New Imperialism 685
continent had been divided up among the European What political and technological advances paved the
way for the new imperialism?
powers. The largest colonial territories were held by
➜
Chronology
1836–1846 Boers take Great Trek north away from 1894–1895 Japanese annex Formosa (Taiwan);
English colonists in southern Africa
1898 Spanish-American War begins
1839–1842 British defeat the Chinese in the Opium Wars
1899–1902 British defeat Boers in the Boer War
1853–1854 United States forces Japan to open to
foreign trade 1900 Foreign powers crush Boxer Rebellion in China
1857–1858 British put down Sepoy Rebellion in India 1902 Hobson publishes Imperialism
1865 Tashkent falls to the Russians 1904 Japanese attack on Russian naval base at
Port Arthur
1867 French annex Cochinchina (southern Indochina)
1905–1907 Herero Revolt takes place in German
1869 Suez Canal opens Southwest Africa
1877 Queen Victoria becomes empress of India 1908 Leopold II turns over the Congo Free State
to Belgium
1882 British occupy Egypt
1910 Union of South Africa is established
1884–1886 Germany establishes African colonies
1912 South African Native National Congress
1885 Indian National Congress is founded; is established;
Congo Free State is established Italy invades Libya
1887 Russia completes conquest of Turkestan 1916 Lenin publishes Imperialism, the Highest Stage
(Central Asia) of Capitalism
reacted to specific circumstances, always seeking to These products could be obtained only in tropical
prevent other European powers from gaining on them. regions, many of which fell under European rule at
The conviction of European superiority also pushed this time.
imperialism forward. So did the new technologies of Still, the direct connection between economic mo-
the Second Industrial Revolution. All these factors tivations and the establishment of political control is
help explain how, and why, millions of non-Europeans not often clear. Britain already enjoyed economic and
were brought under European rule. political dominance of India and southern Africa be-
fore imperialist domination was established. For Ger-
Economic Motivations many, the establishment of colonies in Africa and the
Pacific made no economic sense; these colonies cost
The desire for new markets and the need for the raw German taxpayers millions. Furthermore, throughout
materials of industry certainly fueled the new impe- this period, more western European capital flowed to
rialism. Britain looked to India as a market for its tex-
tiles and other industrial products. King Leopold II
of Belgium derived huge profits from rubber planta- new imperialism Extension and strengthening of
European colonial rule, mainly in Africa and Asia,
tions in the Congo, and Cecil Rhodes (see Choice) be- from approximately 1870 to 1914.
came vastly wealthy from exploiting African labor in Leopold II (r. 1865–1909) Belgian king who established
the gold and diamond mines of southern Africa. In- personal rule over a large part of central Africa (later
dustrial society demanded rubber for industrial uses, the Belgian Congo).
but also for tires on bicycles and a new invention, the Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902) British businessman and
automobile. Similarly, palm oil was in great demand colonial official who made a fortune in diamonds and
as a machine lubricant. Fruits such as bananas and was prime minister of Cape Colony in Africa.
pineapples were also imported from colonized areas.
Motives and Methods of the New Imperialism 687
Russia, the United States, and South America than to control of a large group on Pacific islands, thereby com-
territories under formal colonial rule. Thus, economic ing into conflict with another young imperial power,
motivations alone cannot explain the late-nineteenth- the United States. None of these colonies brought
century drive for colonial rule. wealth or significant new markets to the home coun-
try. Rather, their main purpose was to satisfy the pa-
triotic fever of Germans and Italians who felt that
Domestic Politics and without colonies their countries would be second-
National Rivalries rate powers. In this way, domestic politics pushed
imperialism, often against the wishes and advice of
A more convincing explanation of imperialism is found the imperialist powers’ foreign ministers and foreign
in the domestic politics of the major European powers. policy experts.
Large numbers of Britons, Frenchmen, Germans, and
others came to identify their own national pride with Christian Missions
colonial possessions. After their humiliating defeat in
the Franco-Prussian War, the French, for example, were Churches and missionaries also played a vital role in
able to take pride in an expanding colonial empire. imperialist expansion. Most often, Christian mission-
But Germans, who had won the war, felt the need for aries had established footholds before official colonial
a colonial empire, too. Having failed to suppress the control was declared. To be sure, missionaries sin-
Social Democrats even through the strategy of adopt- cerely desired to bring education, healthcare, and
ing some of their programs, Chancellor Otto von Bis- other benefits of European culture to Africans and
marck turned to empire to enhance his political Asians. They often built schools and hospitals. Mis-
popularity. In the late nineteenth century Europe was sionaries seldom forced Christianity on the native
swept by “imperialist fever.” Even sober politicians peoples, hoping instead to win converts by good ex-
not usually concerned with popular opinion—such ample. At the same time, they taught European con-
as Bismarck in Berlin—found it necessary, or at least cepts of sexual morality and gender relations and
useful, to adopt imperialism as a political program. often insisted that natives dress in a “modest” Euro-
National rivalries contributed to imperial expan- pean manner, all of which undermined native cul-
sion. The establishment of one colony almost inevitably tural values. When local rulers attempted to restrict
led to the perceived need to grab more territory to “pro- or expel missionaries, even without using violence,
tect” it. In this way, European rivalries contributed to the European powers often intervened. Thousands
European expansion. For example, in the early 1880s, and eventually millions of Asians and Africans em-
the French government declared formal control over braced Christianity, but these numbers represented a
Tunisia in northern Africa mainly because it feared grave loss to native cultures and religions.
Italian expansion westward from Libya. Similarly, the One well-known missionary was David Living-
British occupied Egypt in 1882 partly to deny the stone. As a small boy in Scotland, born to a working-
French any influence. At first, they did not intend to class family in 1813, young David was influenced by
maintain permanent political control, but facing a accounts he heard and read of Christian missionaries
power vacuum and fearing that hostile Egyptian in China and the Muslim world. In 1840, he left Eng-
groups would take over, the British stayed. Control of land for Africa, where he was to spend the rest of his
Egypt also allowed the British to secure the sea route life spreading the gospel, healing the sick, and fighting
to India once the Suez Canal was constructed. Protec- European exploitation—including enslavement—of
tion of the canal then became an end in itself. Thus, Africans. Livingstone became famous for his expedi-
securing access to existing colonies also served as a tion seeking the source of the Nile River and his dis-
justification for taking new ones. All along the route covery of Victoria Falls, now shared by Zimbabwe
to India, the British secured stopping and fueling and Zambia. His life in the African bush and his ded-
points for ships. Aden, at the tip of the Arabian ication to helping Africans, even against other Euro-
Peninsula, was deliberately taken for this purpose. peans, made him a controversial figure, however. In
As Britain and France carved up Africa, other Eu- 1871, the American reporter Henry Stanley went to
ropean powers demanded their place in the sun. Italy Africa in search of Livingstone, famously greeting
grabbed Libya from the Ottoman Empire in 1912 and
established control over Eritrea and Somaliland in
East Africa. Germany occupied Cameroon, German David Livingstone (1813–1873) Scottish missionary,
Southwest Africa (now Namibia), and German East explorer of Africa, and discoverer of Victoria Falls.
Africa (roughly today’s Tanzania). Germany also took
688 CHAPTER 24 The Age of Imperialism, 1870–1914
him with the words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” the context of the Spanish-American War that had be-
Stanley described the elderly missionary as “a living gun a year earlier, he addressed these lines to the
skeleton”; Livingstone died in his tent in 1873 and United States, urging Americans to join in the impe-
was buried in London, in Westminster Abbey. At his rialist enterprise:
funeral, he was praised for his efforts to spread Chris-
Take up the White Man’s burden—
tian morality through good example. Livingstone’s
Send forth the best ye breed—
motivations for the extension of European culture
Go bind your sons to exile
contrast sharply with those of Rhodes, indicating the
To serve your captives’ need;
complexities of imperialist motivations.
To wait in heavy harness
Missionaries translated the Gospels into African
On fluttered folk and wild—
languages, wrote grammars and dictionaries, and
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
thereby helped transform tongues previously only
Half-devil and half-child.
spoken into written languages. Many stood up for
native rights against European administrators. They The condescending attitude of the imperialists is
did not always get along with European traders, but evident here. At the same time, Kipling emphasizes
their example—the clothes they wore and houses that imperialism is not a program for exploitation and
they kept—provided Africans with incentive to pur- self-aggrandizement but a duty: “to serve your cap-
chase European manufactured goods. Thus, in spite tives’ need.” He sees imperialism as a “civilizing mis-
of their own kindly intentions, missionaries encour- sion” that is self-sacrificing. The next stanza describes
aged economic links between industrial Europe and it as: “To seek another’s profit, / And work another’s
underdeveloped colonies. gain.” Kipling may be termed a romantic imperialist
who perceived imperialism as an uplifting moral cru-
“The White Man’s Burden” sade that, while not always so understood by the na-
tives (“new-caught, sullen peoples”), would in the
Many Europeans, not only missionaries, saw the end bring about better conditions for their lives.
spread of European civilization as a precious gift to
“dark peoples” of African and Asia: the figure of
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) English writer and poet,
speech referred to alleged intellectual and cultural born in India, best known for his adventure stories,
backwardness as much as to skin color. The English which often took place in exotic colonial locations.
poet Rudyard Kipling called this impulse “the white white man’s burden Phrase taken from a poem by
man’s burden.” Kipling was born in India, which is Rudyard Kipling urging Americans—but implicitly all
the setting for his well-known children’s books, such “white men”—to spread western civilization.
as The Jungle Book (1894) and Kim (1901). In 1899, in
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Cecil Rhodes Writes His Own
“Confession of Faith”
From an early age, Cecil Rhodes had a mission—to spread British culture, values,
and education. Rhodes never wavered in his belief that the world would be better
off under British rule. In 1877, at age twenty-four, Rhodes set down his ideas in a
“Confession of Faith” for himself. The document was never published in his life-
time.
➜ What do you think
Rhodes meant by “the most ➜ I contend that we [English] are the finest race in the world and that the more
despicable specimens of of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race. Just fancy those parts
human beings”? that are at present inhabited by the most despicable specimens of human beings
what an alteration there would be if they were brought under Anglo-Saxon influ-
Motives and Methods of the New Imperialism 689
Imperialists firmly believed in western superiority before.” Chamberlain praised the “work of civiliza-
in civilization, culture, and even genetic makeup. tion” that British imperialists carried out in India,
Earlier in the nineteenth century, Americans had jus- Africa, and other lands.
tified their expansion from the Atlantic to the Pacific But these attitudes contained within them a con-
Ocean as manifest destiny, claiming that God and the tradiction. Even as imperialists claimed that they
natural order had ordained American control over brought civilization to colonized peoples, they fre-
the entire continent. In a similar way, Europeans ex- quently exploited the labor of those peoples, denying
tolled the virtues of their social order, technology, and them the rights and privileges taken for granted by
religious beliefs and assumed that non-Europeans Europeans. The large gap between the rhetoric of
would be grateful to be “uplifted” and assimilated into imperialism and its more brutal reality meant that
the European political and economic systems and sooner or later imperialism would collapse.
moral values. Racism certainly played a part in the ideology and
Scholars such as the French sociologist and jour- practice of imperialism. By the second half of the
nalist Paul Leroy-Beaulieu argued that France had nineteenth century, scientific theories of race had di-
a “civilizing mission” to the world. In other words, vided humanity into Caucasian, Negroid, and Mongo-
French culture was a valuable commodity that could loid races, which some argued were different species
improve the lives of Asians and Africans. The British
politician Joseph Chamberlain argued much the same
for British culture. In a speech to Parliament in 1897 manifest destiny North American ideology that saw
he exclaimed, “I maintain that our rule does, and has, the extension of the United States to the Pacific Ocean
brought security and peace and comparative pros- as fulfillment of a divine plan.
perity to countries that never knew these blessings
690 CHAPTER 24 The Age of Imperialism, 1870–1914
and others arranged in a strict hierarchy, with Euro- imperial administration. The imperial powers con-
peans (Caucasians) on top. European racial theorists structed railroads in the colonies, most impressively
believed it was self-evident that the white, or Cau- in India, which by 1900 had more than twenty-five
casian, race had progressed further than the others. thousand miles of railway lines—more than France
Both the categories and the argumentation revealed or Britain itself. Just as Rhodes dreamed of connecting
not scientific facts but prejudices and convenient self- British colonies throughout East Africa by a Cairo-to-
justifications for European dominance. Nonetheless, Capetown rail line, German imperialists dreamed of
these ideas about the races were widely held. a Berlin-to-Baghdad railroad that would strengthen
Beaulieu and Chamberlain were not overtly racist, German influence in the Ottoman Empire. Neither
but their assumption that European culture was su- line was completed, but railroads were built in many
perior to that of Asia or Africa was paternalistic. Pa- African colonies, making the extraction of raw mate-
ternalism’s greatest blind spot was its inability to rials and the penetration of European military control
recognize and respect the humanity of non-Europeans. possible. Steamship lines, too, shortened distances.
Kipling’s description of native people as “half-devil The trip from England to Australia, which had taken
and half-child” reflects this view. Imperialists did not more than four months in the early nineteenth cen-
understand that their values were not necessarily tury, was down to a month by the century’s end.
universal and that from the colonized people’s point As Europeans ventured into new climates in Africa
of view, imperialist efforts to “enlighten” might well and Asia, they encountered new microbes. In Africa,
be experienced as oppression and even as the de- particularly, death rates among European explorers
struction of time-hallowed traditions. Hypocrisy was up to the mid-nineteenth century were extremely
inherent in this system that claimed to protect and high. Among the diseases, malaria was probably the
nurture native peoples while in reality privileging most devastating. Before the late nineteenth century,
European economic and political interests. little was understood about germs. The disease was
attributed to “bad air”—in Italian, mal’aria—because
The Importance of Technology it was not yet understood that the disease was spread
by germ-carrying mosquitoes. Still, by trial and error,
European domination over most of the world’s sur- Europeans came to recognize that constant doses of
face would have been impossible without the techno- the bark of the cinchona tree were effective in staving
logical advances of the Second Industrial Revolution. off the worst symptoms of malaria. The bark con-
Among these, advances in communications, trans- tained quinine, which began to be commercially pro-
portation, and medicine are most important. duced in the 1830s. Quinine became the constant
The telegraph vastly simplified the administration companion of the imperialist in tropical areas, and
of world empires by making nearly instantaneous the typical imperialist cocktail, a gin and tonic (con-
communication possible. By the 1860s, England was taining quinine), became a pleasant means of admin-
connected to India by telegraph over land lines, but istering a daily dose. By the end of the century, the
messages had to be sent and retransmitted many role of germs in sickness was established, and British
times, often by operators not entirely fluent in Eng- scientists made significant advances in studying trop-
lish. When underwater cables were laid in the late ical diseases. For all that, mortality continued to be
1860s and 1870, communications between Britain and high among Europeans serving in tropical regions, in
India became far faster and reliable. By 1895, nearly particular in equatorial Africa.
two hundred thousand miles of underwater cables Political, ideological, economic, and technological
connected Europe with America, Asia, Africa, and factors all contributed to the new imperialism’s mas-
Australia, and more than six hundred thousand miles sive extension of European power around the globe.
of land telegraph cables sped messages to their desti- Imperialists saw themselves as the bearers of a supe-
nations. When, at the end of the nineteenth century, rior cultural and political order. At the same time, many
the increasingly dense telegraph network was sup-
plemented by a growing telephone network, colonial
administrators were able to be in continuous and al-
paternalism Attitude toward or control of one group
most instant communication. At any sign of unrest, (here, colonialized people) by another (here, Euro-
an administrator out in the countryside could tele- peans) that resembles a father’s rule over his children.
graph the nearest military outpost with a request for malaria Infectious parasitic disease transmitted by
troops. In this way the telegraph helped imperial ad- mosquitoes, particularly widespread in tropical areas
ministrators stifle resistance and revolt. but preventable by constant doses of quinine.
Developments in transportation similarly facilitated
The Scramble for Africa 691
of them gained huge profits and prestige derived from Thousands of Indian laborers and professionals also
the labor and natural resources of the colonized made these colonies their home. Most numerous, of
lands. Imperialists took for granted the superiority of course, were the native African peoples of the region,
European thought and culture, seeing in the native who often saw their land and livelihoods taken over
populations as ignorant and backward savages to be by Europeans in this period. To fight against these
“brought up” to European standards. Despite the injustices of colonial rule, the South African Native
imperialists’ often sincere belief in their own “civiliz- National Congress was established in 1912. This or-
ing mission,” their failure to appreciate the validity of ganization, later called simply the African National
other cultures led quickly to conflicts, resentment, Congress, helped abolish white privilege and estab-
and resistance. lish a more democratic order in South Africa in 1994.
In northern Africa, French Algeria can be consid-
ered a settler colony. By 1848, around one hundred
thousand Europeans had settled there, and by the
The Scramble for Africa early twentieth century, around 1 million French men
and women made their home along Africa’s Mediter-
➜
How did settler colonies in Africa differ from other kinds ranean coast. Some 40 percent of the population was
of colonies?
of European descent. Unlike South Africa, Algeria
➜
SPANISH M e d i
t e
Tangier MOROCCO rr
Algiers a
n
MADEIRA IS. Casablanca
TUNISIA
e a
(Portugal) n S e a
MOROCCO Tripoli Cyrene
IFNI
EGYPT
R
ed
S A H A R A i le ARABIA
Se
FRENCH WEST AFRICA
a
Omdurman
GAMBIA
Ni
1898 ERITREA
r
ge
L. Chad Khartoum
PORTUGUESE
GUINEA ANGLO-EGYPTIAN Adowa
B lu
SUDAN FRENCH SOMALILAND
A
RIC
e
SIERRA LEONE NIGERIA Fashoda Nile
BRITISH
AF
SOMALILAND
D
Wh
GOLD
AN
LIBERIA
IVORY ETHIOPIA
AL
COAST COAST
ite
IL
RI
AL
Nile
TOGOLAND
TO
M
CAMEROONS
Ubangi
SO
UA
N
Co IA
EQ
SPANISH GUINEA ng AL
o IT
H
UGANDA BRITISH
C
EAST AFRICA
N
E
FR L. Victoria
BELGIAN CONGO
ATLANTIC OCEAN CABINDA L. Tanganyika Mombasa
GERMAN
EAST AFRICA ZANZIBAR (Gr. Br.)
Herero Revolt
1905–1907 INDIAN
OCEAN
ANGOLA L. Nyasa
NORTHERN
AR RHODESIA
AB
Za
NYASALAND
m
bez
STATES i
AR
Egypt
SOUTHERN MOZAMBIQUE
SC
S A H A R A GERMAN RHODESIA
GA
SOUTHWEST
DA
AFRICA
BECHUANALAND
MA
SUDANESE EMPIRES
TRANSVAAL
I
U L
Ibo G SWAZILAND
G HI
BASUTOLAND
BA
UNION OF
L
A
Ki
NTU
1912
yu
Cape Town
British Portuguese
PEOPLE
French Belgian
German Spanish
S
MAP 24.1 Partition of Africa, 1870–1914 Between 1870 and 1914 nearly all of Africa came under
European colonial rule. As these maps show, British and French colonies predominated, but several other
European powers also participated in “the scramble for Africa.”
694 CHAPTER 24 The Age of Imperialism, 1870–1914
In this missionary school in German East Africa (Dar Es Salaam, now Tanzania), African children learn to read
under the gaze of the German Kaiser and his wife. As the writing on the chalkboard indicates, these children
were learning to read not only in German but also in their own native African language. (Ullstein Bilderdienst/
The Granger Collection, New York)
was widely criticized in Europe. On the whole, Ger- Good Hope and trekked north to avoid English rule.
man colonies in Africa failed to bring Germany either Now it appeared that the English were pursuing
economic or political gains. them once again, threatening their farms and way
of life. To preserve their independence, in 1899 the
The Boer War Boers, led by their gruff leader Paul Kruger, took a
stand against the British.
In South Africa, the discovery of gold and diamonds The resulting Boer War of 1899–1902 caused great
in the 1880s attracted thousands of Englishmen and suffering and death among Africans, but the central
other Europeans to the region. Among these new ar-
rivals was Cecil Rhodes, whose investments in the
gold and diamond mines of Kimberley made him a Boer War Conflict between British Empire and Dutch
millionaire. The huge influx of prospectors caused settlers (Boers) in South Africa in 1899–1902, ending in
the Dutch farmers, or Boers, great worries. They had a costly British victory.
earlier left their original colony near the Cape of
The British Raj in India 695
dispute was between Europeans, in particular, the and Calcutta were fortified. Following Britian’s victory
Boer’s desire to retain their own autonomy and the in the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), French competi-
British insistence on extending their rule to include ar- tion ended. Still, as the Mughal Empire weakened,
eas of Boer settlement. The British expected to win company officials continued to worry about their own
quickly and easily, but they were wrong. Nearly five safety and the future of trade there. In this insecure
hundred thousand British men fought in the Boer War; political situation, British state institutions gradually
around one-tenth of these lost their lives. In the end the moved in.
British prevailed, however, and they granted the Boers A governor-general of India was first named in the
broad autonomy and home rule. But after this expen- late eighteenth century. Though supposedly just the
sive and bloody war between Europeans in a colonized agent of the British Parliament and the Crown, he ruled
country, many Europeans began to question whether in the absolutist style. Some regions he ruled directly;
imperialism was economically or morally defensible. in others he ruled through subordinate Indian princes.
But from the first, the ideological basis of British rule in
India was contradictory. British liberals saw it as aim-
ing to produce Indians capable of self-rule, “a class of
The British Raj in India persons Indian in colour and blood, but English in
tastes, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect,” ex-
➜➜
KASHMIR
PUNJAB
Lahore
B rahmaputra
s Delhi NEP
AL
u
Ind
RAJPUTANA BHUTAN
OUDH
G
an
Jaipur
ge
Lucknow
s
dy
wa d
SINDH
Irra
Karachi AJMER Benares BIHAR
MANIPUR
CHOTA- BENGAL
NAGPUR Calcutta
BURMA
Surat
BERAR NAGPUR
Bombay
HYDERABAD
Arabian Bay of
Sea Goa
(Portuguese)
Bengal
MYSORE
Madras
Pondicherry
(French) Before 1770
Calicut
1770–1800
1800–1830
1830–1860
0 150 300 Km. Princely states
0 150 300 Mi.
CEYLON
MAP 24.2 Growth of British India India was by far the largest and most important British colony
from the late eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century. As this map shows, British India—which included
the present-day countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Burma—was partly under direct British rule
and partly ruled by Indian princes subordinate to the British.
Company was disbanded and control of the colony Indian soldiers. The costs of administration and the
transferred to the Crown. Large numbers British sol- army were a heavy burden for Indian taxpayers.
diers were sent to the colony. Whereas in 1857 Euro- Official British policy aimed to avoid interference
pean soldiers were outnumbered ten to one by native in religious matters, but, as the mutiny demonstrated,
troops, by 1885 there were 73,000 British and 154,000 few British administrators understood the complexi-
The British Raj in India 697
ties of religious relations in India, where traditional to England in retirement. Some Englishmen, how-
religions involved the worship of many gods, while ever, remained in India their whole lives. Their chil-
the large Muslim population, making up a significant dren were known as “Anglo-Indians,” the most famous
proportion of native rulers, was strictly monotheis- of whom was probably the writer Rudyard Kipling.
tic. The Church of England, while not a militant mis- Even for Anglo-Indians, however, relations with
sionary force, was influential through its influence on Indians were seldom on an equal basis. With only a
British administrators. As Christians, they found it few exceptions at the highest levels of society, the
difficult to understand and appreciate a religion based English in India knew native people as servants. An
not on belief in a single God, Wishing to rationalize Englishwoman could not be alone with an Indian
administration, the British encouraged the creation of man without endangering her reputation. Racial cat-
a more coherent Hindu religion out of thousands of egories and hierarchies—with the Englishman on
separate, often local, rites, beliefs, and rituals. At the top—dominated English colonial identity in India as
same time, Hindus perceived British rule as favoring well as at home. The injustice of this racially defined
monotheistic Muslim Indians, thereby exacerbating colonial rule helped bring about the formation of the
relations between the diverse religious groups of the Indian National Congress in 1885, an organization
subcontinent. that would work to free India from British rule.
The allure of India also affected Englishmen
The Jewel in the Crown who would never leave home. Visual art, songs, and
literature—like Kipling’s Jungle Book and Kim—created races” such as the Sikhs and the “effeminate” Ben-
an image of India as a place both familiar and alien, galis. Predictably, imperialists equated manliness with
full of exotic scenes, wild animals, and exquisite dan- strength, goodness, and progress, while so-called ef-
gers. British identity derived great pride in the domina- feminate tendencies bore a negative connotation of
tion and influence over this vast region, so many times corruption, weakness, and backwardness. The British
larger than England itself. In 1877, Queen Victoria ascribed to themselves manly virtues such as bravery,
took the title of Empress of India in well-orchestrated decisiveness, and energy. The Indian masses, in con-
ceremonies both at home and in India itself. The trast, were denigrated as passive, backward, and un-
stately processions of Indian princes, elephants, and ambitious.
native soldiers in uniforms thrilled Englishmen in British rule did have some positive aspects for In-
Manchester and Leeds. Their own lives might be dull dians. It united the subcontinent as never before. The
and routine, but as Englishmen they, too, were part of educational system, while still leaving most Indians
these imperial pageants. illiterate, made significant strides in creating an edu-
cated Indian elite—the very class that would be in-
British Order and Indian Culture strumental in challenging and ending British rule in
the twentieth century. By 1857 there were five uni-
British liberals claimed that in India their goal was an versities in India, and increasing numbers of young
honest administration, a market economy, and indi- Indians entered the civil service. In 1900, Calcutta
vidual self-development. They aimed to reduce cor- University, with eight thousand students, was the
ruption, to increase efficiency, and in the long run to largest university in the world. Even earlier, privi-
bring prosperity and enlightenment to the peoples of leged Indians had begun to attend elite British uni-
India. The British regime sought to uplift and edu- versities. In 1888, Mohandas Gandhi, who would lead
cate, rooting out customs such as the isolation of India’s independence movement and preach nonvio-
upper-class women from men (purdah) and the suici- lent resistance to colonialism, left India to study law
dal burning of widows on their deceased husbands’ in London.
funeral pyres (suttee). In time, the British hoped, all The English language provided a common means
aspects of life, from administrative practices to reli- of communication for educated Indians, who spoke
gion to social roles, would be transformed by their hundreds of different native languages. As this new
benevolent rule. middle class of Indians developed, they could not
Rapidly, however, the British liberals recognized help contrasting the liberal British ideals of democ-
that to introduce their own ideas of culture and stan- racy and equal rights with their own situation. The
dards of hygiene in India, they would have to oppose most talented Indians, even if trained at Oxford,
the popular will. They justified these measures as “for could not reach the highest levels in the colonial bu-
the Indians,” though not “through them.” In the words reaucracy or in private British firms. Nor could native
of the English liberal John Stuart Mill, “Despotism is Indians join exclusive British associations like the
a legitimate mode of government in dealing with bar- Bengal Club. The resentment and frustration of the
barians, provided the end be their improvement.” But educated Indian middle class fueled demands for an
when Indians wished to retain traditional ways and end to British colonial rule that would come in the
their own cultural values, the British denigrated them twentieth century. Economically, British rule in India
as backward and ignorant. Some British administra- brought mixed results. One was a deindustrializing
tors were disillusioned by the perceived lack of inter- of the subcontinent, even as railroads and telegraph
est in the Indian community for “self-betterment.” lines were built. British manufacturers, particularly
Even those Indians who embraced British educa- of cheap British cloth, put native industries out of
tion, values, and the English language discovered
that they were not accepted as equals by most Euro-
peans. The group most receptive to British culture, gendering Considering certain peoples or activities
intrinsically linked with the male or female gender, in
the middle-class Bengali babus, were mocked as be- the latter case often with a negative connotation.
ing effeminate and incapable of independent action.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian political and
The word babu, which in Bengali denoted a respected spiritual leader who fought for Indian independence
educated figure, when used by the British meant a and emphasized nonviolent struggle.
half-educated, slavish, and rather contemptible fig- deindustrialization Process of reducing the level of
ure who was neither British nor Indian and neither industry in a country, generally in colonized regions,
man nor woman. The gendering of British colonialism especially India.
differentiated sharply between the manly “martial
Imperialism and the Muslim World 699
business. On the other hand, British rule connected Central Asia. Like the European colonial powers in
India to the world economy. Africa, the Russians did not set out to control this re-
gion. They did not intend to settle Russians in Central
Asia, only to prevent any other power from gaining a
foothold there. In this respect, Russian expansion into
Imperialism and the Central Asia followed a common colonial pattern.
Muslim World In 1865, Tashkent fell to the Russians, followed
later in the decade by the khanates of Bukhara and
➜
Where did Muslims come under colonial rule in the late Khiva. The ruling khans remained in place but now
nineteenth century?
formally recognized the tsar’s authority. In the 1870s,
➜
Vasily Vereshchagin’s artistic works often showed scenes from regions in Central Asia that had recently been
incorporated into the Russian Empire. This 1869 painting of the exquisite tomb in Samarkand of Timur or
Tamerlaine, the Mongol conquerer who died in 1405, combined exoticism with a deep interest and respect for
Central Asian culture. (Tretyakov Gallery, Russia/The Bridgeman Art Library)
and Arabic remained the most powerful languages in also hailed by Russian nationalists. “Asia will prove
written culture; local languages were spoken but the outlet for our future destiny,” proclaimed the
rarely written. The Russian rulers and settlers did not popular novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky. But well into the
make serious attempts to russify or convert local pop- twentieth century, Central Asia remained impover-
ulations. Like the British in India, they tended to live ished, remote, and, aside from a few large cities, largely
apart from native peoples and to return to Russia untouched by Russian or other western influences.
once their service was completed. Nevertheless, Orthodox missionaries increased
Central Asia exerted a powerful influence on Rus- their activity in Central Asia following the sale of
sian artists and ethnographers, many of whom vis-
ited the newly conquered lands to study the peoples
and the architectural monuments there. The popular Vasily Vereshchagin (1842–1904) Russian realist
artist Vasily Vereshchagin, for example, resided for a painter, best known for his paintings of exotic Central
time in Tashkent and produced many drawings and Asia scenes.
paintings on Central Asian themes. The region was
Imperialism and the Muslim World 701
SIBERIA
per
n ie
Don
RUSSIA
D
ROMANIA
Vo
L. Balkash
lg
a
CRIMEA KAZAKHS
BULGARIA
Ca
T 1859 Am
O Batum uD Andizhan 1871
spi
M 1878
ary Tashkent 1865
A KHIVA
an
CHINA
a
N Kars 1873 Samarkand
1868
TADJIKS
Krasnovodsk
E Baku
M TURKMEN PAMIR
PI
Sea
BUKHARA 1895
Ashkabad
R E 1881
1876
CHITRAL
M Merv
ed 1884 1895
ite KASHMIR
S e r ra n
Cyprus 1846
Tigri
Tehran
a ean 1878 Kabul Peshawar
Kushka
Russian
s
Eu
pr Sphere of Influence
at AFGHANISTAN
1907
l l ll
es
EGYPT Lahore
l l l
l
Suez Chapman
le
Canal 1887
Ni
s
du
In
KUWAIT BALUCHISTAN
1899 British 1876
Pe
INDIA
sia
1907
Russian expansion, with date
BAHRAIN
n
ul
G
MAP 24.3 Central Asia The Russian Empire extended its borders southward from the 1860s to
include most of Central Asia. By the late nineteenth century, the Russian Empire extended to border
Afghanistan on the south, causing great concern among British officials in India.
Bulgarian regions remained within the empire. A key alists begin to see Zionism as a serious threat to the
event showing the weakness of the Ottoman Empire region and to their own identity.
was the Crimean War, fought ostensibly over which
European power—Russia or France—had the right to
protect Christians in the Ottoman Empire. Russia lost
the war, but the very fact that European powers could The Far East
demand—and get—the right to protect Christian Ot-
➜
toman subjects showed the empire’s weakness. The How did economic and administrative practices differ in
Asia and Africa, and between different colonial powers?
sultan could not, of course, offer similar protection to
➜
How did Japan and China react to the threat of European
Muslims living under colonial rule in Egypt, French imperialism?
Algeria, or Russian Central Asia.
During the era of new imperialism, Ottoman influ- In East Asia or, to use an imperialist term, the Far East
ence was further reduced. The creation or expansion (far, of course, from Europe), imperialism also had a
of Greek, Romanian, Serbian, and Bulgarian states in major impact. Some regions, such as Indochina and
the Balkans was accompanied by the migration—often Indonesia, were controlled directly by European pow-
forced—of hundreds of thousands of Muslims to the ers. But even in the two large East Asian countries
Ottoman interior. Similarly, as Russia expanded its that were not directly colonized, Japan and China,
borders to the south, establishing control over present- European influence had a profound effect. Western
day Armenia and Azerbaijan, many Muslims preferred ideas as diverse as constitutionalism and Christianity
to flee rather than live under the new Christian entered these societies, influencing some Asians in a
rulers. The Ottoman Empire was helpless to oppose positive way while calling forth resentment and resis-
the widening Russian influence. tance from others. Both the violent and failed Boxer
Rebellion in China and the peaceful reform of Japan’s
Muslims, Christians, and Zionists military and political institutions reflect the power of
European imperialism of this period.
Another challenge to the Ottoman Empire and Mus-
lim world was the new Jewish nationalist movement,
The French in Indochina
Zionism. This movement, led by Theodor Herzl, aimed
at the establishment of a Jewish state in ancient Pales- While the French had long held colonial outposts in
tine, or what Jews called Eretz Israel, centered on Je- Asia, including India, French expansion into South-
rusalem. In the 1890s, this region was under Ottoman east Asia dated from the 1850s. French missionaries
rule, and although numerous Jews and Christians in the region caused friction with local rulers, whose
lived there, the majority of the population (except in anti-Christian measures induced the French emperor
Jerusalem) was Muslim. The first Zionist settlers ar- Napoleon III to intervene. A treaty of 1862 forced lo-
rived in Palestine in the 1880s, and after that, large cal rulers in Indochina (today Vietnam, Cambodia, and
groups of Zionist pioneers came from Europe to es- Laos) to concede religious toleration for Christians.
tablish Jewish settlements in this Ottoman province. The treaty gave France a foothold in the southern part
Initially, neither local Muslims nor the Ottoman of what is now Vietnam, including the city of Saigon,
authorities were concerned about the Zionists. After and in 1867 France annexed this territory, known as
all, their numbers were small—around twenty thou- Cochinchina. From there the French extended direct
sand by 1903—and Jews had long lived in the region, rule into most of present-day Cambodia and Laos to
even constituting the majority in Jerusalem. Still, the protect Catholic missions, establish naval bases, and
Ottoman sultan refused to grant the Zionist leader defend French commercial interests in China. Emperor
Herzl a charter officially sanctioning Zionist settle- Napoleon III’s foreign policy was explicitly imperialist,
ment, preferring to allow or forbid such activity on a as he sought to enhance French prestige in the world.
case-by-case basis.
In the early twentieth century, Arab nationalism Arab nationalism Movement beginning in late nine-
was beginning to take form. At first, however, this teenth century declaring that all Arabs constitute one
movement was primarily anti-Ottoman, wishing to nation and should be liberated from foreign rule.
foster an Arab identity based primarily on language Indochina Region in Southeast Asia under French
and culture and only secondarily on the Muslim reli- colonial rule in the later nineteenth century, today
gion shared with the Turks. Not until the second Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
decade of the twentieth century would Arab nation-
The Far East 703
Economically, the most important product of In- Soon, however, the realities of colonial administration,
dochina was raw silk, but reports of rich mineral the difficulties in financing an adequate school sys-
wealth in the hills of Vietnam also lured French in- tem, and resistance from native peoples considerably
vestors and adventurers. A small group of French set- interfered with this aim. Moreover, racial and nation-
tlers derived profit from plantations that produced alist prejudices made the French unwilling to allow
rubber and teak wood. On the whole, however, French native peoples in Indochina the same legal rights and
taxpayers paid a heavy price for France’s colonial financial advantages enjoyed by French colonists and
ventures. Few Frenchmen were interested in settling officials.
in the new colony, though many hundreds served
there in administrative and military roles. The French The Dutch in Indonesia
also set up schools where, by the end of the century,
young Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians were The Dutch had been active in Southeast Asia since the
learning to read and write French from the same text- sixteenth century, when Dutch explorers had opened
books used in Paris. Among the students were future the way for the spice trade that had been a great
leaders of Indochinese liberation movements, includ- source of Dutch wealth. Like the British in India, the
ing Ho Chi Minh. Dutch managed trading posts and spice warehouses
In India, higher British administrators brought through a trading company—the Dutch West India
their wives and raised their families, but French ad- Company—but did not exercise direct rule over the
ministrators in Indochina generally did not, often region that is today Indonesia. In contrast to the
taking wives and mistresses from the local popula- French, the Dutch were not interested in “civilizing”
tion. So-called native wives and their offspring did the native population, whose Islamic faith had been
not receive equal political protection. Very often, at brought to the region centuries earlier by Arab
the end of their tour of duty, the men simply returned
to Europe, abandoning their local wives and children.
In contrast to the British colonies, which were of- Ho Chi Minh (1890–1969) Vietnamese national leader
ten ruled using already-existing political structures and who in Paris helped found the French Communist
local rulers, the French had a more ambitious agenda. Party and later led the Vietnamese independence
At least initially, they hoped to assimilate their colonial movement.
subjects and to make them into genuine Frenchmen.
704 CHAPTER 24 The Age of Imperialism, 1870–1914
traders. The Dutch carried out little missionary activ- Manchurian province to the north and to establish
ity and, on the whole, left existing native political and nearby naval bases. By the early twentieth century,
judicial structures and Muslim institutions in place. foreign influence in the form of concessions, naval
At no time did the Dutch attempt to influence the bases, and trade privileges had compromised Chinese
mainly Muslim Indonesian population to abandon sovereignty.
their faith. Dutch schools for natives aimed primarily Christian missionaries set up schools and health clin-
to train minor officials to serve in the local colonial ics throughout China, winning a significant number
bureaucracy. of converts. For ambitious Chinese parents, mission-
Between 1830 and 1870, the Dutch West Indies pro- ary schools provided some education for daughters
duced huge profits for the Netherlands, but only by and, for sons, a means to a higher education, usually
exploiting native labor and generating serious local abroad. Following this path, the future nationalist
discontent. After about 1870, Dutch trade with the leader Sun Yatsen received a Christian education and
Dutch West Indies declined. In contrast to Vietnam, then left China to attend medical school in Hawaii.
where French influence may still be discerned a half Despite the missionaries’ sincere desire to educate
century after the end of French colonial rule there, and help the Chinese people, their teachings inev-
Dutch colonial control left few traces in Indonesia. itably came into conflict with Chinese customs. For
example, the ancestor worship so important for Chi-
Concessions in China nese culture was seen by Christians as a form of idol-
atry. Christian missionaries also encouraged not only
China, the largest and most populous country in education for females but an end to female infanticide
Asia, had long been a major cultural influence. By the and the traditional practice of binding young girls’
mid-nineteenth century, however, under the corrupt feet so they would be the desirable tiny size in adult-
and weak Qing dynasty, China could not compete hood. Foreign missionaries worked with their Chinese
against the military and economic might of the Euro- pupils and converts to translate western ideas into
pean imperialists. China’s defeat in the 1840s by the Chinese, but often without any understanding of the
British during the Opium Wars revealed its weak- implications of western practices within Chinese so-
ness. Subsequently, the Chinese accepted massive im- ciety. Many Chinese thus feared and resented the
ports of opium from British India, enriching British spread of Christianity. In 1870, in Tianjin, these feel-
merchants but weakening Chinese society. ings exploded into attacks on foreigners. The so-called
Thus, began the era of unequal treaties. Western Tianjin Massacre did not, however, reduce mission-
imperialist powers negotiated concessions at treaty ary activity in China.
ports that assured them favorable trade arrangements By the late nineteenth century, this enormous cul-
and a minimum of Chinese interference. As part of tural and economic influence of foreigners had called
the concessions, the Chinese agreed that the impe- forth a strong and violent reaction from Chinese pa-
rialist power could administer its own tax system and triots, the Boxer Rebellion. The Boxers were a group
legal system. The British took over Hong Kong and of young Chinese men who combined training in
had a concession in the major city of Shanghai. The martial arts with a burning desire to free China from
Germans received a concession in the port city of foreign domination, which they found humiliating. In
Qingdao (Tsingtao), establishing a beer factory that
continues in operation today. The French also gained
favored treatment in China. In many areas in China,
foreign businessmen could trade without interfer- Qing dynasty Ruling house of China from 1644 to
ence or taxation from the Chinese government. Con- 1912, also known as Manchus.
cessions deprived the Chinese state of much-needed Opium Wars Conflict between Britain and China from
1839 to 1842 that ended in Chinese defeat.
taxes, while westerners—and some well-placed Chi-
nese businessmen—reaped huge profits. unequal treaties Treaties favorable to western powers
(and Japan) extorted by force or threat from China
China’s political weakness was also apparent in during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
foreign policy. Defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of Sun Yatsen (1866–1925) Chinese physician and politi-
1894–1895 forced China to relinquish the island of cal leader who aimed to transform China with patri-
Formosa (Taiwan) to Japan. In the early twentieth otic, democratic, and economically progressive
century, with Russian and Japanese power growing reforms.
in northeast Asia, China lost its influence over Korea. Boxer Rebellion Antiforeign revolt in China in
A few years later, China bowed to Russian pressure, 1898–1900.
allowing the Russians to build a railroad across its
The Far East 705
In this Japanese print of the Meiji period (ca. 1860), traditionally dressed samurai set out in boats to confront
Commodore Matthew Perry’s looming “black ships.” By signing a treaty in 1854 opening Japan to foreign
trade, the Japanese reversed centuries of isolation and began a rapid process of industrialization and western-
ization in their country. (Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum/The Art Archive)
1900 the Boxers attacked foreign missionaries, busi- against the western powers themselves. For the pre-
nessmen, diplomats, Chinese converts to Christianity, vious two centuries, foreign entry into Japan had
and generally all forms of foreign influence. Their vi- been limited to two small trading posts. Then, in 1853,
olence alarmed westerners, and the imperialist powers the American commodore Matthew Perry arrived in
reacted swiftly to put down the rebellion. Thousands Tokyo harbor and, after months of negotiation, forced
of German, French, American, British, Japanese, and the Japanese to open up to foreign trade in 1854.
Russian troops rushed to Beijing, where they ended a The Japanese were shocked at the foreigners’ com-
siege of foreign embassies. Order was restored, but mand of new and unfamiliar technology, in particular
the prestige of the Qing dynasty was fatally weak- modern firearms. Rather than falling under foreign
ened. Young Chinese intellectuals increasingly called rule, however, the Japanese under a new emperor
for limitations on foreign influences and the restora- known as Meiji (“the enlightened one”) carried out
tion of Chinese sovereignty throughout the entire ter- their own administrative, military, and economic re-
ritory of China. forms. By the end of the century, Japan was rapidly
industrializing. Railroads connected the most impor-
The Westernization of Japan tant Japanese cities, and the Japanese army had been
RE
Beijing KOREA S e a o f
ow)
(1905, 1910)
Port Arthur
PI
Tientsin
(Rus. 1898; Jap. 1905) J a p a n
ell
EM
(Y
He Jiaozhou Weihai
ng Tokyo
H ua (Ger. 1898) (Gr. Br. 1898)
CHINA PACIFIC
E SE
TIBET East
Nanjing
AN OCEAN
Lhasa Chongqing
Wuhan Shanghai China JAP
(Gr. Br. 1842)
i Sea
p.)
Y an g z
Ja
BHUTAN
.(
Fuzhou Pescadores
Is
Singapore
(Gr. Br. 1819) Borneo
Sumatra Celebes
reconstituted along Prussian lines. The success of the and even closer to Korea. Russia obtained the right to
Meiji Restoration may be seen in the Japanese defeat build the railroad directly across the northeastern
of China in the Sino-Japanese War. Chinese province of Manchuria, to Japan’s consider-
Japanese influence in Korea led inevitably to fric- able annoyance. The Chinese also allowed the Rus-
tions with Russia, which was also seeking to expand sians to build a naval base on Chinese territory at
its power in East Asia. Beginning in the 1890s, construc- Port Arthur (now Lüshun), to the south of Korea,
tion of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, linking Moscow
and the Pacific Ocean, was one means by which Rus-
sia hoped to promote its influence in Siberia and even Meiji Restoration Reform of Japanese politics and
settlement of the region. The railroad’s terminus at economy under Emperor Meiji (r. 1867–1912).
Vladivostok was just a few hundred miles from Japan
Consequences and Critics 707
What impact did imperialism have on the global econ- Congo. Palm oil, another tropical commodity, was
omy and European culture?
used in the manufacture of soap—a product then ex-
➜
came from Malaya. Huge amounts of Indian cotton rights. They pointed to the vast contrast between the
were imported to be transformed into cloth in British luxury in which colonial officials lived and the im-
mills. Diamonds and gold from South African mines poverishment of natives.
adorned wealthy Europeans. Before 1914, however, resistance to imperialism was
New inventions and technological innovations fa- only beginning to be organized. In most African and
cilitated global exchange. Starting in the late 1870s, Asian colonies, European administrators continued
for example, refrigerated steamships carried frozen to dominate, at least officially. Away from cities and
meat from the United States, Argentina, and even New European settlements, however, life generally contin-
Zealand to the ports of Europe, pushing out less effi- ued along traditional lines. At the same time, increas-
cient meat producers. But on the whole, European ing numbers of educated Asians and Africans were
economies were not challenged by colonial economies. formulating ways of resisting European dominance.
Colonial markets were relatively small compared to Full-fledged independence movements would emerge
European markets, and Europeans sold far more man- in the middle decades of the twentieth century.
ufactured goods to each other and in the Americas
than they did to their colonies. Europeans did invest Imperialism and European Culture
in colonies, however. Global links were economic;
they were only partly the result of direct colonial rule. Though the dominators, not the dominated, Europeans
were affected by the lands they ruled. Literature, mu-
Indigenous Resistance sic, visual arts, architecture, and even advertising took
up themes and images of imperialism. Popular nov-
As the Sepoy Rebellion and the Boxer Rebellion indi- els praised the bravery of the colonists while hinting
cate, colonized peoples in Asia did not simply accept at forbidden romantic attachments. Painters produced
European colonial domination. In the Battle of Om- scenes of entrancing foreign places, often featuring
durman, too, Africans fought against European colo- ruins, exotic vegetation, and—of course—beautiful
nizers. But native troops, armed with traditional native women. In music, the most “imperial opera,”
weapons, were massacred there by British troops us- Aïda, by Giuseppe Verdi, was commissioned specifi-
ing machine guns and other modern weapons. Eu- cally for the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The
ropean technological superiority meant that native story hinges on a beautiful Ethiopian slave, Aïda, and
peoples needed to seek other means of resistance. her love for an Egyptian general in the era of the
After European colonies had been established, the pharaohs. The opera was a hit: apparently few minded
colonized had to struggle for their rights within the the absurdity of a made-up story about ancient
existing colonial system. Some resistance assumed a Africans sung in Italian for the benefit of European
heroic public form, such as Gandhi’s organizing of audiences.
Indian residents in South Africa to demand their Literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth
rights in the 1890s. Other resistance was more subtle. centuries reflects imperialist themes. Kipling’s many
Indigenous peoples might refuse to carry out the or- stories and novels about life in British India were
ders of colonial administrators, avoid paying colonial bestsellers of the day. The poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson
taxes, or shun European cultural and educational in- celebrated the empire in verses such as “The Fleet”
stitutions. Some resisters insisted on wearing native (1885) and “On the Jubilee of Queen Victoria” (1887).
clothing, despite imports from Europe, or on speak- In France, Pierre Loti published dozens of novels that
ing native languages, despite schools that taught reflect the European fascination with the peoples and
English or French. customs of the colonies. Set in exotic regions, they
The education that colonized peoples received at nearly always involve a romance between a strong
colonial schools proved to provide them with the most European man and a beautiful non-European woman.
effective weapon of resistance. Learning of European The plots are unrealistic, but Loti’s novels were very
constitutional government and political rights, native
peoples came to challenge the racial hierarchies evi-
dent in the colonies. Pointing out the contradictions Omdurman Battle in 1898 in present-day Sudan, in
of a system that promised civilization and justice but which thousands of African warriors were massacred
refused equal rights to native peoples, resistance by a British army using machine guns.
leaders exposed the hypocrisy of imperialism and de- Pierre Loti (1850–1923) French writer who authored
manded rights for themselves and their peoples. To the novels set in exotic climes and featuring romances
European imperialists they quoted European thinkers between a European man and a non-European woman.
and ideals such as liberty, democracy, and individual
Consequences and Critics 709
Jean-Léon Gérôme’s The Snake Charmer (1883) reveals an imperialist gaze, combining exoticism, titillation, and
the suggestion of sexual decadence. In this scene from Central Asia, a naked boy with a tame snake dances for
bearded elders. (© Sterling and Francine Clark, Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts)
popular, and in 1891 he was elected to the French depicted the land and peoples of Russia’s newly con-
Academy, the prestigious scholarly and literary soci- quered territory in Central Asia. After French stock-
ety, at the unprecedented young age of forty-one. broker Paul Gauguin abandoned his family and went
International exhibitions in Paris in 1867 and 1900 to live in Tahiti, he painted Tahitians in their own en-
also reflect European fascination with the colonies. vironment. Popular postcards and prints familiarized
Here Parisians and visitors could “experience” an Af- Europeans with far-off colonies and spurred interest
rican village, listen to Tunisian musicians, or wander in the colonial endeavor. Images in advertising, too,
through a reproduction of a Cairo street. These exhibi- drew on imperialist themes. In Britain advertisements
tions aimed both to educate the populace about the extolled Pear’s Soap as one of the benefits that Britons
colonies and to promote European superiority. Ethno- could bring to Africa and Asia.
graphic museums served similar purposes. In Paris at
the Museum of the Colonies, and in museums in Mos-
cow and St. Petersburg, colonial peoples themselves French Academy French cultural institution estab-
were put on display. The purpose was always to dem- lished in 1635 whose members make judgments on the
onstrate the “savage” ways of “the uncivilized” and proper use of the French language.
to reassure Europeans of their superiority. Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) French painter who
The interests of imperialism were evident in the vi- painted Tahitian life and culture.
sual arts as well. In Russia the painter Vereshchagin
710 CHAPTER 24 The Age of Imperialism, 1870–1914
Many of Paul Gauguin’s paintings from Tahiti, like Arearea (1892), depict beautiful Tahitian women in an
exotic tropical landscape. Gauguin’s own biography—abandoning a respectable middle-class profession and
leaving his family to pursue pleasure and painting in the South Seas—reflects the lure colonial regions had for
nineteenth-century Europeans. Gauguin rejected photographic realism; his bold colors and broad brushstrokes
were influenced by Tahitian models. (Musée d’Orsay, Paris/Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library)
bringing higher culture to subject peoples, and Britain’s tion, profit levels had declined steadily. Capitalists
nondemocratic rule over the colonies posed a threat were thus forced to seek new and more lucrative in-
to democracy at home. By placing colonial peoples vestment opportunities outside Europe. Although in
at the very bottom of the social hierarchy, Hobson retrospect it is evident that colonial markets and invest-
claimed, imperialism falsely elevated the status of ment were of secondary importance even in the hey-
England’s working class. day of imperialism, Lenin’s exposure of imperialism
Some of Hobson’s arguments were taken up a bit as an economic, political, and moral dead end seemed
more than a decade later by the Russian Marxist convincing to many contemporary Europeans.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Lenin’s Imperialism: The High-
est Stage of Capitalism (1916) portrayed imperialism as
a symptom of a larger ill: capitalism. Thus, when capi-
talism would be overthrown by socialism, imperialism Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870–1924) Russian Marxist
would also be destroyed. Following Karl Marx, Lenin revolutionary and leader of the Bolsheviks.
pointed out that since the early years of industrializa-
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Imperialism and the English Language
In the early twentieth-first century, more than 500 million people around the world speak English. Some
two-thirds of them are native speakers; the rest learned English as a foreign language. While more people
speak Mandarin (Chinese), Hindi, and even Spanish as a native language, no other language in the world
can compete with English as a language of international communication. Not only do Americans, Canadi-
ans, Englishmen, and Australians speak English—of differing varieties—among themselves, but English
serves as the principal language of communication between different ethnic and linguistic groups in places
as diverse as Jamaica, Nigeria, and India. And, as any traveler to Helsinki, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Singapore, or any
large city anywhere in the world can attest, an English-speaker is seldom far away. This dominance of Eng-
lish is a product of imperialism.
Early British settlers in North America, South Africa, and Australia took their native tongue with them and
taught it—sometimes forcibly—to other immigrants and to native peoples. In the late nineteenth century,
English businessmen and administrators spread English in Africa and Asia. From Burma to Botswana, as
people living under British imperial rule went to English-language schools, English became their means of
communication.
In many of these areas, hybrid languages developed, called Pidgin English in Nigeria, India, and the
Caribbean. And English absorbed new words. As the largest British colony, India contributed perhaps the
largest number, including, for example, loot, punch, bungalow, thug, and pajama. From Chinese came
tycoon and kow-tow. From Arabic, old entries into English such as alcohol and algebra were joined by new
words like assassin (a hashish-smoking bandit). The parting words So long are a mangling of the greeting
Salaam (“peace”), brought home by British soldiers serving in Muslim Malaya.
Today, almost everywhere, a good knowledge of English is considered vital for a successful career. In the
former Soviet Union, where Russian used to be the main second language, young Lithuanians, Estonians,
and Kazakhs are now more likely to speak English. The Internet and global marketing have contributed to
the dominance of English, as terms like XXL (meaning “very big”), McDrive (attached to European McDon-
ald’s restaurants) indicate. Russians recognize such brand names as Uncle Ben’s and Snickers, and every-
where pilots and air traffic controllers communicate in English. For all its illogic, absurd spellings, and
complex verb system, it seems likely that English dominance in international diplomacy, trade, and culture
is here to stay.
Websites 713
Suggested Readings
Fieldhouse, D. K. The Colonial Empires: A Comparative Study bridge University Press, 1997. A concise and well-written intro-
from the Eighteenth Century. New York: Delacorte Press, 1967. duction to British India.
An excellent overall introduction. Mommsen, Wolfgang. Theories of Imperialism. Chicago: Uni-
Headrick, Daniel R. The Tools of Empire. New York: Oxford versity of Chicago Press, 1982. An investigation of the “why”
University Press, 1981. An examination of links between tech- of imperialism.
nology and imperialism. Poliakov, Leon. The Aryan Myth: A History of Racist and Na-
Hochschild, Adam. King Leopold’s Ghost. Boston: Houghton tionalist Ideas in Europe. New York: Basic Books, 1974. An ex-
Mifflin, 1999. A page-turning account of Leopold of Belgium’s amination of the racism that often accompanied imperialism.
Congo colony and the journalists who exposed its horrific Sinha, Mrinalini. Colonial Masculinity. Manchester, England:
brutalities. Manchester University Press, 1995. A study of gendering in
Metcalf, Thomas R. Ideologies of the Raj. New York: Cam- British imperialism in India.
Websites
Maps, pictures, biographies, discussion room focusing on the Sources and information about Islamic history, including impe-
British Empire, The British Empire, at www.britishempire. rialism, Internet Islamic Sourcebook, at http://www.fordham
co.uk .edu/halsall/islam/islamsbook.html
Information about Cecil J. Rhodes, Rhodes Scholarships, and
Indian Rhodes Scholars, Rhodes Scholarships India, at www
.rhodesindia.com
714
CHAPTER
War and Revolution,
1900–1918
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1905 1908
Tsar Nicholas II Austria-Hungary
crushes revolt annexes
in Russia Bosnia-Herzegovina
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk,
March 1918
Farthest Russian
Advance, 1914
Armistice line,
December 1917
Western
Front
SW
Italian
Front
Armenian
massacre,
1915–1916
Balkan
Front
715
716 CHAPTER 25 War and Revolution, 1900–1918
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Leads
the Russian Revolution
When Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known by his pen name Lenin, was just
seventeen, his older brother Alexander was executed for involvement in a
plot to assassinate the Russian tsar. As a grown man and revolutionary, Lenin
would oppose such terrorist tactics as ineffective for achieving revolutionary
goals, but on a more profound level, his life was dedicated to showing that
his brother had not died in vain.
As the brother of a convicted revolutionary, Lenin came to the attention
of the educational authorities while he was in high school in Simbirsk, a
provincial city on the Volga River. He was nearly expelled for reading banned
literature. Later he studied law at Kazan and St. Petersburg Universities,
though he never practiced as a lawyer. In his early twenties, Lenin was al-
ready known as starik—“the old man”—more for his serious dedication to
the revolutionary cause than for his receding hairline.
Vladimir Ilyich All political parties were forbidden in Russia before 1905, and the tsarist
Lenin secret police were especially vigilant in sniffing out socialist circles. In these
circumstances, it was inevitable that Lenin would be arrested. In 1897, he
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin changed was sentenced to three years in Siberia, where he continued his studies and
the course of history in the writing despite his official status as a political exile. In 1890, he returned to
early twentieth century. European Russia and soon left for western Europe. He would live abroad
Without him, it is difficult continually, aside from a short visit to Russia in 1905, until the fateful year of
to imagine the Bolshevik 1917. Like Karl Marx, he spent his days in libraries, especially London’s British
Revolution in Russia, the Museum, where he read and wrote newspaper articles, commentaries, books,
rise of the Soviet Union, and and letters. In his brochure What Is to Be Done? (1902) he sketched out his belief
the spread of world commu- that only a small, dedicated revolutionary party could engineer the world revolu-
nism. Love him or hate him, tion that would overthrow capitalism. Whereas other socialists of the period, in-
Lenin had an indisputable cluding Rosa Luxemburg and Leon Trotsky (before 1917) sought broad-based
impact on his native land and support, Lenin argued for a narrow but intense cadre who would educate work-
the entire world when he ers, explaining why they should reject material advances such as better pay and
chose to dedicate his life shorter working hours in favor of complete political revolution. Critics said Lenin’s
entirely to the fulfillment of cadre would be a socialist party acting in the name of the working class rather
the Marxist revolution. than led by the working class.
(Bettmann/Corbis) By 1917, the world was engulfed in what Lenin hoped was the final, desperate
convulsion of the outdated and doomed capitalist system. He had opposed the
war from the outset, reading and writing and lecturing in Zurich, in neutral
Switzerland, and working to spread revolutionary ideas. Though, in 1916, he
told a meeting of socialists that his own generation might not see the triumph
of revolution, he was shortly to bring it about. In April 1917 he accepted
Germany’s offer to transport him, in a sealed train, back to Russia, where the
Germans hoped the presence of this radical would weaken the resolve of the
new liberal government, which had just overthrown the tsar, to continue in
the war. In November, Lenin gambled that support for this new government was
so low that it would fall if attacked by a small but well-organized revolutionary
A New Century, 1900–1914 717
party. He was right. Four months later, he reasoned that Germany would lose
the war in the end, so the humiliating peace treaty he signed would soon cease
to matter. Again he was right, and taking Russia out of the war gave him the
chance to stabilize his revolution. The cadre of dedicated revolutionaries he
had foreseen two decades before soon forced a new economic, social, and
political order on the world’s largest, and formerly most conservative, empire.
Lenin’s commitment to a revolution of his own making changed the course
of history.
itary technology, and strains on the balance of power In the early years of the twentieth century, what made
a general European war seem likely?
established at the Congress of Vienna made many in
➜
Chronology
1904–1905 Japan defeats Russia in Russo- 1915 Turks defeat Allies at the Battle of Gallipoli;
Japanese War Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary (May 23)
1905 Dissatisfaction with tsarist rule sparks 1916 Battle of the Somme ends without significant
empirewide revolution in Russia advances (July–November)
1908 Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia-Herzegovina 1917 Russian Revolution begins; Tsar Nicholas II
abdicates (March);
1912 First Balkan War weakens Ottoman Empire United States enters World War I on Allied side
(April);
1913 Second Balkan War strengthens Serbia Bolsheviks attempt coup in Petrograd (July);
Bolsheviks seize power in Petrograd (November)
1914 Archduke Ferdinand is assassinated (June 28);
Austria presents Serbia with an ultimatum (July 23); 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ends war for Russia
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia (July 28); (March);
Germany declares war on Russia (August 1); Germans launch offensives on the western front
Germany declares war on France and invades (spring);
Belgium (August 3); Armistice ends World War I (November 11)
Great Britain declares war on Germany (August 4);
World War I begins (August); 1918–1919 Worldwide influenza epidemic kills millions
Germany defeats Russia at the Battle of
Tannenberg (mid-August);
French defeat Germans in the First Battle of the
Marne (September)
victory in the Franco-Prussian War, the balance was rate, moderate industrial growth, and underdeveloped
increasingly threatened by the growing might of the railroad network, the French could not hope to take
Prussian-dominated German Empire. Germany, with on the German army alone: they needed an ally.
a population of nearly 70 million and an industrial The obvious candidate was Russia, whose large
output rivaling Great Britain’s and exceeding that of population, enormous territory, and long border with
France, sought to expand its economic, political, and Germany offset its technological and economic back-
cultural power. A latecomer to imperial ambitions, it wardness. Although relations between Russia and
seized colonies in Africa after the Berlin Conference Germany had traditionally been friendly, Russia was
in 1884. Ruled since 1890 by the insecure and belliger- disturbed by Germany’s growing industrial and mil-
ent Kaiser William II, Germany directly threatened itary power. France courted Russia, and in 1894 the
the European status quo. Newly independent states two signed a military alliance in which each prom-
like Italy, Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria also compli- ised to come to the other’s aid if attacked by Ger-
cated the international scene. Major powers scrambled many. Thus, the most conservative major power in
to form new alliances that would retain the balance of Europe, Russia, joined forces with its ideological op-
power under greatly changed circumstances. posite, republican France. Ideology mattered less
The French felt most threatened by a powerful than the menace of a common foe.
Germany. Since the end of the Thirty Years’ War in This agreement, however, heightened the prospect
1648, France’s foreign policy had aimed to keep the of Germany’s worst strategic nightmare: a two-front
Habsburgs to the east divided and weak. But Otto war. To counter this threat, Germany sought alliances
von Bismarck had successfully isolated Austria and
then united German-speaking lands under Prussian
leadership. Germany’s victory over France in 1871 had Kaiser William II (r. 1890–1918) Prussian king and
gained it Alsace-Lorraine and its king the title of Em- German Kaiser, noted for his impetuous and unsteady
peror. Avenging this national humiliation remained a character.
burning issue in French politics. With their low birth-
A New Century, 1900–1914 719
with Austria-Hungary and Italy, both second-rate by Britain and the other major powers at the time Bel-
military powers. Austria-Hungary was continuously gium won independence in 1831. In 1914, this proved
embroiled in domestic crises between the Austrian and to be a fatal miscalculation.
Hungarian halves of the empire, and in Austria proper
there were clashes over the use of local languages in Rivalries
schools and administration. Austria-Hungary was also
concerned about the pro-Russian regimes in Serbia and The alliance system seemed to stabilize the strains in
Bulgaria, new states in the Balkans, and thus welcomed international relations caused by national pride and
German military support against these Slavic nations. imperial rivalries. For the French, regaining Alsace-
The junior member in this alliance, Italy, had its own Lorraine was a matter of pride. For Russia, there was
troubles trying to hold together the mainly rural and a worry that the Ottomans were so weak that another
impoverished south with the wealthier and industri- power might seize the Bosporus and Dardanelles
alized north. In 1896, eager to seize an African colony Straits, thereby cutting off Russian access to the Medi-
for itself, Italy had been defeated by Ethiopia. The terranean Sea. In Africa, German and British interests
military pact Germany signed with Austria-Hungary came into direct conflict. In the 1890s, Kaiser William II
and then, in 1882, with Italy was known as the Triple made matters worse by publicly expressing his sup-
Alliance. port for the anti-British Boers of South Africa.
The wild card in international politics was Britain. National identity in Britain was connected closely
Traditionally wary of continental entanglements, the with imperial prestige. In central and eastern Europe,
British refused to join any military alliance. But the however, nationalism was directed against existing
rapid growth of German industrial and military empires—both Russia and Austria-Hungary. In Rus-
strength deeply disturbed British leaders. From the sian lands, Poles and Finns sought concessions or even
time of the Napoleonic Wars, British policy had aimed independence; Poles, especially, aspired to the resur-
to prevent the domination of the European continent rection of Poland, which had been partitioned into
by any one power. Now Germany seemed ready to do oblivion in the eighteenth century. In Austria-Hungary,
just that, especially after it began an aggressive pro- Romanians, Serbs, Czechs, and Italians hoped to gain
gram of naval construction in 1907. Germany’s bel- broader political and cultural rights. Young nation-
ligerent behavior in international affairs had already states in the region, such as Romania, Serbia, and Bul-
alienated British public opinion as well as its Foreign garia, further encouraged such nationalist agendas.
Office, especially Germany’s seizure of colonies in Russia considered itself the protector of the ethnically
Africa. While Britain held back from a formal alliance, Slavic and religiously Orthodox peoples in the Balkans,
it reached a friendly understanding, known as the including Bulgarians, Montenegrans, and Serbs. Rus-
Entente Cordiale, with France in 1904. It reached a sim- sian public opinion strongly supported such Pan-Slav
ilar agreement with Russia in 1907. Now the Triple sentiments.
Entente balanced the Triple Alliance, but instead of en- European rivalries were not only political, how-
suring general peace, the new alliance system seemed ever. They were also economic. Since 1870, both Ger-
headed for war. many and Russia had experienced very significant
To prepare for the two-front war it feared, in the industrial growth, including the building of railroads
early twentieth century the German General Staff that often served strategic aims. The rapid growth of
adopted the Schlieffen Plan, named for the general
who developed it. In case of war, German armies were
to strike quickly and decisively against the French be- Triple Alliance Military alliance concluded in 1882 by
fore wheeling to the east and taking on the Russians. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
Thus, Germany could fight each enemy separately Entente Cordiale Set of agreements signed between
France and Great Britain in 1904 pledging cooperation,
rather than dividing its forces between the two fronts.
but not a formal military alliance.
To knock out the French army, the Germans would
Triple Entente Agreement signed in 1907 by Russia,
march through Belgium toward the North Sea, by- France, and Great Britain pledging closer relations.
passing the French border fortresses, then swing Schlieffen Plan German war plan of early twentieth
around toward Paris. For the plan to work—for hun- century that aimed to avoid a two-front war by a quick
dreds of thousands of troops to move into position to and massive attack first on France, then on Russia.
threaten Paris—speed was of crucial importance. The Pan-Slavism Movement from later nineteenth century
Germans would also have to count on Belgium’s co- emphasizing Russia’s kinship with other Slavic nations,
operation or at least hope that Britain would not ob- especially those under Ottoman and Habsburg rule.
ject to this violation of Belgian neutrality, guaranteed
720 CHAPTER 25 War and Revolution, 1900–1918
Pr
Budapest
ut
and navy in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905.
h
HUNGARIANS
When the Revolution of 1905 shook the political or- TRANSYLVANIA
der in Russia to its foundations, Germans mistakenly HUNGARIANS
Austria-Hungary over growing Serbian power, which so harsh that they could not be accepted by a sover-
was promoted by Russia. The 1913 peace established eign state. For example, the Austrians demanded not
in the Balkans seemed temporary. only that all forms of anti-Austrian propaganda be
stamped out but that this campaign be carried out by
Austro-Hungarian officials. As expected, the Serbians
could not accept all the ultimatum’s demands, and
The Unexpected War, 1914 on July 28, exactly a month after the assassination,
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
➜➜
Austria-Hungary and thereby joining the Allies, lured battles, like all the smaller wars that had been fought
by promises of territorial gain in a postwar settlement. since Napoleon was finally defeated in 1815.
Both the Allies and the Central Powers promised ter- The war was initially so popular that even pacifists
ritorial gains and other enticements to bring neutral hesitated to oppose it, and those who did often brought
powers onto their side, a fact that would complicate trouble on themselves. In Russia, the Social-Democrats
postwar settlements. who refused to vote to fund the war were promptly
arrested. The Russian socialist Alexandra Kollontai
War Enthusiasm openly called for resistance to the war—from the safety
of neutral Scandinavia. Others, following the idea of
Europeans from London to Moscow greeted the out- the long-time pacifist Bertha von Suttner, who had
break of war in August 1914 with patriotic demon- recently died, agitated for a “peace without victory.”
strations. Huge crowds gathered in the public squares In the summer of 1915, an International Congress of
of cities. In St. Petersburg, Russians attacked and gut- Women in the neutral Netherlands called on all war-
ted the German Embassy, and it became dangerous to ring countries to lay down their arms. By that point,
be heard speaking German. In Munich, a twenty-five- however, none of the warring countries were ready to
year-old Austrian named Adolf Hitler cheered with compromise and make peace.
the crowds on Odeonsplatz, then returned home and As the Schlieffen Plan dictated, the German army
thanked God that he had lived to see the outbreak of advanced rapidly and by September 1, 1914, threat-
war. In Paris, men rode to war in train cars marked ened Paris. At this point, the French army and the
“To Berlin!” In Berlin, Kaiser William II told the Re- British Expeditionary Force launched a counteroffen-
ichstag that he “no longer recognized parties, only sive. This First Battle of the Marne forced the ex-
Germans.”
European men rushed to polling stations to enlist,
Alexandra Kollontai (1872–1952) Russian revolu-
while women showered them with flowers. Mothers,
tionary and diplomat, commissar for social welfare
wives, and sweethearts dutifully sent their men off to in 1918 and head of the women’s section of the Com-
war. Patriotism, a longing for adventure, and a desire munist Party.
for revenge came together in a feverish enthusiasm for First Battle of the Marne Crucial battle near the Marne
war. The young soldiers expected to be home, tri- River, just north of Paris, in early September 1914, in
umphant, by Christmas. Military planners, too, ex- which the French stopped the German advance.
pected a quick, mobile war with one or two decisive
The Unexpected War, 1914 723
Rh
ine
Dover FLANDERS Cologne spring 1918 with trenches
el Ghent
Passchendaele stretching from the English
nn
Brussels
Calais Channel to Switzerland. The
ha
Ypres
lde
BELGIUM
ish C
Liège
he
Sc Coblenz
horrors of trench warfare
eus
e experienced here inspired
M
Engl
elle
ARDENNES
os
Som M
me
Amiens
St. Quentin LUXEMBOURG GERMANY
Somme Sedan
ne aa
S
A is ARGONNE r
Compiènge FOREST
Verdun LORRAINE
Reims
e in Chateau–Thierry
S
e
Marne I Marne II
Paris Chalons-sur-Marne Strasbourg
Mar Nancy
n
FRANCE
AL
Meuse
e
Germany, 1914 S AC
E
Triple Entente nations Front at beginning of 1915 Epinal
hausted and overextended German troops to retreat. begun to run short. Governments were forced to take
By mid-September the opposing sides began to dig drastic measures to boost arms production. On all
themselves in along a line stretching from the English sides, military planners and civilian authorities had
Channel to the border of Switzerland. The stalemate known huge amounts of resources would be needed
of trench warfare on the western front had begun. at the start, but no one had anticipated the need for
On the eastern front, Russia mobilized more rap- long-term military and economic organization. The
idly than expected. Pressed by their French allies to war they had expected developed in a way they did
attack, on August 15 two Russian armies invaded East not expect.
Prussia, forcing the German high command to trans-
fer troops from France to the eastern front, a transfer Trench Warfare
that may have been decisive in the Schlieffen Plan’s
failure. Russian troops still outnumbered the Germans No one had anticipated that movement on the west-
in East Prussia, but they were poorly led and supplied. ern front would stop altogether, but by fall 1914 sol-
At Tannenberg, the Germans won a decisive victory, diers on both sides had dug in. Across northern
with some 100,000 Russian soldiers taken prisoner. France were hundreds of miles of trenches in which
Never again in this conflict would Russian troops thousands of men lived, fought, and died in a sea of
threaten German soil. Austria was a different matter. mud, blood, rats, and vermin. The great technological
Russian armies invaded the Austrian province of Gali- advances in weaponry produced by the armaments
cia, remaining there until 1916. Even more embarrass- industry were countered by primitive defenses built
ing for Austria, the small Serbian army successfully
defended the Serbian capital, Belgrade, until finally
defeated by a much larger combined Austrian and Tannenberg Battle in East Prussia in August 1914 in
German force in October 1914. which the Germans decisively defeated the Russian
It was already clear that expectations for a short, army.
glorious war were an illusion. Casualties had mounted casualties Deaths and injuries in battle.
to the hundreds of thousands, and ammunition had
724 CHAPTER 25 War and Revolution, 1900–1918
of earth and barbed wire. Generals continued to use muddy hole in the ground with few opportunities for
old tactics of massive frontal assaults, however. Peri- personal hygiene. Add a climate in which rainfall and
odically, an attempt to break through to the enemies’ dark gloomy weather are the norm. Then there’s the
front trench would end in slaughter and failure or, at odor of decomposing corpses fed upon by large rats.
best, the gain of a few yards of territory. The racket of constant artillery and small-arms fire,
On the Allied side, a typical front trench was about together with flares illuminating the night sky, made
six to eight feet deep, about four feet wide, and sepa- sleep difficult. The nervous strain of trench warfare
rated from the German front trench by a narrow strip produced a psychological disorder newly described
of land—no man’s land—fifty yards to a mile wide, as shell shock, which left thousands of men incapable
with masses of coiled barbed wire in front of each set of fighting any longer or carrying out everyday ac-
of trenches. A few hundred yards behind front, or tivities at home. Constant shelling pulverized farm-
firing, trenches were parallel support and reserve houses, barns and yards, roads and forests. Chemicals
trenches. All these trenches were connected by per- from thousands of explosive shells poisoned the earth
pendicular communication trenches that allowed men itself, leaving it useless for agriculture. Once-familiar
to move between the rear and the front. German landscapes became eerie, lifeless moonscapes later
trenches were similar but, in general, deeper and more depicted by painters like Paul Nash. Tense monotony
elaborate. British and French soldiers who saw them
were impressed by their neatness. Behind the trenches
were rail lines that brought in fresh troops and sup-
plies and evacuated the wounded and men on leave. no man’s land Territory between the two opposing
enemy lines of trenches that had to be crossed in an
Between the two lines of enemy trenches were the attack.
killing fields. During the day, stepping into no man’s shell shock Psychological disorder, sometimes lasting
land would mean instant death, but at night this area decades, caused by the extreme stress faced by men
was busy with scouting expeditions and soldiers re- under the constant barrage of explosions during war.
pairing defenses. Paul Nash (1889–1946) English painter whose disori-
Those who experienced trench warfare and sur- enting, surreal paintings depicted the bizarre world of
vived recalled filth, stench, and constant noise. Imag- the trenches.
ine thousands of men living in close quarters in a
The Unexpected War, 1914 725
alternated with solitary deaths (if, for example, one and miserable deaths on unprepared French and
forgot to crouch down in the more shallow parts of British soldiers. Gas attacks and gas masks soon be-
the trench) and, periodically, the mass slaughter of an came standard on both sides.
offensive. Two battles in 1916, each lasting months, epito-
Attempts to break through the line followed a mize the desperation and gruesome absurdity of war-
common pattern. First, artillery shelling, often lasting fare on the western front. In February, the Germans
days, aimed to destroy forward machine-gun place- launched a massive assault, aiming to capture the
ments and barbed-wire defenses and force the enemy French fortress at Verdun. Calculating that the French
back from the front trenches. Relentless shelling also would go to extreme lengths to defend this town,
aimed to wear down and “soften” the enemy psycho- which had been fortified after defeat in the Franco-
logically. Then, always at dawn, came the order to ad- Prussian War, the German command aimed simply to
vance. The nervous men were awakened and given a kill as many French soldiers as possible. The propa-
stiff drink to buck up their nerves. The artillery would ganda value of the fortress far overshadowed its mil-
cease its shelling, a clear signal of impending attack. itary importance. “They shall not pass!” declared the
At the sound of a whistle, hundreds of men would French general Henri Pétain. But the French lost
“go over the top” of the front trench and run head- more than 350,000 men, and before the battle was
long into no man’s land—and into machine-gun fire. over, ten months later, the Germans had lost 330,000.
Only a few made it as far as the barbed-wire barriers Today Verdun is a mausoleum and a cemetery, its de-
in front of the enemy trenches. Fewer still actually fenses still harboring live mines and closed to visitors.
made it into the empty enemy trench, where they
could do little more than sit tight, hoping for the ar-
rival of reinforcements before enemy soldiers were able Verdun French fortress attacked by Germans in 1916,
to rush back to their front trenches. Usually death ar- resulting in almost 700,000 casualties.
rived before reinforcements, and the stalemate was Henri Pétain (1856–1951) French general in World War I
reestablished. Desperate to break this stalemate, in who later, during World War II, served as president of
the spring of 1915 the Germans lobbed canisters of Vichy France, the Nazi puppet state.
poison gas into enemy trenches, inflicting blindness
726 CHAPTER 25 War and Revolution, 1900–1918
On July 1, to take the pressure off the French at Verdun, war for engagements on the high seas, antagonized
the British launched a massive attack at the Somme the United States, which had declared neutrality but
River, along a twenty-mile front, and were later traded actively with Britain. Although millions of tons
joined in the battle by the French. Despite the use of a of Britain-bound shipping fell prey to submarines, it
new weapon, the tank, the Allies were unable to dis- was the sinking of the British passenger liner Lusita-
lodge the Germans. When the fighting finally ended nia on May 7, 1915, with the loss of over a hundred
in mid-November, the Allies had suffered 1 million American lives, that intensified anti-German feeling
casualties—and had advanced six miles. in the United States, despite the Germans’ contention
that the ship had been carrying an illegal cargo of
War on the Seas and in the Air arms. Rapidly the British developed antisubmarine
measures, including mines, aerial surveillance, depth
With the British army bogged down in the trenches, charges, and, most effective of all, the use of armed
the British Admiralty, headed by young Winston escorts of naval shipping—the convoy system—which
Churchill, urged an assault on the Central Powers’ was introduced in May 1917.
southern ally, the Ottoman Empire. Churchill calcu- While not as effective as U-boats, “flying machines”
lated that an attack on the Gallipoli peninsula would also played a part in World War I. Airplanes scouted
break through Turkish defenses and open the way to out enemy positions, attacked enemy troops, and
Istanbul, knocking Turkey out of the war. In this dropped bombs and propaganda leaflets. Their pilots
largest amphibious operation of the war, troops from were known as aces; perhaps the most famous was
Australia and New Zealand under British command Manfred von Richthofen, the “Red Baron.” Aces en-
seized the beaches of Gallipoli in late April 1915. Con- gaged in aerial “dogfights,” but in the final year of the
trary to expectations, however, Turkish troops on war airplanes were also used in mass formation to
bluffs overlooking the beach rained down bullets and support ground troops—an actual military advance.
shells on the Allied positions. In the end, Churchill
could not muster sufficient troops and materiel to
break Turkish defenses, and the British gave up the
attempt. Churchill and Britain were humiliated by Somme Battle in 1916 near the Somme River in which
the defeat, and Turkey remained in the war. Together the British and French failed to break through German
the belligerents suffered more than 500,000 casualties. lines, resulting in 1 million Allied casualties.
Despite this setback, the British navy continued to Winston Churchill (1874–1965) English politician of
dominate the seas, blockading Germany’s North Sea aristocratic background who backed the disastrous
Gallipoli campaign, nearly destroying his political
harbors. Given British naval superiority, the German career; as prime minister during World War II, he
navy preferred caution to bold moves until mid-1916, inspired British victory.
when the two fleets clashed at Battle of Jutland, off Gallipoli Peninsula in western Turkey where an Allied
the west coast of Denmark. While the German fleet attack using Australian and New Zealander troops in
was smaller, it inflicted heavy losses on the British. In April to December 1915 ended in failure.
the end, the battle was indecisive. The British block- amphibious Military action using both land and sea
ade continued, but the German navy still dominated troops.
the Baltic, standing between the British navy and its materiel Military hardware such as guns, tanks, and
Russian allies. ammunition.
Vastly more important than this conventional naval Jutland Naval battle in 1916 between Britain and Ger-
battle was what the Germans called the war on com- many off the coast of Denmark that ended in a draw.
merce, carried out almost entirely by a new type of U-boat (from German Unterseeboot, “undersea boat”)
warship, the submarine, or U-boat. The British could Submarine.
be starved into submission, thought the Germans, if unrestricted submarine warfare German policy of
attacking without warning any ship entering British
their submarines could prevent the delivery of food
waters during World War I.
and raw materials, and Britain’s naval blockade of
Lusitania British passenger ship torpedoed by a Ger-
Germany justified this measure. In early 1915, the Ger- man submarine off the coast of Ireland in May 1915,
mans announced unrestricted submarine warfare, drowning over 1,000 passengers, including 120
warning that any ship entering British waters, includ- Americans.
ing those of neutral countries, could be attacked and convoy system Grouping merchant ships together
sunk. Because of the vulnerability of submarines when with an escort of armed naval vessels, successfully
on the surface, there would be no warning before an used to protect shipping from U-boats.
attack. This policy, which violated traditional rules of
The Unexpected War, 1914 727
Both sides also developed anti-aircraft guns. The ulation of 1.6 billion, some 1.4 billion lived in states
planes themselves changed rapidly in these four years, officially engaged in the conflict.
as tens of thousands were built and destroyed. By 1918 Thousands of Asians and Africans from Europe’s
the first all-metal fighters were appearing. German colonies fought on the western front, where their
airships, called zeppelins after their inventor, were bravery was noted, challenging Europeans’ sense of
used to bomb London and military targets in Eng- racial superiority. Young men from Australia and
land. Bulky, slow, and inflated with flammable gas, New Zealand fought at Gallipoli; Canadians and
they were extremely vulnerable to attack by aircraft. South Africans also helped the British war effort. Bat-
This bombing of civilian areas blurred the traditional tles also took place in the colonies. In Africa, the Al-
line between the fighting front and the “home front.” lies attacked the German colonies of East Africa,
World War I was the first total war. Togoland, and Southwest Africa. Fighting was partic-
ularly bitter in East Africa, involving British Kenya in
A World at War the north down to present-day Zambia. Both Euro-
pean and African troops fought in these regions, and
Many eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European many African homes, crops, and herds were destroyed.
conflicts had taken place far from Europe, but this National and ethnic groups took advantage of
war in Europe’s heartland affected the entire world. warfare to press their own ambitions. In Russian Cen-
At the same time, technological advances, such as the tral Asia, Kazakhs revolted in 1916 against forced la-
submarine, brought warfare to the high seas. More bor and war taxation, venting their anger on recently
than anything else, Europe’s unprecedented economic arrived Russian colonists. The revolt was put down
and colonial domination of the world brought nearly with massive bloodshed. Half a world away in Dub-
every continent into the conflict and made it difficult lin, on Easter Day 1916, Irish nationalists led a revolt
for independent states to remain neutral. Eventually
twenty-four states were drawn in on the Allied side—
from the African Republic of Liberia to China, Japan, total war War in which all elements of population,
and Siam (Thailand) in Asia; Brazil, Cuba, Guatemala, economy, and politics are obliged to serve the military
and Honduras in South and Central America; and, effort.
eventually, the United States. Of the total world pop-
728 CHAPTER 25 War and Revolution, 1900–1918
against British rule, demanding an independent Ire- nomic effects of the war fueled nationalist and anti-
land. The Easter Uprising was quickly repressed, but colonial sentiments after 1918.
the anxiety of the British government over the Irish
question increased.
Both Allied and Central Powers attempted to in-
cite the minority national groups under enemy rule. Total War, 1914–1918
The Russian tsar and German Kaiser, for example,
➜
each sought to gain Polish loyalty by promising the How did war influence everyday life and family
relationships?
Poles increased national rights after the war. In the
➜
In what ways did governments aim to control their
Ottoman Empire, the British encouraged nationalist citizens?
Arabs to revolt against their Turkish overlords as the
young English officer T. E. Lawrence—“Lawrence of The Great War broke down the distinction between
Arabia”—dressed in Arab garb to lead Arab troops the military and noncombatants. Entire societies were
against Turkish positions. Today the military ceme- harnessed for the war effort. Governments intruded
tery at Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, bears witness to the into the economy and everyday life of their citizens
thousands of British and Arab troops that died in that as never before, making this the first total war. The
conflict. But even before the fighting had ended, the right to free speech was limited. Shortages affected
future of the region had been decided. In 1916 the households and diets. Women took up new jobs as
British and French negotiated the Sykes-Picot Agree- millions of men left for the front, unions and employ-
ment, dividing up former Ottoman territories in the ers agreed to avoid conflicts to increase war produc-
Middle East between themselves. When it became tion, and political parties vowed to work together.
clear that the British government did not intend to Like the mass mobilization during the French Revo-
grant the Arabs real independence, Lawrence re- lution, but far more encompassing, the state de-
signed in disgust. An even more complicated appeal manded that citizens devote full energies to crushing
to a national minority in the region was the Balfour the enemy.
Declaration of November 1917, in which the British
government indicated its willingness to set up a Jew- State Control and Intervention
ish “national home” in Palestine. Support for Zion-
ism, the British thought, would strengthen Jewish Within months of the outbreak of war, all govern-
sympathy throughout the world for the Allied cause. ments realized that supplies of foodstuffs and raw
In another part of the Ottoman Empire, the border materials were threatened. The German government
region between Russia and Turkey, an unprecedented rapidly set up a Raw Materials Department in the War
attack on a civilian population occurred: the Armen- Ministry to secure raw materials vital to war indus-
ian Massacre. Relations between Christian Armeni- tries. In Russia, Tsar Nicholas II proclaimed that, for
ans and Muslim Turks (and Kurds), never cordial, the duration of the war, no vodka would be distilled.
had become severely strained by accusations that the This measure, designed to reserve millions of tons of
Armenians had been spying for the Russians. During grain to feed Russian soldiers, had the unintended
the winter of 1915–1916, Ottoman authorities gave
orders to deport Armenians from their native villages
near the front with Russia. In the course of these de- Easter Uprising Nationalist rebellion in Dublin 1916
portations, Turkish military units killed many un- that demanded Irish independence and was bloodily
armed Armenians or allowed them to perish in the suppressed by British authorities.
harsh winter. Up to 1.5 million Armenians died in T. E. Lawrence (1888–1935) English soldier and scholar
these operations, which nearly wiped out the Armen- known as “Lawrence of Arabia” who led the Arabs
against Turkish domination during World War I.
ian community in Turkey. As an instance of genocide,
the Armenian Massacre stands as a precursor to even Sykes-Picot Agreement Treaty of 1916 dividing up
Ottoman territory in the Middle East between Great
more horrific ethnically based attacks on civilian pop- Britain and France.
ulations later in the twentieth century. Balfour Declaration Official statement by British gov-
The participation by colonized people in the Eu- ernment in November 1917 in favor of a Jewish “na-
ropean war effort radicalized movements opposing tional home” in Palestine, a major victory for Zionism.
European rule and weakened the legitimacy of impe- Armenian Massacre Killing of as many as 1.5 million
rialism. If Indians, for example, could shed blood for Christian Armenians by the Muslim Turkish military
the Allied cause, Indian nationalists argued, why could and Muslim Kurds in 1915–1916.
they not also rule themselves? In Africa, too, the eco-
Total War, 1914–1918 729
Women’s Royal Naval Service), in which women car- cialists took advantage of the political instability to
ried out office duties and also served as nurses. In seize control and impose a new economic, social, and
Germany, the military command established the political order. Denouncing the “imperialist war,” the
“Women’s Home Army” to keep up morale and de- new leaders of Russia urged soldiers on all sides to
tect spies. Strikingly, Russia formed and trained a join in a class struggle that would topple corrupt em-
“Women’s Battalion of Death,” a volunteer unit that pires and destroy capitalism itself. Exhilarating for
also functioned to shame male soldiers whose morale some and horrifying for others, the Russian Revolu-
was low. tion posed a direct challenge to existing economic, so-
Even the most intimate spheres of life were milita- cial, and political powers around the world.
rized. A French poster showed a newborn baby lament-
ing “Alas! I arrived too late.” Another showed a soldier
surrounded by beaming women proclaiming, “Let’s The March Revolution
do our part for repopulation.” In this way, even the Repeated military setbacks made the tsar’s many
newborn and the unborn were mobilized for the subjects heartily sick of war and bitter about the fail-
war effort. ures of his leadership. They believed that his German
Old family patterns were disrupted by the absence wife, Alexandra, sympathized with the enemy. Suspi-
of fathers at the front. Women assumed new respon- cions of treason at the highest level of government
sibilities that helped break down old stereotypes and were reinforced by the presence in the imperial palace
encouraged demands for economic and political of a notorious peasant healer, Grigory Rasputin. The
equality. In Britain, greater numbers of women in wage tsar and his wife appreciated Rasputin’s ability to
work outside the home strengthened the arguments ease the bleeding of young Alexis, the heir to the Ro-
of women’s suffrage activists. By war’s end, they had manov throne, who suffered from hemophilia. Most
achieved the vote for women. Children, too, became Russians, however, falsely believed Rasputin to be a
more independent and self-reliant. Men returning from German spy and Alexandra’s secret lover. Foolishly,
the front were sometimes shocked by the new atti- Nicholas refused to send Rasputin away.
tudes of their wives, sisters, and children. Entire soci- Nicholas’s refusal to acknowledge ugly facts made
eties felt the impact of the new social and economic him unable to deal effectively with Russia’s deteriorat-
roles for women that developed during wartime. ing military situation and rising social unrest. A man
who hated conflict, the tsar politely banished strong
personalities from his presence and simply ignored
criticism or advice from public figures or the press. In
Russia in Revolution, 1917 September 1915, he made a fatal decision when, in di-
rect opposition to his advisers and despite his com-
➜➜
the more radical, socialist Petrograd Soviet, a council in Siberia and political exiles around the world began
that represented factory workers and soldiers. Issu- to make their way home. In April, Vladimir Ilyich
ing Order No. 1 in early March, the soviet called on Lenin, the leader of the radical Bolsheviks, arrived in
each military unit to form committees of elected rep- Petrograd after a complicated journey, supported by
resentatives, demanded that officers show proper re- the German authorities, from his exile in Switzerland
spect to the common soldiers, and proclaimed that no (see Choice). Quickly he published a fiery article de-
military orders were to be honored unless approved manding an end to the war in the Bolshevik newspa-
by the Petrograd Soviet. The Provisional Government per Pravda. His clear and radical program appealed to
felt unable to oppose this order directly. As unpopu- many, and support for the Bolsheviks grew. The Bol-
lar officers were killed or, more frequently, simply sheviks had two things other political parties in Rus-
warned to disappear, the conservative officer corps sia lacked: the dynamic leadership of Lenin and an
found it exceedingly difficult to maintain discipline. easily understood program summed up in the slogan
As Order No. 1 vividly demonstrates, after March “Peace, Land, and Bread.” But the Bolsheviks were a
1917 there were two centers of power in Russia. small and extreme group, and no one thought they
While the Provisional Government was the interna- would eventually triumph.
tionally recognized government, it lacked power and
legitimacy at home. It saw itself as a caretaker, in
place only until a permanent constitution could be
Petrograd Soviet (in Russian, “council”) Radical coun-
drafted and put into effect. The Petrograd Soviet, on cil that represented socialist workers and soldiers and
the other hand, had little time for such liberal and shared power with the more moderate Provisional
parliamentary niceties. Inspired by the Petrograd So- Government.
viet, workers’ councils sprang up in other cities and Bolsheviks Radical wing of the Russian Social-
in the countryside to push for a radical solution to Democratic Party in 1917 led by Vladimir Lenin,
Russia’s wartime problems. whose program called for “Peace, Land, and Bread.”
Soon after the blanket amnesty, political prisoners
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Lenin Proposes His “April Theses”
When V. I. Lenin returned to Petrograd in April 1917, the enthusiasm for the dem-
ocratic revolution of March had not yet worn off. Even socialist parties—including
Lenin’s own Bolsheviks—had agreed to support the Provisional Government until
the war was won. Within days of his return, Lenin shocked his Bolshevik colleagues
with his “April Theses,” which demanded a far more radical and confrontational
course of action. In any other country at war—including the United States—Lenin
would have been arrested for his demands to end the war and for revolution. The
fact that he was able to publish these radical comments openly shows that, in-
➜ Why did Lenin term the deed, as he himself commented, Russia after the March revolution was “the freest
war “predatory”? What did country in the world.”
capitalism have to do with
that? [Thesis 1: Against the war]
➜ The war . . . unquestionably remains on Russia’s part a predatory imperialist
war owing to the capitalist nature of that [provisional] government. . . .
➜ Why would overthrowing The class-conscious proletariat can give its consent to a revolutionary war. . . .
capitalism bring about a ➜ It is necessary . . . to explain the inseparable connection existing between
“truly democratic peace”? capital and the imperialist war, and to prove that without overthrowing capital it
is impossible to end the war by a truly democratic peace. . . .
734 CHAPTER 25 War and Revolution, 1900–1918
Meanwhile, the Provisional Government was also within weeks Kerensky faced them again, now more
moving to the left politically. In July, Alexander dangerous, well organized, and armed.
Kerensky, a socialist lawyer and the only man to hold
posts in both the Provisional Government and Petro-
grad Soviet, became prime minister. Kerensky en-
The November Revolution
joyed great popularity at first. His talents as an orator Hiding outside of Petrograd, Lenin pelted his com-
were considerable, though when he preached to the rades in the capital with enraged letters and instruc-
troops at the front that they had a sacred duty to give tions. In mid-October he entered Petrograd in disguise
their lives for Mother Russia some scorned him as the to persuade his party comrades that the time had
“persuader-in-chief.” Unfortunately for Kerensky, his come to seize power. Opposition to Lenin’s timetable
speeches proved unable to prevent the collapse of the was considerable, but his powers of persuasion were
Russian army. A major Russian offensive launched in even stronger. Trotsky’s support proved critical. De-
the summer of 1917 turned into a rout. spite press coverage of the Bolshevik plan to grab
As a moderate socialist, Kerensky faced serious power, the Petrograd Soviet refused to believe it could
enemies on both the right and the left. The military succeed and would not align itself with Kerensky and
despised him as an illegitimate upstart, and the Bol- the Provisional Government.
sheviks saw him as ineffectual. In a sense, both were
correct. But Kerensky was in an impossible situation.
Alexander Kerensky (1881–1970) Moderate socialist
Having neutralized the Bolshevik threat after a coup at- and prime minister of the Provisional Government
tempt in July, in early September Kerensky had to fend who was deposed by the Bolsheviks.
off a military coup led by the popular Cossack general Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) Russian revolutionary who
Lavr Kornilov. To defeat Kornilov, Kerensky released along with Lenin helped bring the Bolsheviks to power
many Bolsheviks from jail, including Leon Trotsky, an- in 1917.
other dynamic leader. The Bolsheviks regrouped, and
Russia in Revolution, 1917 735
On the night of November 6, the Bolsheviks exe- Lenin and his party comrades found themselves un-
cuted a carefully planned takeover of Petrograd. expectedly in control of the world’s largest country.
Bridges across the river Neva were occupied, and the The Bolsheviks themselves did not expect their
Bolshevik party’s Red Guards surrounded the main power to last. They hurried to proclaim Russia the first
railway stations, central post office, and other strategic socialist state in history and rapidly issued decrees
buildings. The Provisional Government found itself calling for peace, nationalizing land for peasants, es-
trapped inside the Winter Palace, unable to commu- tablishing worker control of factories, and affirming
nicate with the outside. Except for a few cadets and equal rights for all religious and national minorities.
the ill-trained Women’s Battalion of Death, no one de- Alexandra Kollontai became commissar for people’s
fended Kerensky and the recognized government of welfare. To the embarrassment of the Allied Powers,
Russia. Very much like the tsar’s regime some eight the Bolsheviks published secret treaties concerning
months earlier, the Provisional Government collapsed. promises about postwar settlements revealing, among
As Lenin put it later, “Power lay on the street; we other things, that Russia was to receive territory from
merely picked it up.” The following day, the Bolshe- Turkey after the war—agreements that the Allies had
viks broke into the Winter Palace and arrested the earlier denied. The long-delayed elections to the con-
members of the Provisional Government except for stituent assembly were allowed to take place, but
Kerensky, who, disguised as a woman, escaped in when it convened in January 1918, the Bolsheviks shut
an American Embassy automobile. Though the Bol-
sheviks faced stiff opposition and street fighting in Red Guards Troops organized by the Bolsheviks that
Moscow, in the countryside peasants were far more were instrumental in their victory in the Russian Revo-
concerned with seizing the land they had been prom- lution of November 1917.
ised by the Bolsheviks. By the end of November,
736 CHAPTER 25 War and Revolution, 1900–1918
it down after only one day. Already the Bolsheviks come. Despite the stalemate in the west, the German
were curtailing the liberal freedoms gained by the army had advanced into Russia. Warsaw was taken
March revolution. in mid-1915, and by late 1916 Germans had taken
The Bolsheviks had never pretended to be liberals. Wilno (now Vilnius, Lithuania) and occupied much
They had never advocated equal rights or toleration of eastern Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania. Austrian
for all political views. When they came to power, they armies took back Galicia, which had been occupied
were well aware of how weak their position was and by the Russians in the first months of the year and, af-
how many enemies surrounded them. In December ter unexpectedly fierce fighting, succeeded in neu-
1917, they established the secret police known as the tralizing Serbia.
Cheka—the Extraordinary Commission to Combat The military and domestic situation in multina-
Counterrevolution, Sabotage, and Speculation. The tional Austria-Hungary, however, was unstable. Czech
Cheka and its agents, Chekists, ruthlessly sought out and other Slavic troops often deserted across the Rus-
and arrested anyone suspected of opposing Bolshe- sian lines, and even German-speakers in the empire
vik power. By mid-1918, all conservative and liberal questioned openly the utility of continuing “Prussia’s”
parties had been shut down, their newspapers confis- war. Early in 1916, Emperor Francis Joseph died after
cated, and their leaders driven underground or into a reign of nearly seventy years, depriving Austria-
exile. By the summer of 1918, the enemies of the Bol- Hungary of a unifying symbol. Later that year, a
sheviks had organized themselves to fight the new young man entered a Viennese café, approached the
order in Russia. The Russian Civil War, between the Austrian prime minister, cried out, “We want peace,”
Reds (Bolsheviks) and the Whites (diverse groups op- then shot him and waited quietly to be arrested. A
posed to the Bolsheviks), was to last until 1920. Some Russian offensive in the summer of 1916 had brought
of the first victims were Nicholas II and his family, the Austro-Hungarian army close to collapse, until
killed in July 1918 on the orders of Lenin, who feared German troops intervened. Behind the scenes, the
that the ex-tsar might fall into the hands of the Whites. young Austro-Hungarian emperor sent out secret
peace feelers to the Allies, only to be found out and
severely rebuked by the Kaiser. By 1917, the war en-
thusiasm of a few years earlier was dead, all sides
The Turning of the Tide, longed for an end to the bloodletting, but no one
1917–1918 could see a way out.
In such a situation, the peace movement gained
➜
What events led to the defeat of Germany and the Cen- momentum. In previous years radical socialists, in-
tral Powers?
cluding Lenin, Kollontai, and Luxemburg, had met in
➜
tinued on the battlefronts, and misery on the home not see how their interests were involved in the Euro-
fronts deepened, calls for peace were also issued by pean war and preferred to remain neutral. Even after
mainstream leaders, including U.S. president Wood- the public outrage over the sinking of the Lusitania in
row Wilson and the pope. May 1915, President Wilson remained unwilling to
In 1917, in Britain, France, and Germany, hundreds press for American intervention. His election cam-
of thousands of workers went out on strike, breaking paign of the following year was conducted under the
their no-strike pledges. Even wage increases could slogan “He kept us out of war.” But just a month after
not keep up with the steep rise in prices, but strikers his second inauguration, Wilson signed a declaration
were also protesting this senseless war. Influenced by of war against Germany.
left-wing arguments, they increasingly rejected the Two foolish actions by the German government
idea of shared interests with factory owners. Simi- had altered American public opinion. In January
larly, soldiers distrusted their generals and loathed 1917, the German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmer-
the politicians back home. For many, it appeared that mann, telegraphed the German ambassador in Mex-
incompetent leaders were merely spouting hollow ico, instructing him to offer Mexico the return of
lines about patriotism to mask their inability to end a lands lost in the 1840s to the United States if Mexico
war that by now nobody wanted. In April 1917, at would support Germany against the Americans. The
several places on the western front, French soldiers British intercepted the telegram and revealed its con-
simply refused to “go over the top.” Their disobedi- tents to the American government. The reaction was
ence was simply a reasonable unwillingness to carry predictably furious, and when the telegram was pub-
out unreasonably murderous orders, but these mu- lished in the American press in March, anti-German
tinies shook the military leadership, who feared that war sentiment ran high.
the soldiers would turn their weapons against their At the beginning of February, the Germans an-
own officers and mutinies would spread. nounced the resumption of unrestricted submarine
Russian soldiers, whose morale and material con- warfare, disregarding the effect that such a move
ditions had been shaken by the March revolution in would have on American public opinion. The sinking
Petrograd, retreated in disorder in the midst of a of several American merchant ships strengthened
summer offensive. Shortly after seizing power in No- calls for intervention. The March revolution in Russia
vember, the Bolsheviks initiated cease-fire talks with heightened the contrast between the militarist re-
the Germans. Germany had already defeated Roma- gime in Berlin and democratic governments in Paris,
nia earlier in 1917 and had exacted very harsh peace London, and now Petrograd. All these factors came
terms from that country. At the same time, the Cen- together in Wilson’s request on April 2, 1917, for a
tral Powers’ Bulgarian and Turkish allies were barely declaration of war. Wilson stated that world peace
hanging on, plagued by low morale and shortages of was the goal: “The world must be made safe for
food and ammunition. The loss of vast Ottoman Mid- democracy.”
dle Eastern territories to the British by late 1917 cre- The impact of the American entry into the war was
ated a crisis of confidence in the Turkish leadership. felt first financially. American loans and credits, pre-
Amid general war weariness, only the Germans viously somewhat restrained by considerations of
appeared to have some reason for hope. In late Sep- neutrality, opened up fully for the Allied Powers.
tember 1917, the combined German and Austrian American factories retooled for war production, and
army inflicted a crushing defeat on the Italians at Ca- more than 20 million men registered for military ser-
poretto. The Italian army nearly disintegrated, thou- vice. American soldiers began to arrive in France in
sands deserted, and three hundred thousand men June 1917, though it was not until 1918 that American
were taken prisoner by the German and Austrian troops actually went into battle. Just as in European
armies. This decisive victory, combined with the Rus- countries, the American government intervened in
sian collapse, encouraged many Germans to believe the economy. The War Industries Board in Washing-
that the war would end favorably in 1918. Such wish- ton coordinated production and distribution of es-
ful thinking failed to appreciate the decisive turn in sential goods. As American troops and manufactured
the war’s fortunes caused by the United States’ join-
ing the Allies.
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) U.S. president, 1913–
The Entry of the United States 1921, who brought the United States into war “to make
the world safe for democracy” and authored the Four-
Until 1917, the United States had avoided taking teen Points.
sides in the European conflict. Most Americans could
738 CHAPTER 25 War and Revolution, 1900–1918
notion of human progress was undone. Disorienta- European perceptions of the natural world. Sunrise
tion, depression, and rage were the surviving emo- had long been the symbol of a new day, full of hope
tions, reflected in the paintings of Paul Nash and and possibilities. But for soldiers in the trenches,
George Grosz and in the highly unmilitary figure of dawn was the most terrifying time of all—the time of
Jaroslav Hasek’s Good Soldier Svejk. Literary critic Paul the call to “go over the top.” After World War I, noth-
Fussell has suggested that World War I even altered ing, not even the sunrise, would be the same.
What role did nationalism play in the outbreak and tween labor and big business to prevent strikes. To fi-
events of World War I?
nance the war, they ran up large deficits, causing
➜
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Propaganda and Advertising
“Fly to Paris for $99!” Speak Arabic in just two hours!” “Have fuller, sexier hair!” We are constantly bom-
barded with advertising slogans and appeals. On the radio, on television, and inevitably in our e-mail inbox,
we find promises of a better sex life, slimmer hips without hunger, grade-A research papers, and more. We
have come to regard such promises with a great deal of skepticism, knowing well that the ticket to Paris
will end up costing $900, that after two hours we will barely know ten words in Arabic, and that better sex
rarely arrives by e-mail. Similarly, official reports and government statements are no longer accepted as
necessarily true—at least not the entire truth. In 1914, however, people were not yet accustomed to this
steady stream of lies and half-truths.
Propaganda is a Latin word first used by the Catholic Church to refer to the spreading of the faith, without
any negative connotation. When, in 1914, the British set up an agency to keep up public morale and convince
citizens of the moral correctness of the war effort, they called it the War Propaganda Bureau. Famous writers
such as John Galsworthy, Rudyard Kipling, and Arthur Conan Doyle were recruited to write pamphlets praising
British war aims and military leadership, while denouncing German barbarism. Photographers and artists were
also recruited for the war effort. Similarly in America, the Committee on Public Information worked to in-
crease public support and enthusiasm for the war, publishing posters and pamphlets showing the Germans to
be cruel and inhuman, and even creating films with titles such as The Kaiser: The Beast of Berlin.
Advertisers learned a lot from war propaganda. A complete lie is not effective: it is too easily found out.
Much better is to present part of the truth as the whole. Just as propagandists made some German atroci-
ties seem universal, advertisers expand an attractive feature into a life-changing virtue. Everyone knows the
story of the boy who cried wolf, whose jokes got him in trouble when the real wolf arrived. Similarly, the
lies and distortions of war propaganda in World War I convinced many people after 1918 to believe no
claims of atrocities or appeals to patriotism issued by the government. Thus, World War I propaganda
played a role in the creation of a much more skeptical—or even cynical—attitude, whether toward govern-
ment pronouncements or advertisers’ claims.
Suggested Readings
Ferguson, Niall. The Pity of War. New York: Basic Books, 1999. Fitzpatrick, Sheila. The Russian Revolution. New York: Oxford
Sophisticated and detailed argument against the inevitability University Press, 2001. A short book covering the period 1917–
of World War I. 1932.
Figes, Orlando. A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, Fussell, Paul. The Great War and Modern Memory. New York:
1891–1924. New York: Penguin Books, 1998. A very detailed ac- Oxford University Press, 2000. A brilliant discussion of the ex-
count of the causes and events of the revolution. perience of the trenches and English poetry.
Fischer, Fritz. Germany’s Aims in the First World War. London: Keegan, John. The First World War. New York: Vintage, 2000. A
Chatto and Windus, 1967. Controversial and path-breaking well-written survey by the dean of British military historians.
work arguing that Germany’s aggressive economic and politi- Pipes, Richard. The Russian Revolution. New York: Vintage,
cal policies were primarily to blame for World War I. 1991. Massive volume from important conservative historian.
Websites
A huge variety of military, diplomatic, and memoir sources, Paintings, music, writings, information on the Russian Revolu-
The World War I Document Archive, at http://net.lib.byu.edu/ tion, Soviet History at http://www.marxists.org/history/
~rdh7/wwi ussr/index.htm
Images, documents, posters, maps, and a wealth of other in-
formation, An Internet History of the Great War, at www
.worldwar1.com
742
CHAPTER
A Decade of
Revolutionary
Experiments,
1918–1929
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Weimar Kiev
Se
ne
i
ne
LUX. Frankfurt D n ie
Paris C Z Prague per
GALICIA
LORRAINE ECH Dn
OSLO ies
ter
L oire VAKIA
ALSACE
BE
FRANCE Bern Vienna
C
as
SS
Budapest
S.
TYROL HUNGARY pi
AB
G Locarno ROMANIA
a
IA
Po Milan Trieste
an
ro
Rhône
Zagreb TRANSYLVANIA
nn
Venice ISTRIA
e
Se
Genoa
Rapallo CROATIA Belgrade
SAN
a
Bucharest Baku
MONACO
MORINO
YUGOSLAVIA D a n u be Black Sea Batum
SPAIN
ITALY Kars
Corsica Elba SERBIA BULGARIA
MONTENEGRO Sofia
Rome (To Yugoslavia 1921)
Istanbul Tabriz
Sardinia ALBANIA
Baleric Is.
Ankara
TURKEY
Me GREECE PERSIA
dit Izmir (Annexed
er (Smyrna) by Turkey (IRAN)
ra 1939)
ne Sicily Athens Aleppo
ALGERIA
an SYRIA
Tunis (French Mandate)
(France)
Baghdad
TUNISIA Malta
Se LEBANON IRAQ
(France) a Crete Cyprus
(Gr. Br.)
(French Mandate)
Beirut
Damascus (MESOPOTAMIA) Kut el Amara
(British Mandate)
0 200 400 Km. Basra
PALESTINE KUWAIT
(British Mandate) Amman (Gr. Br.)
0 200 400 Mi. Jerusalem
TRANSJORDAN
lllll
l
(British Mandate) NEUTRAL
l lll
ZONES
NEJD
l
Cairo
EGYPT HEJAZ
(SAUDI ARABIA)
LIBYA (Independent 1922) (To Nejd 1925)
(Italy)
1928 1929
Kellogg-Briand U.S. stock
1923 1926 Pact outlaws war market crashes
French occupy the Ruhr Germany is Stalin assumes Great Depression
Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch fails admitted to the leadership of begins
League of Nations Soviet Union
743
744 CHAPTER 26 A Decade of Revolutionary Experiments, 1918–1929
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Alexandra Kollontai Becomes
a Revolutionary
At age twenty-two, Alexandra Kollontai seemed to have
achieved everything expected of a young woman from an
aristocratic family. As the daughter of a general in Russia’s
imperial army, she was well educated, privileged, and active
in St. Petersburg’s high society. She had married an army
officer and given him a son. She was obedient and devoted.
Then she read August Bebel’s Woman and Socialism. His
ideas that under capitalism women were fundamentally
subjugated through the institution of marriage and could
achieve full independence only under socialism convinced her
that she was enslaved.
Almost instantly she gave it all up. She started attending
lectures by radical socialists and visiting factories to see the
Alexandra conditions in which the workers, especially women, of St.
Petersburg labored. Her secure and privileged life now seemed nothing more than
Kollontai a gilded cage, and she knew she could never go back to it. At age twenty-five, she
Though a role model for abandoned her husband and child, disowned her aristocratic heritage, moved out
many feminists, Bolshevik on her own, and embarked on a remarkable career of revolutionary activism.
revolutionary Alexandra Beginning in 1898, she worked with underground Marxist organizations in Rus-
Kollontai (1872–1952) never sia and abroad. She was an outspoken organizer of women workers, an important
saw herself as such. She opponent of World War I, and leader of the International Women’s Day demonstra-
considered feminism a prod- tion for bread and peace that triggered the overthrow of the tsar in March 1917. In
uct of nineteenth-century November 1917, she was at the forefront of the armed Bolshevik uprising.
capitalism and a misguided Although a devoted Bolshevik, Kollontai was never satisfied with simply follow-
ideology for women who ing the party line; she insisted on speaking her mind and following her convic-
wanted liberation. She be- tions, no matter what the consequences. Thus, in 1918, she resigned from her
lieved that only by achieving government position as commissar for social welfare when she found herself the
economic power as wage sole voice opposing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which she viewed as abandoning
earners would women be the Finnish communist movement. She remained an inconvenience to the Bolshe-
able to gain freedom and vik leadership throughout the early 1920s, never afraid to stand up to anyone,
social equality. (Sovfoto) even V. I. Lenin.
Cleverly, Lenin dealt with Kollontai’s inconvenient radicalism by sending her
abroad. In November 1922, she was appointed to the Soviet legation in Norway,
then sent to Mexico and to Sweden. Far from Moscow, Kollontai was free to criti-
cize the Bolshevik regime without posing a real threat inside the center of power.
Yet she continued to play an important role in the Soviet Union. She was among
the first female diplomats to serve at such a high level and was regarded in the
diplomatic international community as a very able colleague. Even when sidelined,
Kollontai was a trendsetter.
Kollontai’s radicalism was most remarkable in her choices as the first leader of
the Women’s Section of the Communist Party (the Zhenotdel). Following Bebel’s
principles, she advocated an end to marriage and the nuclear family in favor of
The Search for Stability, 1918–1924 745
living in free unions and raising children in communal settings, where domestic
chores—cleaning, cooking, and child care—would be shared. She lived by her con-
victions but was unable to inspire others to do the same. Most women were not
ready to abandon the satisfaction and security of marriage and motherhood, and
men resisted her radical ideas. Yet Kollontai’s choice for freedom and courage to
reshape her identity according to her radical beliefs made her a symbol of revolu-
tionary experiments in politics and social relations that marked the decade after
the Great War.
Chronology
1918–1922 Reds and Whites engage in Russian 1923–1925 Britain and France occupy Ruhr, precipitate
Civil War German economic crisis
1919 Comintern is established; 1924 Ramsay MacDonald becomes first Labour Party
Bolshevik revolution in Hungary creates short- prime minister of Great Britain;
lived Soviet Republic; Dawes Plan resets German reparation payments;
League of Nations is established; First Surrealist manifesto is issued in Paris
Treaty of Versailles officially ends World War I;
Fiume Republic is established 1925 Josephine Baker performs American jazz dances
in Paris
1921 Lenin inaugurates the New Economic Policy
in Russia 1926 Germany is admitted into League of Nations
1922 Mussolini seizes power in Italy; 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact renounces future war in
Irish Free State is established Europe;
Stalin assumes leadership of Soviet Union
1923 Hitler attempts to seize power in Bavarian Beer
Hall Putsch
own political position at home. The peace negotia- ning of World War I. Ethnic minorities had come to
tions were driven as much by internal as by interna- see themselves as fundamentally oppressed because
tional considerations. They were also driven by secret they generally did not receive the same benefits of
treaties made during the war. As a consequence, the economic development and state support for their
ideal of national self-determination promoted by U.S. education and culture as members of the majority
president Woodrow Wilson stood little chance of suc- ethnic group. But the ethnic map of Europe was in re-
cess. In the end, the victors were dissatisfied, and the ality so complicated as to make self-determination
defeated were humiliated. Even before the ink dried impossible. Polish nationals lived in areas where there
on the paper of the last peace document (1923), radi- were significant Russian and German populations.
cal movements were undoing the stability of Europe. Italians and South Slavs were mixed in Istria and
other areas along the Adriatic Sea. So no matter where
The Peace Treaties the national boundaries were set, some ethnic groups
would still be minorities. But, generally, the winners
As peace negotiations opened in January 1919 at the in Europe’s Great War liked Wilson’s ideas and sup-
old royal palace in Versailles, the representatives of the ported them as a basis for peace and stability in Eu-
victorious Allied Powers that dominated the agenda— rope as well as a justification for territorial gains. Those
all gray-haired men in tails and top hats—embodied who had sided with the Allies—such as the Poles and
the old European order established a century before Romanians—gained, while those aligned with the
at the Congress of Vienna. But revolutionary changes Central Powers lost.
were at hand: the map of Europe would be redrawn, One outcome of self-determination was an array of
a new international system would redefine state rela- new and significantly reshaped countries. Among the
tions, and democracy would replace aristocratic priv- winners, France, Greece, Italy, and Romania gained
ilege as the fundamental basis for political power. territories and populations. From the losers, new
Wilson arrived in Paris with an idea for a Euro- countries were created: Czechoslovakia was carved
pean order based on national self-determination: Poles out of Austria-Hungary; Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and
should govern themselves in an independent Poland, Lithuania emerged from Russia’s western borderlands;
and Italians should live in Italy. This principle seemed Poland was re-created from the unification of territo-
a rational and just solution to some of the problems ries lost by Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary;
that had caused turmoil in Europe since the end of Turkey was a diminished version of the Ottoman Em-
the nineteenth century and contributed to the begin- pire; and Yugoslavia was created by uniting Serbia
The Search for Stability, 1918–1924 747
homelands in Palestine that remains unresolved to ficking, labor practices, and the treatment of dis-
this day. placed persons. But it did not have the strength to en-
Thus, a great deal of debate at Versailles focused force its decisions. Its most severe punishment was to
on what counted more—the promises made by the expel countries that did not comply.
Allies during the war or the new and popular prin- The league did have an important role regarding
ciple of self-determination. The solutions varied, and the status of colonies, however. Former German colon-
though the states involved in these disputes were ies in Africa and Asia were transferred to Britain,
pacified, they were not necessarily satisfied. The France, Japan, and the United States as trust territories
greatest casualty was, however, the very principle of or mandates, and large parts of the former Ottoman
self-determination. If secret treaties counted more Empire were also placed under British authority.
than the rights of ethnic groups who inhabited the Through its new mandate system, the league moni-
disputed territories, the new states learned quickly tored the treatment of the native populations by colo-
that they were still at the mercy of Great Powers. nial governments and facilitated cooperation among
The Great Powers tried to address potential inter- colonial powers, which were now also obligated to
state conflicts in two ways. First, they made sure the report to the league on their colonies. The goal of this
peace treaties protected minorities. The borders of system was to prepare native populations for self-
Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, Greece, government. One prominent example was the role of
and Turkey were recognized only if these states agreed Britain in facilitating the development of modern po-
to treat ethnic and religious minorities, especially Jews, litical institutions and elites in Iraq, which moved
as equal citizens. Yet these provisions fostered some from its protectorate position in 1919 to gaining full
instability: they gave rise to protests inside states, es- independence in 1932.
pecially by ethnic majorities, and from outside—from In most cases, the league found it difficult to enforce
states that had lost populations. On a personal level, its supervisory role without a military force. At the
consider the dilemma of an educated ethnic Hun- same time, the participation of colonial troops in the
garian, a city employee in Kolozsvár, in the heart of war and the promises of the league had awakened
Transylvania. After 1919, when Hungarian Kolozsvár the hope of self-rule and greater freedom among na-
became Romanian Cluj, he lost his job because he did tive peoples, and the league was ineffective in easing
not speak the language of the new administration— the resulting tensions. Especially in Palestine, another
Romanian. His identity changed overnight: he lost his British mandate, clashes between the local Arab pop-
economic position, his social standing as a respectable ulation and resolute Jewish settlers continued into
government employee, and his cultural position as the 1930s and beyond.
member of an important European nation, Hungary. Still, the league represented a major departure from
Though the same person living in the same place, he the system of international relations of the nineteenth
was recast as a member of a powerless ethnic minor- century, in which small states had been virtual clients
ity. It is not difficult to imagine how those who had of the Great Powers. Some of these uneven power re-
been part of Europe’s privileged old order felt after lations continued after the war, but recognition of all
1919 and how quickly they looked to revise the peace member states as equals allowed small and new states
treaties. Revisionism set the stage for future inter- to carve out a more independent position in interna-
ethnic conflict. tional relations. This more democratic and inclusive
Another way the Great Powers tried to maintain setting helped generate a new culture of diplomacy,
peace was through the new League of Nations, created in which alliances and negotiations were discussed
in the peace settlement. This international organiza- openly. Even though the league was ultimately un-
tion gave sovereign states the means for communicat- successful in preventing another world war, it did
ing and solving problems through open, peaceful
negotiations rather than secret treaties. The league
also monitored the protection of minorities and vari-
revisionism Political aim of revising the World War I
ous international humanitarian organizations, such as peace settlements.
the Red Cross. But it was weak from the beginning, as trust territories and mandates Former colonies and
the United States—fearing European entanglements— territories of losing countries given by the League of
refused to join, while Germany, Russia, and Turkey Nations to the winning countries to oversee.
were excluded. Other Great Powers wavered between protectorate Political entity that formally agrees by
playing a strong role and disengagement. The league treaty to enter into an unequal relationship with an-
was important for upholding international principles other, stronger state.
such as human rights and for regulating arms traf-
The Search for Stability, 1918–1924 749
bring about greater stability in the 1920s. It also served dramatic public speeches swayed huge crowds, more
as a learning ground for the creation of the United through performance and style than content. His fol-
Nations after World War II. lowers marched through the streets in black shirts
and leather boots, creating the impression of a highly
Revolutionary Upheavals unified and threatening military force. Adopting a look
of youthful vengeance and an aura of absolute obedi-
The Bolshevik threat also shaped the ultimate outcome ence, these young men seemed ready to renounce their
of the peace negotiations. With revolution in Russia individuality and devote themselves to their leader.
and millions of armed soldiers on their way home to The masterful way in which D’Annunzio reshaped
ruined economies and impoverished families through- identities impressed Mussolini, who adopted the rhet-
out Europe, all states were afraid of revolution. In a oric, uniforms, and ideas first experimented in Fiume.
few cases, this fear was real. In Germany, the Commu- Other victors also confronted revolutionary upris-
nist and Socialist Parties seemed on the rise, and sev- ings. The turmoil in Ireland intensified after 1919.
eral bloody uprisings took place between November Newly elected members of the Irish parliament de-
1918 and January 1919. They were crushed relatively clared independence and a bitter civil war ensued
quickly and violently, with leaders Rosa Luxemburg (1919–1921), claiming many victims and ending in a
and Karl Liebknecht brutally murdered on the spot. peace treaty that laid the foundation of the Irish Free
A young corporal, Adolf Hitler, made himself known State (1922–1937). This state comprised of all of Ireland
in the crushing of the communist uprising in Bavaria. except the six counties of Northern Ireland and re-
In Hungary, a Bolshevik revolution in March 1919 ceived dominion status identical to that of Canada.
helped bring about a short-lived (133 days) Soviet There was much debate over the requirement to swear
Republic under the leadership of Béla Kun. The Bol- allegiance to the British king and especially over the
shevik success here owed much to the Hungarians’ status of Northern Ireland, which remained under di-
dissatisfaction with the results of the war. As junior rect British rule. The close final vote to ratify the treaty,
partners of the Austrians, they had endured great 64 to 57, virtually ensured that separatist movements,
material and psychological losses. Kun’s regime did such as the Irish Republican Army (IRA), would con-
not alleviate this suffering, focusing instead on the
brutal suppression of its enemies. In a swift reaction, Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) Leader of the Nazi Party and
the Great Powers allowed Slovak and Romanian forces dictatorial ruler of the Third Reich who initiated World
to invade the country. The results were disastrous for War II by attacking Poland.
Hungary. The Kun regime was crushed, but Romania Béla Kun (1886–1938) Leader of a short-lived Bolshe-
and Czechoslovakia extracted large territorial conces- vik regime in Hungary crushed by Romanian and
Slovak forces.
sions for their role in “saving” the Hungarian people.
The result was the Treaty of Trianon (1920), which re- Republic of Fiume Revolutionary experiment led by
Gabriele D’Annunzio, whose dictatorship and milita-
duced Hungary to one-third its prewar size, with large rized police state were precursors of fascism.
groups of Hungarians living outside its borders. The Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863–1938) Italian writer who
brief and violent Soviet Republic proved a costly ex- led the Republic of Fiume.
periment. It rendered Hungary small, landlocked, and charismatic leadership Leadership style that uses
vengeful, eager to revise the peace treaties. emotional appeals to arouse followers and compel
Another short-lived revolutionary experiment was loyalty.
the Republic of Fiume, the brainchild of Italian poet Benito Mussolini (1883–1943) Fascist dictator of Italy,
Gabriele D’Annunzio. This small Adriatic port was the first to successfully challenge democracy in Eu-
part of Istria, the area claimed by Italy and Yugoslavia. rope; after 1936, a close ally of Adolf Hitler.
South Slavs constituted a majority in Istria, but Fiume Irish Free State Irish state established in 1922 with
had an Italian majority. Wilson sided with Yugoslavia. dominion status, consisting of all of Ireland except
Given the controversy over this city, D’Annunzio de- Northern Ireland, which remained under direct
British rule.
cided to take matters into his own hands and seized
dominion Status in which former colonies recognize
municipal institutions in September 1919. The poet the British monarch as the head of the state but control
became a military dictator, revered by his followers their internal and foreign affairs.
and feared by the general public. Irish Republican Army Military organization recog-
Fiume was finally granted to Italy, but its ultimate nized in 1919 by the parliament of the Republic of Ire-
fate was less important than the style of rule and land as its army, revived in 1970 as a paramilitary
charismatic leadership D’Annunzio modeled for Be- terrorist organization.
nito Mussolini, the future fascist leader. D’Annunzio’s
750 CHAPTER 26 A Decade of Revolutionary Experiments, 1918–1929
tinue against the British. Unlike most other movements United States billions of dollars in war loans. The
for national liberation in Europe at that time, in Ireland Americans were in a hurry to see the loans repaid,
religion rather than language identity was at issue. In and with weak economic performance and potential
the Irish Free State, Catholicism was the dominant reli- political instability at home, Britain and France were
gion, while Catholics were a religious minority in relying on war reparations as an important revenue
Northern Ireland, where Protestants dominated. Yet source. The French were particularly inflexible. But
despite tensions, Catholics and Protestants in Northern after making its first payment of 2.5 billion gold
Ireland lived in relative peace for the next forty years. marks in 1921, the German government defaulted the
Political challenges from the left and right thus following year. Great Britain was willing to work out
threatened peace in Europe. Most governments and a moratorium and potential reduction of the payments,
parties equated stability and democracy with suppress- but France and Belgium, which had suffered much
ing Bolshevism. Liberals, social democrats, and nation- greater material and human losses in the war, stood
alists united against this common enemy; yet some by the Versailles agreement and proceeded to occupy
nationalist parties were also aggressive and potentially Germany’s heavily industrial Ruhr district in order to
destabilizing, especially when they fought against the extract the debt payment in kind.
peace treaties. German nationalists in both Germany The Ruhr occupation (1923–1925) had a twofold
and Czechoslovakia, for example, used the principle effect on the young German democracy. First, it uni-
of self-determination to argue that Czechoslovakia, fied Germans in their opinion of the 1919 Versailles
with its large German minority, did not respect the Treaty as unjust and of the victorious powers as abu-
peace treaties and would therefore be Bolshevik- sive. This view fostered the growth of nationalist
friendly. Thus, opponents of the peace treaties also parties, including the National Socialist German
used anti-Bolshevism to argue their cause. Worker’s Party—the Nazis. In addition, by extracting
from Germany some of its most important economic
resources (the Ruhr produced 80 percent of Germany’s
War Reparations steel and coal), the occupation helped generate a se-
and Economic Crisis vere economic crisis. The German government only
made things worse by printing more money, which
While the peace treaties sought political solutions to led to hyperinflation. For white-collar workers, small-
Europe’s turmoil, economic stability proved elusive. business owners, and the lower middle class gener-
The cost of the war had been enormous in financing ally, buying power vanished overnight. The hard-won
the military effort and rebuilding destroyed lands savings of a middle-class professional that once might
and industries. Between the deficits that built up to fi- have paid for a car now barely bought a loaf of bread.
nance the wars and the overall drop in economic pro- Suitcases filled with paper money were not enough
duction, all European states emerged from the war for a week’s groceries. The professionals and small
with major deficits, looking toward the United States businessmen who had been the backbone Germany’s
for help. The victorious Allies, wanting the Central social and economic stability were instantly converted
Powers to pay these costs, imposed reparations as part into impassioned and desperate critics of the new
of the peace treaties. By far the largest reparations were German republic.
demanded of Germany, both as revenge and as a
means for the political leaders at Versailles to gain pop-
ular support at home. Coupled with the treaty’s war
guilt clause, in which Germany had to admit respon- reparations War payments demanded by the victors
sibility for starting the war, and its demand for disar- from the losers.
mament, including demilitarization of the Rhineland, moratorium Delay in the payment of the war debt.
reparations reinforced Germany’s humiliation and Ruhr occupation Occupation (1923–1925) by French
aimed to prevent it from becoming a major power and Belgian troops of Germany’s industrial Ruhr
district to enforce the war reparations clause of the
again. The notion of making losers pay for the costs of Versailles Treaty.
armed conflict was not new, but the size of the pay-
National Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) Party
ments was unprecedented. An international commis- Right-wing party that recruited followers by promoting
sion set reparations at 132 billion gold marks (today nationalism-socialism, with a nationalist-racist per-
about $331.79 billion), or two years’ worth of Ger- spective.
many’s gross national product. hyperinflation Rapid devaluation of a currency that
The British and French pressed Germany to start reduces its buying power overnight.
payments immediately, as both needed to repay the
Postwar Political Experiments, 1924–1929 751
Jan. Mar. May July. Sept. Nov. Where and in what ways was democracy successful,
Year
and what were its failures?
They had failed to fulfill the promises made before monarchy, a new political system had to be created.
and during the war. Disappointment with the peace The political leaders who drafted the progressive dem-
treaties and subsequent economic crises further ocratic constitution and other political institutions in
eroded their standing. the city of Weimar—which gave its name to the new
In Britain, the most important political casualty of government, Weimar Republic—had the difficult task
the war was the Liberal Party, which never recovered of gaining the trust of an embittered population. Some
from the growing division over wartime policies. nationalist leaders were blamed for the outcome of
Though David Lloyd George had won at Versailles, the war, some liberal leaders had been assassinated
his position at the helm of the Liberal Party wavered, by radical nationalists, and some on the left had been
as many politicians and followers were displeased tainted by the communist uprisings in 1918–1919, so
with the economic and political costs of his aggres- it was unclear who could fill this vacuum.
sive wartime policies. He tried to rebuild his popular- The key figure turned out to be Gustav Stresemann,
ity and the unity of the party, but allying himself with a successful businessman and politician who came
Conservative politicians cost him dearly, sending many from a monarchist conservative background. Before
followers toward the growing Labour Party. While the war he had strongly supported German national-
the Liberals floundered, between 1920 and 1929 the ist aspirations and traditions embodied by the em-
Conservative and Labour Parties fought for political peror but had looked with some favor upon measures
power. The Conservatives provided an economic plat- benefiting workers. Above all, he was a realist who
form and an ideology of security that spoke to the knew by 1918 that the old system was bankrupt. For
older basis of this party, the upper classes, and also to him, democracy was a pragmatic, rather than ideo-
many among the middle classes who had lost faith in logical, choice.
the Liberals. For most of the decade, the Conservatives Between 1920 and 1923, when he assumed the
controlled Parliament and pushed stringent measures leadership of the government for one brief year, Stre-
to protect business interests, often at the expense of the semann went from opposing the Weimar constitution
working and lower middle classes. Yet the British econ- to supporting it for the sake of stability. After the war,
omy did not fully recover from its wartime losses. he created the German People’s Party to revise the
Leading the anti-Conservative opposition was the Versailles Treaty, secure economic growth, and offer
Labour Party, which developed rapidly from a mar- some support for workers. Stresemann’s election as
ginal, class-based party to a more popular and broad- prime minister in 1923 marked a turning point for the
based party with socialist ideological leanings that Weimar Republic. He stabilized internal politics and,
attracted workers in the public service sector and resolving the Ruhr occupation crisis, rebuilt Germany’s
lower ranks of the middle class. Though the Labour international stature. Under him, radical right- and
Party held power for only a brief nine-month period left-wing movements were effectively put down, no-
under Ramsay MacDonald (1924), it forced the Con- tably the Nazi Party’s attempt under Hitler to seize
servatives to confront workers’ concerns such as the power in Bavaria known as the Beer Hall Putsch.
length of the workweek and unemployment benefits Stresemann’s successors were able to maintain stabil-
as mainstream issues. Just as important was the grow- ity partly because of his achievements. Although the
ing union movement, loosely coordinated with the Weimar Republic proved short lived, it was one of the
Labour Party but institutionally independent, which
in 1926 forced the Conservatives to deal with workers’
concerns through a general strike. The strike failed, David Lloyd George (1863–1945) British politician
but the work rights demanded by the strikers entered who led Britain and through World War I and the
the vocabulary of both dominant parties. postwar settlement as the Liberal Party prime minister,
1916–1922.
In France, the disappointment that followed the
peace treaties produced a quick succession of govern- Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937) First leader of
Britain’s Labour Party to become prime minister.
ments. No party—centrist, conservative, or left wing—
Raymond Poincaré (1860–1934) French politician,
was able to keep power for long. Only after 1926, president between 1913 and 1920, then twice premier.
under the Republican centrist Raymond Poincaré, did
Weimar Republic Name of the German state between
a more secure government emerge. He stabilized the 1919 and 1933, taken from the city where its demo-
currency and secured prosperity, which gave people cratic constitution was written.
hope for the future. Beer Hall Putsch (in German, “beer hall riot”) Violent
Germany faced the greatest political challenges af- failed attempt by Hitler and the Nazi Party to take
ter 1919. All prewar political leaders were compro- over the Bavarian local government in 1923.
mised by defeat, and following the collapse of the
Postwar Political Experiments, 1924–1929 753
Fascism
While eastern Europe struggled to create democratic
institutions, Italy abandoned them altogether. Benito
Mussolini established a fascist dictatorship that was
the decade’s first successful challenge to democracy.
His model was D’Annunzio’s police state in Fiume.
Born to a blacksmith and a schoolteacher, Mussolini
was a talented writer and speaker. In his youth he
joined the Socialist Party and edited left-wing publi-
cations. His radical pacifism landed him in jail in
1911. Already he was dreaming of organizing a revo-
lutionary mass movement of workers. But in the fall
of 1914, he switched to an aggressive pro-war posi-
tion. In 1917, after he was accidentally wounded by a
Mustafa Kemal took on the surname “Atatürk” to fashion grenade (not on the battlefield), he turned to writing
himself as the father of modern Turkey. His main goal was to for a nationalist paper and to promoting his heroic
position Turkey as a modern player in the international arena, participation in the war.
rather than a mere survivor of the remnants of the Ottoman
Empire. Thus, the secularization of Turkish elites was foremost
Having once spoken for the workers, Mussolini
on his agenda. (Stock Montage) was skillful at exploiting postwar fears of unemploy-
ment with pro-worker rhetoric. In 1919, when strikes
led by communist and socialist unions broke out,
Greece had been the first constitutional government Mussolini used the popular anti-Bolshevik rhetoric of
in the Balkans and by 1920 had almost a century of the time to depict these actions as a threat to Italy’s
political experience with modern parliamentary rule.
But experience did not improve its chances at estab-
lishing a stable democracy. Instead, Greece became Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938) President of
embroiled in expansionist dreams at the expense of Turkey from 1920 to 1938 who pursued modernization
Turkey. After 1918, it pursued a series of disastrous and secularization in the name of democracy.
military campaigns, only to be defeated and humili- authoritarian Concentrating power in the hands of a
ated by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s armies. The terri- ruler.
torial losses and repatriation of more than 1.2 million secularization Change in a society from close identifi-
cation with religious institutions to a more separated
Greeks sent Greek politics into turmoil. In the first
relationship, including transfer of institutions from
half of the 1920s, the king was forced to abdicate, ecclesiastical to civil control.
and a new republican system was proclaimed, but it fascism Radical-right political movement initiated
proved ineffective and in 1935 the king returned to by Benito Mussolini in Italy that replaced parliamen-
the throne. The cradle of democracy proved inauspi- tary democracy with authoritarian regimes emphasiz-
cious ground for building democratic institutions and ing order.
practices after 1918.
Postwar Political Experiments, 1924–1929 755
the identity of women as solely mothers and wives as what it meant to be a true Italian, Mussolini imposed
to allow women a place to come together in public. categories of unacceptable identities on some.
Corporations successfully changed social and polit- But in the 1920s Mussolini was able to hide these
ical institutions, but the fascists had more trouble with negative aspects of his regime through masterful prop-
religious institutions. Mussolini was an unabashed aganda. Newspapers, films, radio broadcasts, parades,
atheist, and his paramilitary troops often showed lit- museums, and other state institutions and activities
tle respect for the Catholic Church. Yet for most people portrayed him as a man of the people and a resolute
being Italian was the same as being Catholic. The leader ready to listen and respond to the needs of all
church had such a central role that it was really im- Italians. Most people could not imagine their country
possible to either ignore or fight it. It took Mussolini without Mussolini at the helm: “Italians of my gener-
many years to come to an agreement over the status ation carried the portrait of Mussolini within them-
of the church, the clergy, and Catholic organizations selves, even before they were of an age to recognize it
in Italy, but in 1929 he signed a concordat with the on the walls,” remembered a writer who grew up in
pope that recognized the autonomy of Vatican and re- the 1920s. Mussolini’s image was in every govern-
inforced the dominance of the church in education ment office and classroom, and his personal style di-
and marriage law. Relations with the church contin- rected fashion trends. Both men and women were
ued to be rocky in some areas, but most Italians were attracted to Il Duce—the first political leader to turn
pleased with this agreement, which greatly increased his baldness into a symbol of virility and strength. In
Mussolini’s popularity. making himself such a vivid model of the new Italian,
Finally, the fascist government attempted to solve Mussolini helped transform the ideals of a whole
the problem of economic underdevelopment by in- generation. Marching in the streets by the thousands,
creasing agricultural productivity, enlarging the male in their stylish black uniforms, young men experi-
workforce, and creating public works such as roads enced power as intoxicating; on the sidewalks, young
and irrigation. There was a program to reclaim land, women swooned. Their emotions rendered them loyal
a program to improve wheat production, a program followers in the hands of the charismatic and cun-
to promote agricultural self-sufficiency (encouraging ning Duce.
purchases exclusively from the internal market), a
program to increase the birthrate, and a program to Social Democracy in Scandinavia
improve transportation and build highways and rail-
ways. The economy was still primarily in the hands of A very different approach to the economic and social
private entrepreneurs and farmers, but the state played problems of the postwar period can be seen in the Scan-
an important role in regulating business practices (for dinavian countries, which used the tools of demo-
example, by eliminating trade unions and dictating cracy. Here a tradition of charitable work and support
priorities in production), communications, and com- for state intervention in matters of employment had
merce, especially international trade. To some unsta- existed since the late nineteenth century. Questions
ble European states, the fascist government’s strong regarding the role of government in education, public
grip over both business and labor seemed to have health, child care, unemployment, and pensions were
solved the era’s political and economic difficulties. often the subject of debate in parliament. Social dem-
Yet fascist solutions were neither simply pragmatic ocratic and labor parties had a large presence in Scan-
nor wholly positive. Workers’ rights were reduced for dinavian parliaments both before and after the war,
the benefit of industry; farmers’ production was closely and they guaranteed that social welfare measures
scrutinized; and women’s rights were severely re- would continue to be on the agenda. In 1923, Norway
stricted for the benefit of families, their bodies closely introduced old-age pensions. Denmark endorsed the
monitored for the purpose of reproduction, especially principle of full rights for government social services,
through pro-natalist and anti-birth control policies. such as education, healthcare, and pensions for all cit-
Those who were not willing to abide by these re- izens, irrespective of class or gender. Sweden launched
strictions, or who were defined as dangerous on ac- a system of unemployment benefits, state support for
count of their convictions, ethnicity, or religion, were health, and life insurance.
severely persecuted. To be communist, non-Italian,
feminist, or, especially after 1936, Jewish was a dan-
gerous identity. These populations were threatened pro-natalism Policy encouraging women to have more
by economic and social discrimination, subsequently children, pursued by most European governments
by isolation, and, starting in the late 1930s, by exter- after 1918 to replenish the postwar population.
mination. Thus, in addition to positive definitions of
The New Soviet State 757
Scandinavian countries were thus at the forefront Bolsheviks won. What they lacked in experience and
in establishing the welfare state, and their innovative military power they made up for in organization and
reforms averted both social unrest and state bank- unity of purpose. They had charismatic, driven leaders
ruptcy. Yet the Scandinavian context was unique in who inspired great loyalty in their followers. Among
Europe. With the exception of Finland, Scandinavia them was War Commissar Leon Trotsky, described by
had been sheltered from war. The small size and eth- an American observer as “the most dramatic character”
nic homogeneity of these countries also helped pre- and the “only great organizer” of the Russian Revolu-
serve their stability. Quite simply, the sense of crisis tion. Trotsky was a skilled military leader who turned
and despair that dominated most of Europe in early some of the most difficult battles of the civil war into
1919 was not present in Scandinavia. Instead, reforms victories. With his wild hair and piercing glare behind
that built on the prewar social welfare agendas pro- wire-rimmed glasses, Trotsky inspired many people,
ceeded, as the dominant political parties were never especially among the poor, to join the Reds. Like
discredited by the war. Continuity, rather than up- Mussolini, Trotsky represented a new style of leader
heaval, best describes the political and social devel- whose ability to project virility, demand action, and
opment of Scandinavia in the 1920s. use violence made them attractive to the generation
that came of age during the war.
By contrast, the Whites were divided in their aims
and strategies, and the foreign aid they received was
The New Soviet State half-hearted. By 1922, these supporters were pulling
out their war-weary armies and the Reds were win-
➜
What were the essential components of the Soviet ning in the Crimea and Siberia. Poland remained a se-
state?
rious threat, but the new states of eastern Europe did
➜
SERBS
W
AMERICANS
O
N
Archangel
N
E
BRITISH
D
E
FINLAND FINNS
FRENCH
SW
(Independent)
1917
S I B E R I A
Helsinki
Kronstadt
Leningrad
British
fleet ESTONIA
K ol c h
Pskov
a LETTS
BOLSHEVIK RUSSIA
Se
ak 1
LATVIA Riga lga Kazan
ic CZECHS
BALTIC
lt Vo
9 1 8–
GERMANS
Ba
Nizhniy-
LITHUANIA Novgorod
19
Moscow
GERMANY
(E. PRUSSIA)
Minsk Samara
is t
V
u la al
ND
Brest- Ur
Warsaw
LA
Litovsk
PO
POLES Voronezh
Kiev
Denikin Don
Kharkov
CZECHOSL UKRAINE 1919 COSSACKS
OV Stalingrad 1918–20
AK Dn
IA ie Vo
Dn per
i lg
HUNGARY Rostov-on-
a
ester
BE
ROMANIANS Don
FRENCH
SS
Astrakhan
AR
Odessa
ABIA
ROMANIA
Cossacks
CRIMEA
YU
GO
Da n ube FRENCH
BRITISH
CAU
SL A V
CAS
US
BULGARIA BRITISH
IA
Tiflis
Entente
GEORGIA Baku
fleet BRITISH
GREECE BRITISH
TURKEY
0 200 400 Km.
Tabriz 1918–19
0 200 400 Mi.
MAP 26.1 The Russian Civil War, 1918–1922 The Russian Civil War proved to be a second conflict
of attrition after World War I, engulfing large parts of Russia and lasting almost three years. The victory
of the Reds (Bolsheviks) came at a high human and territorial price, as Russia lost many of its western im-
perial lands.
The New Soviet State 759
needs and problems of the oppressed and defend their By the end of the 1920s, the Soviet Union had reached
rights; these promises would induce people to join 1914 levels in agricultural production.
the party and its affiliated organizations. The Women’s But the social and political costs of this recovery
Section of the Communist Party, or Zhenotdel, was seemed too high to many Bolsheviks. The NEP had
one such institution. The Bolsheviks had critiqued fostered the rebirth of an entrepreneurial class that
the inferior status of women in Russian society and was a nuisance to local communist administrators.
attempted to attract them to the Communist Party One the one hand, the regime spoke about the need to
through this department. Initially led by Alexandra eliminate class oppression and give workers control
Kollontai (see Choice), it also served as an advocacy over the means of production. On the other, the state
group where women could voice social, economic, and allowed for the kind of exploitation it condemned,
political concerns. Though democratic and experimen- based on pragmatic considerations. This double stan-
tal at the beginning, by 1928 it had become centralized dard weakened the control of the Soviet regime and
and authoritarian and was eventually dissolved. troubled faithful party members.
For all its positive propaganda, the exclusionary A struggle over the political costs of the NEP en-
policies of the Soviet regime raised questions even sued in the Politburo, the highest decision-making
among the faithful. Did the ends justify the means? body of the Communist Party. Lenin’s death in Janu-
Supposedly, communism was about democratic equal- ary 1924 rendered this debate more complex, as Polit-
ity and justice. Yet the road to it was paved with vio- buro members became divided. Trotsky and his leftist
lence, and the new institutions of the Soviet Union supporters wanted to continue revolutionary strug-
concentrated power in the hands of a small party elite. gle in the world at all cost. This group also opposed
By the mid-1920s, there were furious debates within the NEP as a deviation from communism and was
the party over centralization, with Trotsky in fierce concerned about the growing centralization of the
opposition. In addition, although the party claimed state, which clashed with the democratic foundations
that individuals had choices and that the state was in- of communism. Their strongest opponents were the
terested in their ideas, most institutions suppressed centrists, led by Joseph Stalin, who called for build-
ideas and actions that were contrary to the official ing socialism in the Soviet Union, deemphasizing the
party line. Soviet citizens received protection from struggle for worldwide revolution. Stalin stressed the
the state only insofar as they were willing to serve the principal role to be played by Russia in the USSR and
state with unquestioning loyalty. suggested the need to further centralize the state.
This position was favored by Russian communists
with nationalist leanings.
The New Economic Policy and In the end, Stalin won the struggle by working be-
Struggle for Leadership hind the scenes in the Politburo and among his loyal
lower party appointees. Few anticipated his victory,
As the Soviet regime was attempting to deal with en- as he was less respected than Trotsky. Stalin was,
emies at home and in the borderlands, its economy however, a cunning man who advanced his career
worsened. Nationalizing all industry did not lead to through power politics. Born in the Georgian Cauca-
economic growth. In 1921, industrial production was sus as Joseph Dzhugashvili, he joined a Marxist
just 13 percent of the prewar volume. Many of the group while studying to become a priest and later
best-trained professionals left the country, peasants worked with local Bolsheviks. He undertook danger-
refused to work for the state, and workers went on
strike. Lenin realized that the regime needed to adopt
a pragmatic economic policy to win the civil war and Zhenotdel Women’s Section of the Soviet Communist
consolidate political control. In the spring of 1921, he Party, which focused on policies and issues such as
employment, day care, and domestic work.
inaugurated the New Economic Policy (NEP), which
allowed for the rebirth of private property and free New Economic Policy (NEP) Economic plan allowing
limited capitalism adopted by Lenin in 1921 to allevi-
commerce. The state retained control over large and ate Russia’s deep economic crisis.
medium-size industries, such as steel and heavy ma- Politburo Highest decision-making body of the Soviet
chinery, but small businesses could be privately Communist Party.
owned. Under the NEP, three-quarters of retail trade Joseph Stalin (1879–1953) Dictatorial leader of the
shifted back into private hands. In the countryside, Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953, who transformed the
the state allowed peasants to sell their own harvests Soviet Union into a police state run by fear and deceit,
rather than have the state requisition them at fixed and into a military and economic superpower.
prices. The recovery of the economy was remarkable.
The New Soviet State 761
ous actions on behalf of the movement, ending up in moved from professions badly needed in the economy,
jail and exile, but he was neither a theoretician like education, and social services, the party embarked on
Lenin nor an organizer like Trotsky. He simply hap- its own program of education and training to fill
pened to have a good instinct for showing up in the gaps. The government considered eliminating illiter-
right place at the right time and knowing whom to acy (above 50 percent in 1918) an important social goal
flatter and whose weaknesses to exploit. and created many public schools. But quality was poor.
By the early 1920s, Stalin had risen to the top of the Progress and access to higher education were linked
Bolshevik hierarchy, but neither Lenin nor the other to class background, with priority given to sons and
leaders thought he would be Lenin’s successor; they daughters of workers, often at the expense of aca-
assumed that would be Trotsky. Stalin was clever, demic qualifications. The first generation of teachers,
however, in exploiting Trotsky’s criticisms of the NEP doctors, and engineers produced by this system were
and other policies as evidence of disloyalty; eventu- more likely to be faithful party activists than skilled
ally Trotsky was eliminated from leadership and sent professionals.
into exile. Then Stalin removed all remaining oppo- The Soviets used education to promote seculariza-
nents. By 1928, he dominated all institutions of the tion and a rational understanding of Marxist econ-
state in dictatorial fashion, much like Mussolini in omy. Though presented as scientific, the Marxist
Italy, but without the fascist leader’s personal allure. worldview was akin to a religious vision of history.
Communists described eliminating class struggle as
The New Soviet Man and Woman scientifically predictable. Yet there was no way of
proving such developments. Instead, it was through
The Bolsheviks wanted nothing short of a complete a leap of faith that the Bolsheviks spoke of the certain
transformation of society. They depicted capitalism as “withering away of the state” and the inevitable vic-
a system that bred greed, narrow-minded materialism, tory of communism throughout the world. Like other
and pettiness among people and described their own religious zealots, revolutionaries such as Trotsky and
aims in terms of transforming individual and col- Kollontai were willing to sacrifice both themselves
lective identity to foster fairness, selflessness, and and all who stood in their way for the fulfillment of
dedication to the common good. this destiny.
To eliminate class differences, supposedly the root Organized religion, however, was seen as irrational
of all capitalist problems, the party used brutal poli- and a threat to Soviet ideology. The Orthodox Church,
cies. In addition to abolishing private property in the the state religion in tsarist Russia, emphasized faith
early days of the civil war, the Bolsheviks also wished in the afterlife and accepted the hardships of this life
to eliminate all “oppressors,” especially the social and as normal, something to be embraced, not overcome.
economic elites of the tsarist regime—the aristocracy, Social inequality was a fact of life. These beliefs clashed
businessmen, and the professional middle class. In with the staunch atheism of the Bolsheviks. In addi-
the first phase of this social revolution, the Bolsheviks tion, the Orthodox Church was rich and influential. It
imprisoned or killed most members of the nobility. owned large estates and economic interests and com-
The bourgeoisie was also a class enemy, but it was manded a great deal of respect, even fear, among the
also a larger and less clearly defined category. Ini- Russian population. From the beginning of their strug-
tially, the Soviet regime eliminated businessmen, eas- gle in 1918, the Bolsheviks persecuted members of this
ily targeted as exploiters of workers, by nationalizing and all other religious institutions, clergy and lay-
their wealth and killing many. But if the bourgeoisie people alike. These persecutions continued through-
included all those who owned private property, it out the 1920s, forcing believers to retreat to private
would include peasants as well. places of worship, including homes and forests. Yet the
Class enemies also included white-collar workers, complete elimination of all religious organizations did
professionals, and some educators. Those employed not become a goal of the Soviet Union until after 1928.
in state institutions, such as bureaucrats and teachers, In their ambition to transform Russian society, the
became targets because of their allegiance to the Soviets also sought to reshape private lives, including
tsarist regime. Doctors and engineers were viewed as family and gender relations. The Bolsheviks were
a threat because they belonged to professions with quick to replace religious with civil marriage. Young
standards independent of the political regime, and couples now came to city hall to be married before a
the Soviets could not tolerate independence. Doctors, judge in a ritual that incorporated statements of loy-
chemists, and engineers often had to join the party to alty to the Soviet regime and the Communist Party.
maintain their professional standing. Some party leaders, like Kollontai, believed that mar-
As large numbers of qualified individuals were re- riage itself should be eliminated, as it institutionalized
762 CHAPTER 26 A Decade of Revolutionary Experiments, 1918–1929
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Alexandra Kollontai Advocates a New Type
of Woman
Alexandra Kollontai was one of the most active leaders of the communist move-
ment in Russia before 1917 and also an accomplished writer. Her writings depicted
radically new female heroines, free from old-fashioned notions of emotional de-
pendency and jealousy, acting as powerful movers and shakers. Yet her ideas re-
garding women’s roles in society and marriage made her unpopular with the
communist leadership, so she was sent abroad in 1922. While away from the So-
viet Union, Kollontai published other radical writings, including the book from
which the following selection is taken, The Autobiography of a Sexually Emanci-
pated Communist Woman, first published in Norway in 1926.
But who are they, these single new women? The single
woman—she is a child of the large-scale capitalist eco- ➜ Kollontai uses the
nomic system. ➜ There is no place in the ranks of terms “unfit” and
those earning their own livelihood for the “unfit,” that “natural selection” to
is to say, the women of the old type. Here, too, there- connect capitalism to
fore, a “natural selection” among the women of the a certain scientific
different social strata is discernible: only the stronger, theory of the nine-
more resistant disciplined natures arrive in the ranks of teenth century. What
➜ What is Kollontai implying those “earning their own livelihood.” ➜ The weak, is she referring to?
about marriage? inwardly passive, cling to the family hearth, and when
the insecurity of existence tears them away from the
protection of the family, to catapult them into the stream of life, supinely, they let
themselves be driven by the waves of legal or illegal prostitution: they enter into a
marriage of convenience or they walk the streets.
➜ The influence of women earning their own liveli- ➜ How do working
hood spreads far beyond their own circle. With their
women revolt against
criticism, they “poison” the minds of their contempo-
past “truths”? Does
raries, they smash old idols, they raise the banner of
Kollontai criticize
revolt against those “truths” with which women have
or celebrate this
lived for generations. By liberating themselves, the new,
challenge?
single women, earning their own livelihood, also liber-
ate the passive-backward spirit, as this has been molded
down the centuries, of their contemporary sisters.
➜ What does Kollontai’s ➜ But whereas with the women of the working class, the struggle for the
criticism here imply about assertion of their rights, the strengthening of their personality, coincides with the
bourgeois women’s interests of the class, the women of other social strata
movements? run into unexpected obstacles: the ideology of their
class is hostile to the transformation of the feminine ➜ Is the women’s
type. In the bourgeois milieu, woman’s “rebellion” movement for libera-
bears a far sharper character, its forms are set in bolder tion separate, or does
relief, and here the psychological dramas are far it have to be part of a
sharper, more variegated, and more complicated. ➜ larger working-class
The new type of woman, inwardly self-reliant, indepen- movement?
dent, and free, corresponds with the morality which
Social and Cultural Experiments 763
the working class is elaborating precisely in the interests of its class. For the work-
ing class the accomplishment of its mission does not require that she be a hand-
maid of the husband, an impersonal domestic creature, endowed with passive,
feminine traits. Rather, it requires a personality rising and rebelling against every
kind of slavery, an active conscious equal member of the community, of the class.
➜
housing for those who lived together but were not How did social reformers and intellectuals respond to
the aftermath of war?
married and also to give children born out of wedlock
➜
How did the war and technology transform culture and
full legal rights. The more radical leadership of the entertainment in this era?
party envisioned a future in which children would be
brought up in communal housing where domestic Social reformers, intellectuals, and artists throughout
chores would be shared. Europe tried to cope with the disruptions of war in
But the Communist Party shied away from such radical ways as well. The experience of total war
radical change. Bolshevik leaders themselves lived in forced both men and women to reexamine many as-
traditional marriages and considered Kollontai’s ideas sumptions about their roles in the family and society.
threatening to social stability. By the end of the 1920s, This process prompted important changes in gender
the party had come around to condemning those who relations, but fewer than reformers, especially femi-
were not married and extolling the virtues of the pro- nists, hoped to achieve. Artists grappled with loss
letarian family. Nuclear families remained the foun- and destruction by fashioning entirely new artistic
dation of social stability, yet with more freedom to styles, some democratic and socially engaged and
enter and exit such unions for both partners. In par- others an escape into dream worlds. Widespread vio-
ticular, divorce was liberalized, allowing women pro- lence had become an everyday experience, and many
tection against domestic violence, which had not embraced it as a potentially positive force in art. Oth-
been recognized as a basis for dissolving marriages ers recoiled from the memory of this violence and
under previous divorce laws. turned to pacifism and religious faith. Some of these
Women also gained more reproductive control. trends had started before 1914 but were greatly re-
Early on, the Soviet regime legalized abortion and shaped by war’s destruction and transformation of
made it inexpensive. The liberalization of abortion European society. These experiments produced some
would be short lived, however. By the end of the of the most remarkable works of literature and art of
decade, the Communist Party had revised its policies, the twentieth century as well as important develop-
partly out of fear of depopulation. Under Stalin, abor- ments in popular entertainment.
tion was made illegal again.
A lasting change, however, involved the support
for and protection of women’s employment and edu- Change and Frustration
cation as well as the creation of state child-care insti-
in Gender Roles
tutions for working mothers. These measures helped
women become more economically self-sufficient The war had brought upheaval in gender roles, and
and can thus be viewed as progressive reforms, simi- with the resumption of peace, many wondered if the
lar to social welfare measures in Scandinavia during changes would continue. More than in any previous
the 1920s. Yet the Soviet regime was interested only in conflict, the experiences of soldiers had been so vastly
fashioning loyal citizens through education and in different from those of civilians that a great gap
increasing the workforce. The Soviets looked upon opened between husbands and wives, mothers and
women as an important means for fulfilling these aims sons, fathers and daughters. While the experience of
rather than as oppressed individuals who needed to be total war had placed both soldiers and civilians in di-
liberated. Women would not have a choice of mother- rect contact with violence, the physical and psycho-
hood or employment. Rather, they would have to join logical burdens of trench warfare often crippled
the workforce and leave child rearing in part to state soldiers in unprecedented ways. Returning soldiers
institutions such as kindergartens and schools. suffered from deep psychological trauma and were
764 CHAPTER 26 A Decade of Revolutionary Experiments, 1918–1929
unable to communicate their suffering to noncombat- wives, asking them to place family and nation above
ants. So many soldiers had gruesome injuries that their individual selves and help rebuild their nation.
the sight of a maimed body became commonplace. In France, for instance, a pro-natalist campaign for re-
Deep psychological and physical scars forced veter- plenishing the human losses in the war involved a
ans to question their masculinity and often strained stern government demand that all women of child-
relationships at home; domestic violence increased. bearing age, regardless of economic status, produce as
These men yearned to have their old jobs and the many children as possible to regenerate the fighting
prestige they had enjoyed before the war, but nothing force. Women were described as patriotic and selfless
could go back to the way it had been. if they responded to this call and as heartless materi-
Many women had entered “male” professions and alists if they indicated interest in attaining economic
jobs during the war. After 1918, both government and independence or limiting their families. There was no
private businesses preferred to rehire men, however, comparable campaign to shame men into fatherhood.
even for positions in which women had been effec- Most European governments were concerned with
tive and had accepted lower wages. The idea that population growth and hoped to revive the birthrate
men were breadwinners and women were nurturers with positive incentives, such as monetary rewards
remained strong, but not all women returned to the and patriotic propaganda, and negative measures,
home. Many continued to work, but in jobs that were such as the criminalization of abortion. Some reform-
less secure and worse paid, including domestic and ers with similar concerns took a different position on
secretarial work and factory work in the food indus- reproduction. They saw sexual satisfaction as key to a
try. Women were also increasingly important as con- couple’s desire to reproduce and have a happy fam-
sumers, as evidenced by the greater diversity in goods ily. In the decade after the war, a diverse movement
available at both the low and high ends of the markets. advocating sexual reform emerged. It was a response,
An aggressive fashion industry focused on “working in part, to the marital problems many couples were
girls” and independent women. The image of the flap- having after years of separation during the war. Hus-
per, or “new woman,” was plastered all over fashion bands who came back with psychological traumas and
magazines and movie posters. These changes sug- physical disabilities were often unable to perform sex-
gested new identities opening up for women. ually; and women, who had gained tremendous self-
Yet little changed for women in the domestic sphere. confidence during the war years, found themselves
They were still considered primarily responsible for more interested in an active role in sexual relations.
child care, cooking, and tending to the home. Unlike Reformers wrote manuals for couples, encouraging
the Scandinavian welfare experiments and the Bol- the exploration of mutual sexual satisfaction, and
shevik revolution in women’s family responsibilities, doctors provided sex advice to husbands. Sex advice
governments in the rest of Europe paid little attention columns began to appear in women’s magazines. Even
to child-care questions. Consequently, women found it though the ideas about what constituted normal sex
difficult to both work and take care of their families, or and pleasure were conventional, removing the taboo
they did so with enormous effort and little support. on discussing such matters in public and emphasiz-
Still, in the realm of politics women made impor- ing women’s sexual needs were important and last-
tant gains, achieving voting rights except in France, ing changes.
Italy, Spain, and the Balkans, where they could vote
only in local elections. The extent of women’s suffrage Intellectual Responses to the War
varied and often included educational, marriage, and
age criteria at a time when universal male suffrage The destruction wrought by war prompted the rise of
was the norm. But even as feminists celebrated this important intellectual movements in the decade after
victory, they also wondered how much power women 1918. Among the cries for revenge and revolution,
had really gained. Though women could vote, their some intellectuals took a stand for peace. The post-
concerns were not necessarily reflected in party plat- war pacifist movement was in part a continuation of
forms, nor were female politicians successful in the prewar pacifism and in part a reflection of Europe’s
first decade after the war. Traditional parties, even political strategy to keep the peace, but it was no
liberal and socialist ones with pro-women platforms, longer linked to particular political ideologies and or-
were unwilling to put forth female candidates. Ques- ganizations. It was more of an individual reaction to
tions about women’s rights seemed subordinate to the horrors of war, a conclusion that no ideology—
the pressing issues of Bolshevik threat, war debt, in- nationalism, liberalism, communism—could justify the
flation, unemployment, and revisionism. enormous human losses.
Yet politicians appealed to women as mothers and Many pacifists came from socialist or religious back-
Social and Cultural Experiments 765
Artistic Experiments
due to copyright In contrast, in the arts, the decade of the 1920s was
permissions restrictions. spectacular. Writers, painters, dancers, musicians—
all types of artists and performers—revolutionized
both high culture and popular entertainment. These
experiments were connected both to a longer tradi-
tion of the avant-garde in the arts, dating from the
end of the nineteenth century, and to the war, whose
trauma had a direct impact on basic questions about
Hannah Höch’s collage Cut with a Cake Knife (1919) is an ex-
beauty and goodness in the face of overwhelming de-
ample of the dada movement in art that flourished during
and right after World War I. Höch’s work explored the contra- struction.
dictions of contemporary society in an aggressively ironic Several movements in the art world flourished
feminist vein. By placing female heads on male bodies and during this period. The Futurists believed in a future
vice versa, and including images of politicians in her collages, marked by technology, power, and even violence.
Höch forced viewers to confront their own gendered assump- They saw war as a positive tool for cleansing all that
tions. The presence of faceless bodies also points toward her was putrid in society and preparing for an era of
struggle with defining identity in postwar Germany. (Bild-
archiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz, © 2007 Artists Rights Society
strength. Futurists became close allies of radical polit-
[ARS], NY) ical movements. In Italy, Filippo Marinetti, whose
paintings depicted movement and speed on canvas,
served as Mussolini’s minister of the arts. In Russia,
poet Vladimir Mayakovsky led a generation of Fu-
grounds, but some were completely nonideological. turist writers who promoted Bolshevism.
Among the most prominent figures were the German Even though the Futurists were original, they did
physicist Albert Einstein and British writer Vera Brit- not produce the lasting masterpieces created by the
tain, who spent the war as a volunteer nurse and
wrote as early as 1914: “The destruction of men seems
a crime to the whole march of civilisation.” Einstein’s
Vera Brittain (1893–1970) British author and pacifist
strong pacifism was unusual for a prominent scientist. who volunteered during World War I as a nurse.
In the following decade, he continued to be an out- Gabriel Marcel (1889–1973) French philosopher of
spoken critic of fascism and antisemitism at a time atheist convictions before 1918 who converted to
when other scientists were retreating into their labs or Catholicism after the war.
committing their research to the service of states with Filippo Marinetti (1876–1944) Leader of Italian Futur-
destructive agendas. The impact of the peace move- ism who served as minister of arts under Mussolini.
ment was small by comparison to the more forceful Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893–1930) Russian poet, Bol-
and well-organized fascist and communist ones. Yet shevik activist, and leading figure of Russian Futurism.
the personal courage of individuals who stood up
766 CHAPTER 26 A Decade of Revolutionary Experiments, 1918–1929
Surrealists. These visionaries sought alternatives to that revolutionized cinema. His techniques in fram-
the “reality” of the visible world in the inner world of ing, lighting, and composition were stark and expres-
dreams and nightmares, the subconscious and sup- sive, unlike anything that had been seen on the silver
pressed, which they considered more truthful to the screen before.
human condition and suffering than the decade’s ob- Soviet artists were not, however, free of state con-
session with wealth and social stability. Adapting the trol. Chagall fell out of favor with the Soviet leader-
new interest in psychoanalysis to art, they rebelled ship and had to leave the country in 1923 because of
against rationality, ignored politics, and explored the tensions with the party and increased antisemitism.
mind. The first Surrealist manifesto, authored by the Mayakovsky committed suicide in 1930 after his work
French writer André Breton, appeared in Paris in was severely criticized by party officials. Eisenstein
1924 and declared this movement a revolution, out- was able to pursue his creative work only by making
lining in form and content how Surrealism was to movies that did not challenge the ideology of the
alter human consciousness. Artists, poets, and film- Communist Party. His prominent films from the 1920s
makers rallied to his call to explore the subconscious were, in fact, powerful propaganda for the Soviet
and reject immediate reality. regime. Under Stalin’s dictatorship, many writers and
The movement continued to flourish until World artists were silenced, imprisoned, or killed for their art.
War II, with Spanish artist Salvador Dali and Belgian
painter René Magritte as some of its most spectacu- Experiments in Architecture
lar practitioners. Dali’s haunting work portrayed a and Design
dream world, in which distortions of everyday objects
were rendered in photographic detail and placed in After the war, some architects and designers sought
hallucinatory settings. Dali lived his art, appearing in to redefine the relationship between the practical and
public in bizarre costumes, sporting a fantastic mus- the artistic by simplifying architectural and interior
tache, immaculate yet always strange. In keeping design. Grouped around Walter Gropius in Germany,
with Surrealistic principles, he showed no interest in these designers, artists, and architects became known
politics. Unlike the colorful Dali, Magritte was far more as the Bauhaus school, the most influential design
cerebral and understated, and his paintings reached
into dream worlds by a scrupulous, photographic Surrealism Artistic movement of the 1920s and 1930s
rendition of objects in surprising settings. This para- that explored the realm of dreams and altered reality to
doxical juxtaposition of the real and unreal, rather find the deeper truth of human experience.
than distortion, became Magritte’s signature. André Breton (1896–1966) French writer and founder
Other artists more directly engaged with political of Surrealism.
and social upheavals became affiliated with Expres- Salvador Dali (1904–1989) Spanish-born artist who
sionism. This movement had been developing since became the most famous Surrealist.
the beginning of the twentieth century but took on René Magritte (1898–1967) Belgian Surrealist painter
famous for his superimposition of photographically
more social and political tones after the war. German depicted objects in unrelated three-dimensional spaces.
artist Käthe Kollwitz, for example, had been a com-
Expressionism Artistic movement that aimed to repre-
mitted socialist and pacifist before the war, depicting sent the connection between the inner emotional world
the social problems of the working class, especially and outer social reality.
women and children. The loss of her son in the early Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) German Expressionist
days of the war brought on a deep personal crisis. In artist who portrayed the plight of working-class
contrast to the dream world of the Surrealists, her women and children.
stark woodcuts projected the pain and suffering of Marc Chagall (1887–1985) Russian Jewish painter
people whose emotions were a direct response to the whose art combined romantic images of lovers, nature,
outside world and real events. and traditional Jewish symbols with harsh political
Much more committed to linking artistic experi- commentary.
mentation and political engagement were the artists Sergei Eisenstein (1898–1948) One of the greatest film
directors of the twentieth century, who used pioneer-
active during the first decade of the Soviet Union. ing film techniques as powerful propaganda for the
Among early devoted supporters of Bolshevism were Bolsheviks.
writers such as Mayakovsky and artists such as Marc Bauhaus school Innovative German movement of
Chagall. In the early 1920s, Chagall developed his architectural and interior design that sought to make
unique dreamlike combination of color and religious living spaces and furniture designs functional and
imagery. Cinema directors such as Sergei Eisenstein affordable.
produced remarkable films like Battleship Potemkin
Social and Cultural Experiments 767
Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) presented an image of Josephine Baker (1906–1975) African American
modernity and technological progress that was both allur- dancer who charmed European audiences in 1925 and
ing and foreboding. The icon at the center of the movie was popularized the music and dance associated with jazz.
emphatically female, reflecting widespread fears among Isadora Duncan (1877–1927) British dancer who trans-
many men of women’s empowerment as de-feminizing formed traditional ballet technique into a more natural
and emasculating. (Schulz-Neudamm, Metropolis, 1926. and emotion-filled movement style.
Lithograph, 83” x 361⁄2”. Gift of Universum-Film- Fritz Lang (1890–1976) German Expressionist film
Aktiengesellschaft Digital Image © The Museum of Modern maker, later active in Hollywood.
Art/Licensed by Scala/Art Resource, NY)
Summary 769
tween technology and progress by personifying tech- their hard lives. These forms of popular entertain-
nology as a female with both enticing and ultimately ment also allowed them the freedom to imagine other
destructive characteristics. The movie also presented roles for themselves—as famous dancers, actors, or
the suffering of the lower classes but expressed hope musicians. The new entertainment styles blurred the
that technology could overcome social problems. distance between the highly educated and privileged
Listening to jazz, dancing the Charleston, and elites and the lower masses: fame seemed to be some-
watching movies enabled working people, even the thing almost anyone—in the excitement of the 1920s—
poor, to forget the war and escape the boredom of could achieve.
How did the destruction of the Great War bring about models for radical politicians in Europe in the years
political and social transformations? to come.
➜
How did the political and cultural experiments of the The experiments of the 1920s reached into the
1920s challenge the old order and ideas of prewar
realm of social identity. In particular, with women
Europe?
having taken on men’s roles during the war and men
➜
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Sex Advice Columns in Women’s Magazines
Today, glossy magazines promising great tips on how to improve and enjoy sex are commonplace at every
supermarket checkout. But a century ago, any mention of sex in the media was taboo. Before 1918,
women’s magazines featured only articles on fashions, home decorations, mothering, and events organized
by high-society ladies.
After 1918, however, women’s magazines began to reflect the changes women had experienced in
wartime. Women appeared in work settings. They were photographed driving cars and operating trams. A
radical new feature was the sex advice column. With the rising validity of sexuality as a legitimate area of
physiological and psychological research, the sex advice expert was born. Initially, participating in such pub-
lic discussions about sexuality was seen as demeaning within the medical profession, and physicians were,
in fact, discouraged from writing for nonprofessional magazines. More often than not, a layperson, who
often sported the title of Dr. without any medical diploma, posed as an expert sexologist. However, as the
popularity of the sex advice column surged, more professional physicians, nurses, and psychologists ac-
cepted such positions, opening the door for today’s Dr. Ruth and Dr. Phil.
In the first years, the questions and advice were rather prudish, though daring for their time, without direct
references to specific sexual practices. Most of the questions related to sexual fulfillment as a means for
preserving the stability of the marriage and having children. For instance, a woman might ask, “How could I
maintain marital bliss after ten years of marriage?” Thus, sexuality was discussed only in its direct link to
well-accepted social norms. But the discussion of sex in popular women’s magazines signaled to women
that it was normal to consider themselves as sexual beings, to seek enjoyment in the intimate aspects of
their life, and even to talk about it with their partners and with other women.
Today, the variety of sexual practices discussed in women’s magazines in open, direct language has grown
tremendously. The endorsement of products like Viagra by respectable politicians is a far cry from the shy
and indirect references in the sex advice columns of the 1920s regarding men’s ability to perform sexually.
Likewise, the notion that women’s sexual desire is properly expressed only in marriage and only toward the
goal of becoming a mother has also changed dramatically.
Suggested Readings
Berend, Ivan T. Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Siegelbaum, Lewis H. Soviet State and Society Between Revo-
Before World War II. Berkeley: University of California Press, lutions, 1918–1929. Cambridge, England: Cambridge Univer-
1998. An excellent overview of political, intellectual, and artis- sity Press, 2004. A close look at the transformations in politics
tic changes in the 1920s and 1930s, as European countries try to and society in Russia during the first decade of communist
cope with challenges of modernization. rule, highlighting the compromises made by the political elite
Bosworth, R. J. B. Mussolini. London: Arnold, 2003. An exhaus- to secure the state.
tive biography of Benito Mussolini’s personal and political life. Stites, Richard. Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and
Marks, Sally. The Illusion of Peace: Europe’s International Re- Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution. Oxford: Oxford
lations, 1918–1933. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. A University Press, 1991. An excellent analysis of the cultural ex-
succinct and lucid overview of the international changes and perimentation of the Bolsheviks during the first decade after
challenges in the first decade after the peace treaties. the revolution.
Meier, Charles S. Recasting Bourgeois Europe: Stabilization in Willett, John. Art and Politics in the Weimar Republic: The
France, Germany and Italy in the Decade After World War I. New Sobriety, 1917–1930. New York: Pantheon Books, 1996. A
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998. A compara- magisterial analysis of the utopian impulses in the artistic life
tive analysis of the challenges faced by political elites, liberal of the German Weimar Republic.
democracy, and economies in France, Germany, and Italy in the
aftermath of the war.
Websites 771
Websites
Links to websites with articles about important events during twentieth century, Marxists Internet Archive, at www.marxists
the 1920s, cultural movements and personalities, maps, and pri- .org
mary documents, The Inter-War Years, at www.historyteacher Links to websites on the political and cultural life of Europe in
.net/APEuroCourse/WebLinks/WebLinks-Inter-WarYears.htm the 1920s and 1930s, Internet Modern History Sourcebook:
Rich, if biased, resource on the most important people, move- The Age of Anxiety, at www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/
ments, and events linked to the history of communism in the modsbook40.html
772
CHAPTER
Democracy Under
Siege, 1929–1945
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1936
1929 1933 Civil war begins
Great Depression Hitler comes to in Spain
begins power in Germany Great Purges begin
in Soviet Union
St ckh
h A Siege, Oct. 1941–
Jan. 1944
R
EL
N
i
Battle of Britain,
July–Oct. 1940
London Blitz,
Sept. 1940–May 1941
Operation Barbarossa
June 1941
SW
llll
l
l
773
774 CHAPTER 27 Democracy Under Siege, 1929–1945
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
George Orwell Commits Himself to Socialism
In 1930, Eric Arthur Blair became George Orwell. It wasn’t just about choosing a
pen name but rather about giving up his privileged identity as the son of a
respectable servant of the British Empire in India. Instead of following the path
to easy security and middle-class respectability opened by his family, at age
nineteen Blair turned his back on elite schools to join the imperial police in
India for some adventure. At age twenty-four, disgusted with its racist policies,
he quit to live among the poor.
Having decided to follow his dream of writing, Blair, now Orwell, aimed
high. He wanted nothing less than to become the moral conscience of his coun-
try, writing from conviction and experience, unlike many of the pseudo-
bohemian writers of the time who enjoyed material privileges while writing
about the poor. He didn’t want just to move his audiences but instead aimed to
challenge and force them to rethink their identities and act on their beliefs.
True to this conviction, Orwell took a job as a dishwasher in Paris and lived in a
poorly heated room for many months. It was during these days of self-imposed
George Orwell poverty that he began to understand class inequalities and gain sympathy for
George Orwell was one of socialism as the best direction for democracy.
the most powerful voices of In his quest to become a good and socially active writer, in 1934 Orwell took on
Europe to confront the moral the assignment of writing about the life of coal miners in northern Britain. The
collapse and hatred that result, The Road to Wigan Pier (1936), movingly described the appalling conditions
seemed to engulf the conti- of these workers but received mixed reviews from his left-wing editor. Always
nent in the 1930s and 1940s. holding on to his aim of being the moral conscience of his peers, Orwell did not
From his exposure of the hesitate to criticize British socialists, whom he viewed as armchair critics rather
harsh working conditions of than active reformers.
miners in England to the To demonstrate his own dedication to the cause of democracy through socialism,
atrocities committed during in 1936 Orwell went to Spain, where a civil war was pitting left-wing forces against
the Spanish Civil War, he a right-wing militarist regime. He arrived as a journalist but couldn’t stay away
criticized those ambitious for from the action and joined the left-wing armies. His experiences in Spain reinforced
unbounded power and the his commitment to socialism as profoundly democratic but made him wary of the
lack of tolerance on both the contribution of the Soviet Union to this cause. Soviet manipulations of the left-
left and the right. (AP Images) wing forces opened his eyes to the controlling and antidemocratic nature of the
Soviet regime. These experiences were penned in Homage to Catalonia (1938).
Still hungry for action and eager to make a difference, Orwell tried to serve in
the British army during World War II but was discharged because of injuries he had
received in Spain. Instead, he worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
as a reporter, a job that revealed to him the nature of wartime propaganda and the
antidemocratic ways in which the British government manipulated information.
Orwell’s passionate commitment to “turn political writing into an art” led him
to write his last two and most important books, Animal Farm (1945) and 1984
(1949). Both reflected his desire to remain the moral conscience of Britain. Exposing
the absurdity of sloganeering with expressions such as “war is peace” and “igno-
rance is strength,” he pointed to the deep political corruption, both on the left and
on the right, as the root of the tragedies he had witnessed all over Europe in the
Responses to the Great Depression, 1929–1939 775
1930s and 1940s. These books also represented an impassioned plea on behalf of
peace and democracy and against totalitarianism, but they were not exclusively
anticommunist, as they came to be depicted later on. Until the end of his life in
1950, Orwell remained committed to his belief in socialism as the most radically
democratic ideology of the times, more progressive than liberalism or communism.
Chronology
1928–1933 Stalin initiates first five-year plan in
Soviet Union
Table 27.1
The Great Depression
INDICES OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION, 1929–1938, IN MAJOR EUROPEAN COUNTRIES (1937 = 100)
1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937
France 123 123 105 91 94 92 88 95 100
Germany 79 69 56 48 54 67 79 90 100
Italy 90 85 77 77 82 80 86 86 100
Great Britain 77 74 69 69 73 80 82 94 100
UNEMPLOYMENT (IN THOUSANDS)
1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937
France neglig. 13 64 301 305 368 464 470 380
Germany 1,899 3,070 4,520 5,575 4,804 2,718 2,151 1,593 912
Italy 301 425 734 1,006 1,019 964 — — 874
Great Britain 1,216 1,917 2,630 2,745 2,521 2,159 2,036 1,755 1,484
Source: Stromberg, Roland N., Europe in the Twentieth Century, 4th Edition, © 1997. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle
River, NJ.
nected to the deflationary policies of the 1920s, which international trade that further reduced production
had followed the hyperinflation scare of the early and employment. Keynes argued that economic re-
1920s. Businesses and individuals had been afraid to covery could be achieved only by abandoning the ob-
borrow, thus slowing economic growth, and banks session with balanced budgets and the gold standard
had also become more conservative, charging higher and by instituting government programs to put people
interest rates. Other scholars have seen the Great De- back to work. A larger workforce, he pointed out,
pression as a more acute case of the cyclical process of would increase the tax base, and more taxes would
economic growth and slowdown characteristic of all reduce budget deficits. Under President Franklin D.
capitalist economies. Roosevelt, the United States weathered the Great De-
Whatever the causes, the effects of the Great De- pression in part through a broad range of government-
pression were profound. Many of those who had spent supported public works programs that implemented
their youth in the trenches of World War I were now Keynes’s ideas.
middle aged and had families. When they lost their But in Britain, politicians were not open to these
jobs or their businesses, they grew despondent. Some, solutions. Labour prime minister Ramsay MacDon-
unable to feed their families or make payments on their ald, elected in May 1929 on the promise of securing
homes, slipped into deep depression and abandoned workers’ interests, could not cope with the massive
their families. Women’s economic status was also badly unemployment that hit Britain by 1930 (a 60 percent
hurt, though some were able to find part-time work rise just during that year). His government opted for
in the service industry—as cooks, servants, and some- conservative economic solutions for the economic de-
times as sex workers. pression. Hopelessly, it attempted to keep the budget
balanced, and it refrained from setting up the kinds
Democracies’ Responses of public works programs developed in America. In-
stead, MacDonald chose to cut compensation for the
If dependency on American investments and banks unemployed. Such a move by a Labour prime minister
along with deflationary policies were the initial causes seemed so much at odds with that party’s ideology
of economic collapse in Europe, the depth and duration that half his ministers resigned.
of the Great Depression were also a consequence of
the choices various states made after 1929. Politicians deflationary Referring to a fiscal policy aimed at pre-
tried to balance state budgets and avoid expenditures. venting inflation.
Following the lead of the United States, European gold standard Fiscal policy that pegs national cur-
governments quickly imposed higher tariffs to pro- rency to gold reserves.
tect their own industries. The result was a decline in
778 CHAPTER 27 Democracy Under Siege, 1929–1945
In an unprecedented move, MacDonald compro- were recent, both politicians and ordinary citizens
mised with the Conservatives to create a National were quick to equate economic problems with a fun-
Unity Government, with himself as prime minister, damental weakness of democracy and to look for
which he led until 1935, though he was expelled from other political solutions.
the Labour Party for betraying workers’ interests. De- In Austria, Spain, and Portugal, the response was
spite political and economic turmoil, the National an alliance between conservative politicians and the
Unity Government managed two important accom- Catholic Church. In these countries, the Roman Catho-
plishments. First, the Conservatives agreed to support lic Church was one of the most stable institutions, shap-
issues important to Labour, such as government- ing not only religious outlook but also political life. In
regulated health insurance and Housing Acts that Austria, the Christian Socialists, one of the two largest
mandated the building of affordable, safe housing. parties in the country, had a conservative Catholic out-
By the late 1930s, politicians of all leanings recognized look on moral values and social responsibilities. The
housing, education, and public health as services for party favored government control over education that
which the state had responsibility, and Britain was on would be strictly Christian, a traditional social hierar-
its way to becoming a welfare state. Though private chy with the Catholic aristocracy at the top, and the
enterprise ran many social services, the government exclusion of Jews from important positions of public
monitored their quality and helped the poor gain ac- authority. In the early 1930s, both Austria and Portu-
cess to decent housing and healthcare. gal replaced democratically elected governments with
The chief accomplishment of the National Unity strong conservative leaders who were devout Catho-
Government in Britain, however, was to simply hold lics. These leaders gave the Catholic Church important
on to the principles of democracy. Both communist educational, propaganda, and social responsibilities.
and fascist movements grew in Britain during the The school curriculum came under the control of the
1930s, gathering strength from the sheer desperation Catholic Church, as did many other social services.
of the economic crisis. But most politicians resisted the Church-controlled censorship of literature and other
temptation to play upon fears in order to increase their cultural endeavors was also introduced.
following. British politicians followed well-established In Spain, the struggle between conservative mili-
democratic rules, and average citizens respected this tarist and Catholic political forces and their secularist
position, although they were often dissatisfied with left-wing opponents proved more violent and led to a
the results. civil war. The Spanish Civil War lasted three years
France, too, adopted deflationary measures to cope (1936–1939) and destroyed trust in democracy in Spain
with the downturn in economic production and rise and among many Europeans generally (see Choice).
in unemployment. The French were even more con- The country went from a republican government in
servative than the British, keeping the franc on the 1931 to, in 1939, a titular monarchy actually headed by
gold standard at a time when every other European the authoritarian general Francisco Franco, the leader
country and the United States had abandoned it. By of the pro-Catholic right-wing forces. The son of a
1935, when most European countries had begun to naval postmaster, Franco had, at age thirty-four in
recover, France was registering its highest unemploy- 1926, become the youngest general in Europe. Before
ment rates (464,000, in contrast to 13,000 in 1930) and 1936, he had served under a right-wing nationalist
its lowest index of industrial production since 1929 coalition to purge the military of supporters of the
(30 percent lower). left. Through military skill and successful maneuver-
Yet France, too, resisted the fascist temptation and ing among his rivals, he built a reputation as a strong
defended democratic institutions, weathering a ma- leader and a unifier. Although many regarded Franco
jor political scandal in 1934 and a demonstration by
two hundred thousand protesters that was brutally
crushed by the police. Though fascist organizations National Unity Government Coalition government
in Britain during the first half of the 1930s, headed by
in France had more than 750,000 members, mainstream
Labour leader Ramsey MacDonald but dominated by
politicians and average citizens rejected fascist appeals the Conservatives.
and in 1936 put a strong antifascist coalition in power. Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) War won by the right-
wing Nationalists, supported by the Nazis, over repub-
Authoritarian Solutions lican left-wing forces, supported by the Soviets.
Francisco Franco (1892–1975) General and leader of
Most of Europe’s political elites, however, responded the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War and dictator
to the Great Depression by undermining or abandon- of Spain from 1939 until his death in 1975.
ing democratic institutions. Where such institutions
Responses to the Great Depression, 1929–1939 779
Pablo Picasso painted Guernica (1937) as a political-aesthetic reaction against the mass killings by right-wing
forces led by Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War. Specifically, Guernica, a small town in northern
Spain, was bombed in 1937 by German planes supporting Franco. Though muted in color, the painting became
a dramatic symbol of pacifism. Particularly powerful is the image of the mother with the dead child on the left-
hand side, screaming upward toward the bull, a symbol of both Spain and of Picasso himself. (Museo Nacional
Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid/Art Resource, NY, © ARS, NY)
as a supporter of fascism, he was in fact a pragmatist session with militarization led to a veritable arms
who used the support of fascist forces, especially from race in the area. Acquiring military equipment from
Italy and Germany, to win the civil war. By 1939, when Nazi Germany in return for agricultural goods that
Franco’s Nationalists won against the Republicans, could not find a market in western Europe relieved
over 1 million people had been placed in prison by some of the economic crisis for these countries but
Franco’s victorious dictatorship. The Catholic Church also rendered them greatly dependent on Germany
became Franco’s right arm in enforcing strict censor- for their military needs.
ship over culture, education, and other public services. The rhetoric and paramilitary organizations of the
In other young democracies, especially in eastern authoritarian regimes in eastern Europe resembled
Europe, political leaders and average citizens blamed those in fascist Italy. In fact, fascist movements were
democratic institutions and ethnic minorities for the particularly strong in Romania, Hungary, and Yu-
economic crisis. Their solution was to dissolve parlia- goslavia. But they did not foment fascist coups like
ments, suppress the voice of ethnic minorities, and Mussolini’s. Instead, the dictators of theses countries
establish authoritarian ethno-nationalist rule. In Ro- merely took on a fascist style, with uniformed sup-
mania, for instance, the young king Carol II claimed porters marching in the streets. Authoritarian regimes
he was the only leader interested in the unity of the in the rest of Europe remained much more conserva-
country, thus undermining all political parties. He tive in scope and ideology. They were interested in
dealt with the economic crisis by allowing antisemitic maintaining stability and preventing broad social and
propaganda and policies to flourish as he militarized political upheaval rather than in generating the kind
the economy, reviving floundering branches of indus- of changes Mussolini had brought about in 1922.
try by emphasizing the production of armaments. In
1938, he made himself a virtual dictator. By then, dicta-
torships had replaced parliamentary systems in many Carol II (r. 1930–1940) Romanian king who ruled in
eastern European states, including Latvia, Poland, authoritarian fashion.
Hungary, Greece, and Yugoslavia. Eastern European dictatorship Autocratic form of government headed
leaders used the revisionism of ethnic minorities as by a single all-powerful ruler, the dictator.
an excuse to build up the military. The increasing ob-
780 CHAPTER 27 Democracy Under Siege, 1929–1945
made us vacillating, dispirited, anxious people brave ization, and full employment. With membership in the
and courageous.” League of Nation, it gained international respectabil-
The appeal of the Nazis rested on posing simple ity. In the 1930s it was a model for many disillusioned
solutions for complicated problems and playing on people in the west. As a force in the antifascist strug-
the fears of a population caught in a deep economic gle, the Soviet Union emerged as a first-rank interna-
crisis that other parties could not end. It was not just tional power. The reality of Stalin’s rule, however, was
the die-hard antisemites who voted for the Nazis. grim: modernization and stability were accomplished
The party attracted educated and uneducated, poor only with much brutality. Stalin’s newly powerful
and well-to-do, men and women, workers and entre- country was a ruthless police state.
preneurs, and religious and secularized Germans.
But the largest group of Nazi supporters were those Domestic and Foreign Policies
either hurt badly by the depression—small artisans
and shopkeepers, some workers, farmers—or those While the rest of Europe was entering a period of eco-
who had come to see in the Weimar government only nomic crisis, the Soviet Union was relatively free of
a betrayal of Germany and defeat by outside forces— the vagaries of the free market, as it had not been in-
soldiers who had fought in the war, men laid off while volved in the Dawes Plan or affected by the rise of
women still worked, students, and antisemites. American banking in the world of international fi-
By November 1932, the Nazis were the strongest nance. Fully in control of the country’s political appa-
party in the Reichstag. Hitler did not have a mandate ratus, in the late 1920s Stalin turned his attention
to form a single government (the Nazis had received toward improving the Soviet Union’s international
only 33 percent of the vote), but he was not interested standing and developing the economy.
in sharing control and no other leaders were willing During the early 1930s, the Soviet Union reversed
to give him full powers. Then in January 1933, he be- its policy of fostering world revolution, focusing in-
came chancellor and embarked on a swift process of stead on international security issues. The most im-
undermining all democratic institutions of the Weimar portant foreign policy concern was to counter the rise
Republic through steps that were technically legal. In of threats in the west (Nazi Germany) and in the east
February, a mysterious fire in the Reichstag building (Japan). The Soviets pursued this goal with a two-
allowed Hitler to ask for emergency powers to go af- pronged strategy: diplomatic and military. In the realm
ter the culprits, whom he identified as communists. of diplomacy, the foreign commissar Maxim Litvinov
With the president’s approval, Hitler suspended all played the most important role. He was a skillful
free speech and asked for new elections, which gave diplomat who projected an image of cosmopolitan
the Nazis 44 percent of the vote. The new parliament sophistication, unlike most other representatives of
moved quickly to outlaw the Communist Party and the Soviet Union. During the 1920s, when the country
pass the Enabling Act, which gave Hitler extraordi- was still an international pariah and had no diplo-
nary powers in making executive decisions in all matic ties with the Great Powers, Litvinov had become
matters of “national security,” placing him above ac- involved in disarmament discussions in the League
countability to the legal and judicial branches of gov- of Nations. Through his relentless efforts, France (1932)
ernment. The act enabled Hitler to become a dictator and then the United States (1933) finally reestablished
and to begin reshaping Germany according to his vi- diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, opening
sion of a racially pure thousand-year empire—the the way for the its admission into the league in 1934
Third Reich. and for increased international economic ties.
What were the new elements added by Stalin to turn the in the 1930s who orchestrated the admission of the
Soviet Union into a totalitarian state? Soviet Union to the League of Nations.
pariah Outcast; a nation that is diplomatically
As Europe struggled with the Great Depression and shunned, its leadership and actions not recognized
political instability, the Soviet Union seemed on an as legitimate.
unstoppable track toward modernization, industrial-
782 CHAPTER 27 Democracy Under Siege, 1929–1945
Another component of the Soviet effort to build up over 100 percent in steel, electricity, and machinery
international strength was militarization. While Litvi- production, although some of these statistics were
nov was praising disarmament in the League of Na- manipulated. But by the end of the third five-year
tions, Stalin was focusing on the armament industry plan, in 1939, the Soviet Union was outproducing
as an important component of economic planning. The Britain and France, both still mired in depression, and
military was building new weapons, such as tanks was, after the United States and Germany, the third-
and new types of bombs. The military leadership was largest industrial power in the world.
fully committed to this program and conducted in- The greatest failure of the five-year plans pertained
tensive campaigns for training and diversifying the to the welfare of the workers. To the Soviet state, the
fighting forces. only thing that mattered was the growth of produc-
Internally, Stalin’s goal was nothing less than turn- tion; the basic material needs of average people were
ing an agricultural nation into an industrial power- unimportant. Only work and its products—the fin-
house. In 1929 he proclaimed: “We are becoming a ished good—had quantifiable value. In practice, this
land of metals, . . . automobiles, . . . tractors, and when meant that Soviet industries were built without any
we have put the USSR on an automobile and the peas- regard for worker safety. The Soviet workplace looked
ant on a tractor, let the noble capitalists . . . attempt to a lot more like the filthy capitalist enterprises criticized
catch up.” This ambitious goal, however, needed un- by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx a century earlier
precedented planning and government control. Stalin than the workers’ paradise envisioned by V. I. Lenin.
ended the New Economic Policy (NEP) and called on The Soviets used both rewards and coercion to mo-
his economic advisers to create a series of five-year bilize the labor force and increase productivity, espe-
plans that would set up a command economy: all cially in heavy industries. Workers who more than
aspects of the economy—from securing natural re- met production goals received higher pay and other
sources to research and development, employment, benefits, such as better housing. In addition, convict
and commerce—would be controlled by the state labor continued to be used in mining, lumbering, and
rather than the market. The supply of goods would building roads and waterways. Most workers put up
be determined by ideological goals—industrialization with these measures, some out of conviction and oth-
and modernization—rather than by consumer needs ers out of fear or need.
and wants. The first five-year plan focused obses- Peasants, however, resisted more stubbornly as the
sively on high production targets in heavy industries, Soviets converted agriculture into a state-owned sec-
subordinating production in all other areas to this tor. The five-year plans called for collectivization—
primary goal: it called for an increase of 300 percent in the confiscation of private land to create state-owned
the production of electricity, coal, pig iron, and steel. farms where production targets set by the state dic-
“There is no fortress that the Bolsheviks cannot storm,” tated the crops to be grown and the quantities to be
boasted the party leadership. produced. Peasants became wage-laborers who could
In the first few years, these industries achieved keep only small plots of land and a few animals around
huge levels of growth because they were so rudimen- the house for basic household needs. From the per-
tary at the start. In addition, Stalin empowered factory spective of the state, collectivization was a rational
managers and directors of heavy industry enterprises way to consolidate small holdings and increase pro-
to use any necessary means, often simply reallocating ductivity. Large state farms, with machinery unafford-
natural resources and transportation from other eco- able to most farmers, could produce better crops and
nomic sectors and using forced labor instead of paid larger yields, to everyone’s benefit. But for peasants,
workers for some of the most ambitious projects, collectivization robbed them of their identity. To be a
such as the Volga–White Sea Canal. But by the third
year, the rate of growth had slowed down. Without
comprehensive planning for the entire economy, the five-year plans Centralized formula for economic
planning initiated by Stalin in 1928 to direct and coor-
state risked halting production in some sectors, such dinate production in all sectors of economy.
as agriculture and light industries, to achieve the offi-
command economy State-controlled economy in
cial quotas in the heavy industry. For instance, if which all aspects of the economy are controlled by the
trains were made available only for mining and steel state in a centralized manner.
industries, production and delivery in other sectors collectivization Soviet policy for turning all agricul-
of the economy became blocked. In the end, the first tural land into state-owned farms and peasants into
five-year plan was a failure by its own goals, but it wage-laborers.
still produced some outstanding results—a growth of
The Soviet Union Under Stalin, 1929–1939 783
By 1939, several million people had been harassed mire the Soviet Union from afar than to experience it
and arrested by the NKVD in connection with alleged up close.
opposition. Many were executed; many more were
sent to forced-labor camps, the gulags, where a ma-
jority perished from the brutality of the guards and
the dreadful living conditions. An infamous camp The Third Reich, 1933–1945
was Solovetsky, an island in the Arctic Circle. Those
➜
who survived were used as slave labor, building rail- What distinguished the Third Reich from other political
regimes of the 1930s?
roads and hydroelectric stations as well as working in
➜
What methods did the Nazis employ to achieve total
coal, gold, and copper mines. control over German society?
Purges and the NKVD succeeded in transforming
high-ranking communist officials and average citi- In Germany, Hitler was also creating a totalitarian
zens alike into fearful, powerless pawns in the hands state. A pragmatist, he used the economic elites and
of the state. They completed Stalin’s social revolu- existing political institutions to gain support and elim-
tion. Through relentless and arbitrary brutality, the inate his enemies. But he was as quick to destroy incon-
Soviet Union was now a totalitarian police state. The venient allies, making himself—like Mussolini and
fate of all citizens rested in the hands of the party and Stalin—the supreme leader, the Führer. The Nazis did
on the whims of the Great Leader. The party and the not come to power with a clear political agenda other
state were one. The state controlled the economy and, than Hitler’s concepts of racial purity and the need to
through the secret police, intruded itself into every- revise the Versailles Treaty. But in a few years, violence
one’s daily life. A member of the Politburo could be- against internal enemies, in particular Jews, and ex-
come victim of Stalin’s rage as easily as a poor peasant. pansionism became the hallmarks of the Third Reich.
In fact, the closer one was to the center of power in
Moscow, the tighter the control exercised by Stalin’s Hitler’s Consolidation of Power
apparatus of fear. His ability to control Soviet society
through terror was unmatched by any leader in the Hitler won his mandate in 1933 by vowing to do
twentieth century, save Hitler. away with internal enemies. First on the list were the
Yet Stalin was not content to project the image of a communists, the purported villains behind the Reich-
feared tyrant. He wanted to impress Soviet citizens and stag fire. After the Enabling Act, he eliminated all po-
the world with his great accomplishments. Through a litical parties and trade unions. Labeling his moves as
costly and sophisticated propaganda machine, he built security measures, in 1934 he ordered his SS troops to
a mythical cult of personality that depicted him as a kill all conservative leaders who had opposed him
beloved father of the country. One propaganda ode before 1933 as well as leaders of his own storm troop-
from this period declared: “O great Stalin, O leader of ers. This Night of Long Knives, Hitler’s first internal
the peoples, / Thou who broughtest man to birth. / purge, paved the way for his dictatorial rule by terror,
Thou who fructifies the earth, / Thou who restorest much like Stalin’s purges that began during the same
to centuries, . . . O thou, / Sun reflected by millions of period.
hearts.” Writers were pressed into composing such Within six months Hitler had consolidated all po-
poems; to write in opposition to Stalin meant cer- litical power in his hands. With other political parties
tain death. gone, the Nazis moved to control civic and public in-
But many were in awe of Stalin and honest in their stitutions in the name of national and economic re-
praises. A movie producer who later became a critic construction. The foundation of this policy was the
of the regime confessed: “The strangest thing to me is
that I was absolutely sincere. I thought all this was a
necessary part of building communism. And then I gulag (Russian acronym for “Chief Administration of
believed Stalin.” Western intellectuals disillusioned Corrective Labor Camps”) Soviet forced-labor camp
system in which political enemies of the state were
with the weak democracies and their inability to fight confined and literally worked to death.
the fascist threat were also impressed by Soviet ac- totalitarianism State system in which the state has
complishments. The Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, total control over politics, economic life, and society at
for instance, came to glorify the Soviet Union under large.
Stalin. Engineers and scientists from Europe and the Night of Long Knives First SS purge, in which
America were likewise enthusiastic. But many of Hitler’s personal political enemies and disloyal follow-
those who went to the Soviet Union during the 1930s ers were killed in one night in 1934.
also disappeared into the gulag. It was safer to ad-
The Third Reich, 1933–1945 785
racist ideology set out in Mein Kampf. There Hitler ar- primary administrators of this policy. In 1933 the first
gued that the very racial identity of Jews and Slavs concentration camp, meant to advance the elimina-
made them a threat to the German nation and its dom- tion of undesirables, was established at Dachau, a
inant Aryan race, which supposedly had superior in- town north of Munich. Here initially communist and
tellectual, physical, and moral qualities. To ensure the other left-wing dissidents were taken to perform hard
purity and well-being of this race, Jews—whom Hitler labor in subhuman living conditions intended to
considered morally and physically subhuman, mate- starve them to death. Later, these “labor” camps were
rialistic, and physiologically unable to work for the turned into more effective killing factories, where most
nation’s greater good—had to be eliminated. To this of Europe’s Jews were exterminated.
end, Hitler used some of the popular ideas at that time, The policy of segregating and later eliminating Jews
especially eugenics, to suggest swift, “scientific” ways began to take shape in 1935 through the Nuremberg
to sort out those who were “desirable” from the rest Laws. These stripped Jews of citizenship, forbade them
and to eliminate the biological threat posed by “unde- to marry non-Jews, and restricted their economic and
sirables.” The eugenicist theories adopted by the Nazis social activities to the Jewish community. Jewish doc-
considered the health of an individual as a function tors could treat only Jewish patients; Jews could shop
primarily of genetic makeup, implying that it was only at Jewish stores. Now Jews who saw themselves
impossible to cure or rehabilitate those genetically as Germans and did not identify with Jewishness in
deficient. Eugenicist solutions ranged from prevent- terms of religion, customs, or language were forced to
ing intermarriage with the “healthy” population and assume a Jewish identity.
denying any social services to the genetically inferior But the Nazis were equally intent on controlling the
to outright sterilization and euthanasia. Under the desirables. Aryan women had to abide by the regime’s
guise of national reinvigoration—“creating a Germany pro-natalist policies, which limited their social role to
for Germans”—Hitler’s goal was to create a racially the home and children. Those who bore no children
pure state. were considered disloyal to the Führer and punished,
This irrational ideology worked because it was while unwed mothers of Aryan children were praised
convenient: it offered an easy scapegoat for Germany’s as patriotic Germans. People had to continually show
ills and did not force non-Jews to take responsibility their loyalty to the Nazi state to avoid the terror of the
or look for difficult solutions. But, in time, Jewishness Gestapo, which could at any moment arrest people
came to be defined in increasingly complicated ways to on the suspicion of treason or for being undesirables.
include individuals who did not identify themselves By the late 1930s, the Third Reich had become a total-
as Jews but rather as Germans. Men and women who itarian state under the complete control of the Nazis
were Catholics, for example, and had Aryan blond hair and their supreme Führer, much like the Soviet Union
and blue eyes, were considered Jewish if the state was under Stalin.
could uncover one Jewish grandparent. Thus, the Nazis Still, for ethnic Germans there was room for eco-
forced all people into trying to conform to racial nomic and social improvement in Hitler’s racist state.
stereotypes and hide any elements of their identity that During their first five years in power, the Nazis virtu-
might raise the suspicions of the dreaded Gestapo, ally eliminated unemployment, reducing it to less than
Hitler’s secret police. 1 percent (though that figure did not include more than
Hitler’s division of people into desirables and un- 1 million noncitizens—Jews and others imprisoned or
desirables went beyond Aryans and Jews, however.
Based on his racist theories, the category of undesir-
ables broadened throughout the 1930s to include all Aryan race Pseudoscientific idea of the racially supe-
Jews, Roma (Gypsies), and Slavs (for example, Poles) rior group that made up the German nation.
as well as socialists and communists (said to have euthanasia Forceful termination of one’s life in a pre-
sumably painless way.
joined with Jews in a “Judeo-Bolshevik plot” again
Gestapo (German contraction for Geheime
Germany), homosexuals, members of some religious
Staatspolizei, “secret state police”) Nazi secret police
denominations (for example, Jehovah’s Witnesses), that implemented Hitler’s policies of total control.
feminists, disabled persons, and anyone who suppos- concentration camp Camp for the internment of
edly suffered from a genetic disease or from tubercu- political prisoners and “undesirables,” especially as or-
losis, syphilis, or alcoholism. ganized by the Nazi regime.
The policies for dealing with undesirables aimed Nuremberg Laws Edicts issued by the Nazis in 1935
to eliminate them. Starting in 1933, the Nazis steril- that deprived Jews of German citizenship and initiated
ized Roma and then others deemed “unfit” to repro- their segregation from German life.
duce. Doctors and judges, not the Gestapo, were the
786 CHAPTER 27 Democracy Under Siege, 1929–1945
simply stripped of citizenship). For those who were and other “inferior” races. Hitler also skillfully used
citizens, incomes were going up, business opportuni- movies and radio as propaganda tools. The Nazis
ties were growing due to Hitler’s remilitarization of harnessed the talents of outstanding artists such as
the economy, and housing was becoming more afford- film director Leni Riefenstahl to produce arousing
able. Industrial production rose by nearly 30 percent and flawless documentaries and feature films de-
between 1932 and 1938, a success similar to Stalin’s signed to seduce average citizens into identifying
accomplishments. And, like Stalin, Hitler also built with the ideals of the Third Reich. The most notable
these successes on the bodies of those forced to give was Triumph of the Will, a cinematic masterpiece in
up their wealth, freedom, and life. But unlike Stalin, communicating a racist message with eloquence and
Hitler successfully rallied the wealthy business class in revealing how the Nazis hoped to transform the
to engage in his plan of economic recovery. From an German people into a homogeneous, energized, mili-
economic standpoint, the Nazi regime turned out to tarized, and obedient unit. Hitler also encouraged the
be more capitalistic and less socialistic than it had production of affordable radios so he could reach
claimed at the beginning. most Germans on a regular basis. In addition to mu-
Intense antisemitic propaganda also worked to jus-
tify the actions of the Nazis and gain the cooperation
of many average and well-educated Germans. School Leni Riefenstahl (1902–2003) Famous German film
textbooks were revised to include discussions of director who made propaganda films for the Nazis.
racial purity and the threat of marriages with Jews
The Third Reich, 1933–1945 787
International boundaries,
1936 Tallinn
Germany in 1933
ESTONIA
Remilitarized in 1936
Annexed in 1938
a
Annexed by Germany,
Se
Annexed by Soviet Union in DENMARK March 1939
c
ti
September 1939 Memel SOVIET
LITHUANIA
l
Ba Vilnius UNION
North Sea Minsk
EAST
Danzig
PRUSSIA
Hamburg WHITE RUSSIA
Bremen Elb
e
Vistu
la Pinsk
NETHERLANDS Berlin Warsaw
Oder Brest-Litovsk
RUHR
POLAND
GERMANY
We
Dunkirk Cologne
se
BELGIUM
r
Rhi
e
n
AND
NL
RHINELAND TE Prague
DE
SU
Dn
BOHEMIA SUDETENLAND ies
LUXEMBOURG ter
Nuremberg
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
SAAR
MORAVIA
Da n u b e
Gained by plebiscite,
1935 SLOVAKIA B
RUTHENIA E
SS
A
Munich R
Vienna To Hungary A
B
March 1939 IA
FRANCE Budapest
AUSTRIA
HUNGARY
SWITZERLAND
ROMANIA
ITALY
Ad
ri
YUGOSLAVIA D an u b e
at
MAP 27.1 The Expansion of Germany Between 1939 and 1942, Nazi Germany aggressively pur-
sued its goals of acquiring Lebensraum for its Aryan German population. Its success would prove to be
short-lived, however, especially as the Axis powers started to overstretch their resources.
Some religious leaders, such as the German Lu- later Pope Pius XII, chose a policy of compromise with
theran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, attempted both to the Nazis to protect the Catholic Church. Though
criticize the inhuman policies of the Nazis and to Pacelli spoke on several occasions against the Nazis
minister to their religious communities. Bonhoeffer and was critical of their antisemitic policies in some
went so far as to establish the underground pacifist of his writings, he also orchestrated a concordat in
Confession Church, which remained active through-
out World War II, at great peril to its leader and his Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) German Lutheran
following. Throughout the 1930s and the war, Bon- pastor who openly criticized the Nazis and organized
hoeffer voiced his strong opposition to the Nazis; he an underground church during the Third Reich.
was executed in April 1945 for his role in a plot to as- Pius XII (r. 1939–1958) Pope who failed to take a strong
sassinate Hitler. stance against the Nazis under the pretext of neutrality.
Other prelates, such as Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli,
790 CHAPTER 27 Democracy Under Siege, 1929–1945
offered little help. When the Soviets invaded Poland Between July and October 1940, Britain and Ger-
from the east on September 17, the Poles surrendered many engaged in intensive air combat, known as the
within ten days. The Soviets also proceeded to oc- Battle of Britain. Initially the Nazis pursued a policy
cupy Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania and incorporate of strategic bombing of air bases. Their success de-
them as Soviet Republics. Only Finland resisted So- pended almost exclusively on the strength and versa-
viet demands, fighting back and scoring some victo- tility of the Luftwaffe, while the British Royal Air
ries, but it, too, was ultimately defeated in the winter Force (RAF) had a sophisticated system of command
of 1939–1940. and coordination among its pilots enhanced by a radar
In the spring of 1940, Hitler turned west, invading network and good intelligence work in Germany.
Denmark and Norway and then attacking the These advantages gave the RAF great precision in in-
Netherlands and Belgium, which fell in two weeks. tercepting enemy planes (over 80 percent at times)
France was next. In mid-June 1940, German troops and coordinating aerial attacks. By contrast, though
marched into Paris, and Henri Pétain, the hero of Ver- the Nazis had excellent planes and pilots, they were
dun, signed over to German occupation the northern often less precise and had to resort to riskier blanket
three-fifths of the country. The south, Vichy France, bombing. In September, the Nazis shifted to a strat-
became a German puppet state under Pétain. This de- egy of bombing civilian targets, bent on terrorizing
feat was the greatest humiliation France had ever ex- the population and killing more than 23,000 civilians.
perienced, and it showed the whole world the aims But by October 1940, the RAF had outmaneuvered
and methods of the Third Reich. the Germans. The Battle of Britain was significant be-
Britain offered some aid to Belgium in May but cause it was the first time since 1939 that the Nazis
had had to evacuate its troops to prevent their cap- had suffered defeat and it severely weakened the
ture by the Nazis. In response to the fall of Norway, strength of the Luftwaffe. It also convinced Hitler to
Winston Churchill assumed leadership of the country shift his attention to other areas, though the Nazis
and radically shifted the British position from uncer- continued their attacks on Britain until June 1941.
tain support for its allies to standing fast against Churchill also gambled on assistance from the
Hitler, who now began an intensive bombardment of United States and initially received limited help. But
Britain’s industries and cities in preparation for inva- the heroic resistance of the British galvanized support
sion. During those difficult months, Churchill provided from President Roosevelt’s government, which in
what the British people needed—an unbounded en- March 1941 passed the Lend-Lease Act, granting “all
ergy and faith in the army, air force, civilians, and aid short of war” to Britain. Later that year, the two
democracy that proved inspiring. In June 1941, he de- leaders met to formulate a statement of war aims, the
clared resolutely: “We shall go on to the end. . . . We Atlantic Charter, which announced a commitment to
shall never surrender.” restoring democracy in Europe. Finally, Churchill
Churchill had been in British politics for a long gambled in sending British troops to the Mediter-
time, but he had never made more than a temporary ranean to fight Italian forces bent on conquering Egypt
mark. As an officer he had first served in India and and Greece. This strategy left the British Isles vulner-
Africa, then entered politics in 1901. As head of the able but created an important diversion in the south,
British navy, he was responsible for the disastrous as Hitler had to send German reinforcements to a
loss at Gallipoli early in World War I, which discred- new battlefront in North Africa and the Balkans. For
ited him for the next twenty-five years. By the mid- the first six months of 1941, German forces concen-
1930s, he was considered a political maverick, always
sure to take unpopular positions and often, critics
said, too eager to jump into half-baked plans. But Vichy France Puppet state established by the Nazis in
Churchill was also a passionate speaker, and his pow- southern France during World War II, named so for its
erful warnings about the threat to democracy posed capital in Vichy.
by the two great evils of fascism and communism Battle of Britain Nazi air campaign against the British
Isles in the fall of 1940 that became Germany’s first
grabbed the attention of the public and politicians major defeat.
alike. By 1940, he seemed the only leader with the vi-
Lend-Lease Act U.S. commitment in 1941 to grant
sion and courage to change the course of the British massive financial and military support to the Allies.
policy of appeasement and the magnetism to carry Atlantic Charter Agreement between Churchill and
the country with him: “Let us therefore brace our- Roosevelt in 1941 stating Allied goals for the war,
selves to our duties, and to bear ourselves that, if the including the commitment to restoring democracy in
British Empire and Its Commonwealth last for a thou- Europe.
sand years, they will say, ‘That was their finest hour.’”
World War II, 1939–1945 793
trated on taking Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Greece, new and important ally, the United States, which was
and Yugoslavia. compelled to declare war on the Axis following Japan’s
By June 1941, the Axis controlled almost all of Eu- surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
rope, from Norway to the Mediterranean and from Roosevelt sent an important infusion of food, sup-
France to Poland. Britain stood alone, with support plies, and armament to the Soviets, helping them re-
from the United States. The blitzkrieg strategies had bound from the massive losses incurred in 1941. Thus,
worked well for Hitler, and he now prepared to turn when the Germans reopened their offensive in Au-
east again, toward the Soviet Union, to pursue his gust 1942 by attacking Stalingrad, an important in-
Lebensraum policy. The about-face against his former dustrial center at the edge of European Russia, the
ally was anticipated in Britain, where intelligence Soviets were ready to fight back. In addition to Stalin-
concerning Operation Barbarossa had leaked in May. grad’s being a gateway to Asian Russia and oil re-
Churchill tried to warn Stalin, but to no avail. Other sources in the south, taking the city renamed for the
signs made it increasingly clear that Hitler was mount- Soviet leader had become an obsession for Hitler.
ing a large-scale operation against the Soviet Union, For Stalin, the city was also symbolic, and he used all
especially a series of alliances that drew Hungary, Ro- available propaganda to promote the idea that saving
mania, and Bulgaria into the Axis. it was the same as saving the Russian soul. The war
Thus, when the Nazis finally embarked on Opera- was no longer between communism and fascism; it
tion Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, no one except Stalin was now the Great Patriotic War, in which soldiers
was surprised. The campaign was unprecedented in and civilians, men and women, parents and children
size and scope, including more than 3 million Axis were called on to help Father Stalin and save Mother
troops, an air force of thousands, and more than three Russia from the Germanic invasion. Film director
thousand tanks. The Soviets had a formidable army as Sergei Eisenstein undertook his masterpiece, Ivan the
well, in terms of size and equipment, but they lacked Terrible, at this time, depicting the medieval ruler as
leadership. In addition to the purge of the officer corps, both despot and great patriot, the man who saved
which demoralized the remaining personnel, the mil- Russia from foreign threats. Stalin wanted to be seen
itary was also paralyzed by Stalin’s inability to come this way—ruthless against foreigners but an ally of
to terms with Hitler’s betrayal. Quickly, the Germans the simple people, who followed him faithfully. The
drove to Kiev, where they took more than six hundred morale of the people proved crucial to the defense of
thousand prisoners in just one battle. By the end of Stalingrad, which withstood months of house-to-house
October, they were besieging Leningrad and threat- fighting before the Germans surrendered on Febru-
ening Moscow in the north, while advancing toward ary 2, 1943, their troop strength diminished from five
oil fields in the south. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s pro- hundred thousand to eighty thousand. Stalingrad
paganda minister, announced that the war was over: had been reduced to rubble, and Soviet victory came
the Soviets had lost more than 2 million soldiers, three at the great price of over 1.5 million casualties.
hundred thousand square miles of land, and thousands The crushing defeat at Stalingrad slowed down
of planes and tanks. Germany seemed invincible, but the Nazis, but it was fighting at Kursk, between Feb-
important developments in 1942 turned the tide of ruary and July 1943, that permanently turned the tide
the war. of the war in the east. At Stalingrad, Nazi troops had
been at a tactical disadvantage because they were
Allied Victory
The Axis had driven across a large portion of the Rus- Operation Barbarossa Code name for the Nazi inva-
sian steppe, but the vast distances, harsh climate, and sion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.
rudimentary roads proved their greatest obstacles. As Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) Hitler’s propaganda
minister who played a central role in the Final
winter arrived, the Germans and their allies were un-
Solution.
able to get fresh troops and supplies to the front. In
Pearl Harbor U.S. naval base in Hawaii bombed by
addition, the Soviets conducted a scorched-earth pol- Japan on December 7, 1941, drawing the United States
icy of burning fields, removing livestock, and disas- into World War II.
sembling industrial enterprises before retreating east. Stalingrad (today Volgograd) Soviet city held under
Blitzkrieg collapsed into a war of attrition. German siege by the Nazis for six months where the Soviets
troops grew demoralized as temperatures plunged to scored one of the most important victories in 1942.
minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Many Germans froze to Kursk Battle in which the Nazis received a crushing
death, while the Russians went into hiding. defeat through Soviet blitzgrieg tactics.
Meanwhile, the British and the Soviets soon had a
794
Nov. 1942 boundaries NORWAY FINLAND
Hitler’s Greater Germany
Oslo Helsinki Leningrad
Other Axis nations SWEDEN
Axis-occupied areas Stockholm
Allied nations
Neutral nations North
IRELAND Riga Moscow
a
Sea DENMARK
Limit of Axis advance, Dublin Copenhagen
Se
a
Nov. 1942 ic
Volg
GREAT B a lt
Allied advance BRITAIN U. S. S. R.
Minsk
Limit of Allied advance, May 1945 London Hamburg
Berlin
NETH. Warsaw Kursk
Apr.–May 1945 Stalingrad
Major battle Normandy Battle of Aug. 1944–Jan. 1945 July 1943 Don Aug. 1942–Feb. 1943
El
June 1944 the Bulge BELG. Cologne
be
Dec. 1944– GERMANY Kiev
Jan. 1945 Apr. 1945
Dnie Kharkov
ATLANTIC Paris Rhine
Prague
per
Liberated, Aug. 1944
OCEAN CZECHOSLOVAKIA
CHAPTER 27 Democracy Under Siege, 1929–1945
Au
CROATIA
g.
Belgrade Bucharest Yalta
194
4
PORTUGAL SERBIA Black Sea
Marseilles
Madrid Dan u b e
Lisbon ITALY
Corsica Sofia
SPAIN Rome
BULGARIA
Anzio ALBANIA
Salerno
Jan. 1945 Ankara
GIBRALTAR Sardinia
(Gr. Br.) 3 TURKEY
Allied landings 94
t. 1 GREECE
p
Nov. 1942
Se
Algiers
July 1
94 Athens
Casablanca Oran 3
Sicily SYRIA
Tunis
(France)
Cyprus
IRAQ
MOROCCO Malta
(Vichy France) Kasserine Pass (Gr. Br.)
(Gr. Br.)
Feb. 1943 TUNISIA LEBANON
Crete
(Vichy France)
Mediterranean Sea
ALGERIA PALESTINE
(Vichy France) Tripoli
(Gr. Br.)
Alexandria TRANSJORDAN
(Gr. Br.)
El Alamein Cairo
0 300 600 Km. Oct.–Nov. 1942 SAUDI
ARABIA
0 300 600 Mi. LIBYA EGYPT
(Italy)
MAP 27.2 Allied Victory in Europe Soviet, British, and U.S. troops, supported by numerous resis-
tance movements in Axis-occupied territories, turned the tide of war after 1942. The Soviets bore the
brunt of the effort, both materially and in terms of lost lives.
World War II, 1939–1945 795
engaged in urban warfare, for which they were in- a newly developed weapon against Japan, the atomic
adequately prepared; but at Kursk, they could use bomb. The Japanese surrendered on August 14, and
blitzkrieg techniques. At the same time, however, the World War II was over.
Soviets had learned much about Nazi military strat- The total human toll of the war was as high as
egy and been able to upgrade their armaments, espe- 70 million people, by some estimates, with Europe suf-
cially tank power and antitank guns. Defeated by the fering roughly half of the casualties. Approximately
Soviets at their best game, the Nazis were profoundly 20 million of these were soldiers, and the remaining
demoralized and began to retreat. 50 million were civilians. The astronomic number and
In North Africa, German forces had also been ratio of civilian to soldier casualties were unprece-
pushed back by the British, now joined by American dented. Those who suffered the most were in eastern
troops. By May 1943, the Germans had withdrawn Europe: Yugoslavia lost 4.5 million people, a higher
entirely from the region. With North Africa secured, ratio of its population than Germany’s 7.7 million casu-
the Allies were able to launch an invasion of Sicily, a alties, while in Poland, Warsaw alone had more casual-
steppingstone to the invasion of Italy in September ties in absolute numbers than Britain and the United
1943. Mussolini was forced from power but remained States combined. The vast majority of the Jewish pop-
in the hands of the Germans, at the helm of a puppet ulation exterminated in the war came from eastern
republic in northern Italy. Europe. The extent of material destruction was equally
In addition, the Allies pursued a strategy of all- unprecedented, with eastern Europe again experienc-
out air attacks on Germany. The policy of strategic ing the highest losses as two waves of occupation and
bombing—attacking important military, industrial, destruction—the Nazis and then the Soviets—swept
and transportation centers—failed in its immediate through the area between 1939 and 1945.
goals of destroying the military capacity of the Nazis, The Allies won the war by outperforming their en-
but it did cut production. Night bombing afforded emies in military technology, intelligence gathering,
greater protection from anti-aircraft guns but also re- science, diplomacy, and mobilization on the home
duced precision in hitting targets and increased civil- front. On the eastern front, the Soviets spared no ex-
ian losses. Some 300,000 Germans died and 750,000 pense and converted more than 50 percent of their in-
were maimed in Allied air raids. But it was clear that dustrial production to building tanks that were larger
Hitler would be defeated only by an invasion. and more powerful than Germany’s. The British de-
On June 6, 1944, Operation Overlord began. In one veloped radar technology essential to the RAF success
of the most intense military operations of the war, the in the Battle of Britain. The Allies also used new tech-
Allies crossed the English Channel to land more than nology to break the German and Japanese military
2 million soldiers (Americans, British, Poles, Belgians, codes. And the Americans invested nearly $2 billion
Canadians, Norwegians, Dutch, and French) and mil- and employed more than 130,000 people in the Man-
lions of tons of military equipment in Nazi-occupied hattan Project, the vast nuclear engineering complex
France. Securing the first strip of beach involved that worked steadily between 1942 and 1945 to de-
heavy casualties, but months of careful planning paid velop the atomic bomb before the Germans did and
off. Now the Germans had to fight a three-front war— to use it to force the Japanese surrender.
east, west, and south—and could do little more than Another key to Allied victory was diplomacy. The
resist while retreating. Paris was liberated by August, ability of Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt to work to-
Brussels in September, and that month the first Allied gether, despite their fundamental ideological dif-
troops crossed into Germany. ferences and deep distrust between Stalin and his
In the east, the Soviets were also advancing steadily. western allies, was one of the remarkable successes of
In January 1945, they liberated the concentration camp the war. The three met on two important occasions
at Auschwitz and took Warsaw; in April, advance
units of the American and Soviet armies met south of
Berlin on the Elbe River. Mussolini met his end on
Operation Overlord Code name for the Allied inva-
April 28, killed by Italian partisans while trying to es- sion of France in June 1944.
cape. He was then publicly hung so that crowds atomic bomb Bomb powered by nuclear energy, with
could freely abuse his body. Two days later, trying to unprecedented destructive capability, developed first
avoid the humiliation of capture, Hitler committed by scientists in the United States.
suicide together with his wife, Eva Braun, in his Manhattan Project Extensive science and develop-
Berlin bunker. On May 8, the Soviets finally liberated ment program in the United States in 1942–1945 that
Berlin and brought the war to an end on the Euro- produced a nuclear bomb.
pean front. Three months later, the United States used
796 CHAPTER 27 Democracy Under Siege, 1929–1945
SOVIET UNION
.)
(U.S
5
194
5
Sakhalin
Aleutian Is.
194 Island Attu I.
19
45 1943
5
194
.
Is
MONGOLIA 1945 MANCHURIA ril
Ku
er
nd
Beijing
rre
JAPAN
su
KOREA
at
ry
NORTH
to
Tokyo
rri
CHINA
te
se
Hiroshima
PACIFIC
ne
pa
Nagasaki Ja
OCEAN
Bonin Is.
19
45 Okinawa Midway I.
INDIA June 3, 1942
19
Iwo Marcus I.
45
1943 Harbor
5
PHILIPPINE
THAILAND ISLANDS
FRENCH 1944 43
(U.S.) 19
INDOCHINA Leyte 1944 Guam
19
45
BRUNEI Caroline Is. Marshall
MALAYA (Gr. Br.) N. BORNEO Is.
(Gr. Br.) SARAWAK (Gr. Br.) 194
(Gr. Br.) 4
Singapore
0° Borneo Equator
New Guinea
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES SOUTH PACIFIC
Solomon Is.
OCEAN
Port Moresby
Guadalcanal
Coral Sea Samoa Is.
May 4, 1942 19
42
INDIAN OCEAN Farthest advance of
Japanese conquests, 1942
1943
Allied-controlled territory
MAP 27.3 War in Asia In the war against Japan in the Pacific, the United States bore the brunt of
the effort. Support from Australia and the Soviet Union were ultimately essential for defeating Japan.
during the war, in Teheran in 1943 and Yalta in 1945. would play a major role in the political reconfigura-
The Yalta Conference was particularly important as tion of Europe after the war.
it laid the foundation for the creation of the United
Nations, determined policies for liberating and divid- Mobilization, Collaboration,
ing Germany, allowed postwar Poland and eastern
Europe to fall primarily within the Soviet sphere of
and Resistance
influence, and arranged for the Soviet Union’s entry The Allies could not have won the war without the
into the war against Japan. The last two provisions unprecedented mobilization of civilians, who worked
were the result of an informal exchange between the
Americans, who desperately wanted support against Yalta Conference Meeting of Churchill, Roosevelt, and
Japan, and the Soviets, who sought to control the po- Stalin in 1945 to discuss postwar peace.
litical future of eastern Europe. The Yalta Conference
World War II, 1939–1945 797
in war industries and other essential capacities and, ries, such as Slovakia, Vichy France, and Croatia,
in occupied regimes, participated in resistance move- where the Nazis set up puppet governments. To sup-
ments. Women, especially, served in new capacities. ply the war machine with much-needed armaments
They were allowed to join, and in some cases were and other industrial products, food supplies, and
even drafted into, the military. But only in the Soviet fuel, the Nazis depended heavily on collaboration
Union did they serve as combatants, from ambulance with native populations. Even in places like Poland,
drivers to pilots. More important, however, women where the official policy was to exterminate all Jews
were mobilized for economic production and auxiliary and where more than 2.5 million non-Jewish Poles
services, such as medical aid, supplies, and various perished in the war, the Germans needed to work
public service jobs, from secretaries to bus drivers. with the Polish population at the local level. This pol-
Their service was significant in Britain and especially icy was also implemented in the Czech lands, France,
in the Soviet Union, where women already consti- the Netherlands, Serbia, and Greece. The peoples of
tuted almost half of the labor force. During the war, occupied countries faced difficult choices—either col-
female employment in Soviet industries climbed to laborate with the Nazis or become their victims.
an unprecedented 60 percent. Many learned to work within this harsh system and
In Germany, the mobilization of civilians was care- play by its methods. In Prague, for example, a Czech
fully weighed against fears of demoralization. Hitler man working for the German authorities stopped
allowed the production of consumer goods as a means saluting his Jewish neighbors on the street, fearful
of diverting the anxiety of families whose sons and that he might be suspected of being a Jew himself.
husbands were away at war. The standard of living of Soon he asked his son not to play with their Jewish
Aryan Germans remained close to the prewar levels neighbor, until one day the Jewish family was gone.
long after Soviets, Italians, and Romanians were asked Though he was sad and afraid, he was also relieved.
to give up their personal comforts. By contrast, in Occupation forced most people to spy, lie, and vilify
Britain, people were asked to conserve, give up, and fellow humans in order to survive, corrupting their
buckle down throughout the war. The constant bomb- human dignity.
ings during the Battle of Britain both frightened civil- Despite fear and violent reprisals, resistance move-
ians and helped build their resolve. The tremendous ments developed in all occupied territories and even
losses incurred by the Soviets during the first year of in Germany, some spectacular in scope and results,
combat also worked as powerful propaganda in the others merely symbolic. In Germany, the most remark-
hands of the communist government, which used pa- able were the efforts of military leaders to assassinate
triotism to recruit the help of civilians and then cele- Hitler in 1943 and 1944. These officers were attempt-
brated their heroism, especially after Stalingrad. ing to rescue the German war effort from Hitler’s in-
Civilian help was also essential in occupied territo- creasingly irrational leadership, but they were not
798 CHAPTER 27 Democracy Under Siege, 1929–1945
necessarily opposed to either the racist ideology or scribed to the long-held assumption that there was a
the expansionist goals of the Third Reich. They all “Jewish problem” in Europe. The progression of the
failed, and the officers were executed. Final Solution is summarized in Table 27.4.
More widespread resistance movements devel- The decision to pursue a policy of genocide against
oped in the France, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union, and all Jews was made official at the Wannsee Conference
Poland. In France, the Free French, under the leader- in January 1942, though the specific means by which
ship of Charles de Gaulle, provided a focus for the estimated 11 million Jews of Europe were to be
courage and hope. The Free French military contribu- killed was not yet discussed. Experiments with mass
tions were modest, but they helped de Gaulle estab- killings through conventional and chemical weapons
lish himself as the liberator of his people. had already been tried both before the war in Ger-
The most successful partisan movement in occu- many and during the eastern campaigns in Poland,
pied Europe was that of the Yugoslav Communists, led Byelorussia, Ukraine, and Russia. The rounding up of
by Josip Broz Tito. His well-organized guerilla army the Jews was assigned to special troops, the Einsatz-
liberated Yugoslavia with only indirect assistance from gruppen, small mobile killing units made up of the
the Allies, and largely independent of the Soviets. This cruelest SS and Gestapo recruits. The Einsatzgruppen
movement was more successful because of broad pop- were to eliminate other undesirables also, including
ular support, Tito’s tight leadership, and Germany’s communists, Roma, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Slavs.
weak control in Yugoslavia. But Tito accomplished this Another important policy was to place all Jews in
remarkable feat by also committing atrocities against occupied territories in ghettos, where they were sealed
other partisan movements and civilians. off from the non-Jewish population. In Warsaw, for
In Poland, an underground Polish Home Army instance, the European city with the largest Jewish
acted to thwart German operations with great brav- population, several thousand Poles were moved out
ery. They were also able to supply important intelli- to make room for around half a million Jews, crowded
gence to the Allies. In the final months of the war, a into a few city blocks. Before being sent to concentra-
large part of this resistance force perished in the War- tion camps, these people were first stripped of all
saw Uprising, which attempted the liberation of the possessions and forced into crowded, unheated, and
city from Nazi occupation in August 1944. Despite lice-infested rooms. Jews unable to leave the ghettos
promises to come to the aid of the Poles, Stalin kept were gradually starved to death through inadequate
the advancing Soviet armies from providing any sup- food supplies. Some also perished because of unsani-
port to the uprising, which was violently crushed. tary and overcrowded conditions, which fostered tu-
Though valiant in its efforts to liberate Poland, the berculosis and other epidemics.
Home Army did little to help Polish Jews and was The Nazis used deceit and fear to manage the ghet-
generally reluctant to accept Jews as members. tos. They set up Jewish councils and police, dividing
communities by forcing Jews to monitor one another
The Final Solution
Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) Leader of the Free
The unprecedented level of brutality against civilians French, the partisan movement that worked to liberate
is one of the deepest moral challenges posed by World France, and first president of postwar France.
War II. Millions of innocents on both sides of the con- Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980) Leader of the Yugoslav
flict were imprisoned, placed under siege and starved Communist Party and of the most successful partisan
to death, forced into slave labor, raped, and bombed, movement in World War II.
initially with conventional artillery and at the very Warsaw Uprising Revolt by the partisan Polish Home
end with nuclear bombs. But by far the most horrify- Army in the fall of 1944 against the Nazis.
ing aspect of World War II was the Nazi policy of de- Final Solution Nazi concept of exterminating all
stroying the Jews of Europe. Eliminating the Jews from European Jews as a response to the so-called Jewish
problem in Europe.
German society had been a fundamental concept of
Wannsee Conference Meeting of high-ranking Nazis
the Nazis since before 1933. And yet the technologies in early 1942 that officially decided to exterminate
to bring about the Final Solution—the physical exter- all Jews.
mination of all Jews—did not come together until the Einsatzgruppen (in German, “mission groups”) Nazi
war. This diabolical policy came into being in a com- death squads created at the beginning of the war to
bination of Hitler’s irrational theories of racial purity round up and execute Jews and other “undesirables.”
with the expertise of architects, engineers, doctors, ghetto Small, sealed-off areas in Nazi-controlled cities
biologists, and other people well grounded in the foun- where the Jewish population was forced to live.
dations of science and reason, many of whom sub-
World War II, 1939–1945 799
a
Se
DENMARK Jungernhof
60 i LITHUANIA
lt SOVIET
c
143,000
NETHERLANDS
Ba UNION
GREAT 100,000
Kaunas 1,000,000
BRITAIN E lb
e Minsk
Bialystok
Vi Maly Trostinets
st
ula Treblinka
Bergen–
Belsen P r i p ya t '
Warsaw
Rhin
Chelmno
Lublin Sobibor
d
e
BELGIUM GERMANY er
O
Bu
S POLAND
141,500
g
28,900 Cracow
ein
Drancy 3,000,000
Auschwitz
e
RI
A
Bozen Zagreb
Fossoli Odessa
Po Iasenovac ROMANIA
Belgrade 287,000
CROATIA
Dan u be
60,000 SERBIA
SPAIN Black
ITALY BULGARIA
Sea
7,680
ALBANIA
GREECE TURKEY
67,000
Extermination camp
Concentration camp
Major ghetto
77,320 Estimated Jewish death toll,
Me
by country dite
rran
Under Axis control ean S 0 200 400 Km.
Allied nations
ea
0 200 400 Mi.
Neutral nations
Table 27.4
The Final Solution and compete for inadequate food supplies and menial
jobs, while Nazi death squads periodically entered
March 1933 Dachau concentration camp the ghettos to kill people at random. Jewish leaders
opens were required to select and round up those who would
September 1935 Nuremberg Laws be sent to concentration camps. Some of these leaders
October 1939 First Polish ghetto committed suicide; others were killed by their own
October 1941 Auschwitz concentration camp
communities. Upon his arrival at Auschwitz, the
is opened for the extermination
of Jews leader of the Lódz ghetto was beaten to death by Jew-
January 1942 Wannsee Conference ish inmates, who viewed him as the filthy tool of the
January 27, 1945 Soviets liberate Auschwitz and Germans. The Nazis were clever in setting Jews
its remaining 7,000 inmates against Jews, forcing them to victimize each other
April 1945 Allies liberate last concentration and question the very core of their identity.
camps In the camps, Nazi engineers and architects de-
signed gas chambers made to look like shower rooms,
800 CHAPTER 27 Democracy Under Siege, 1929–1945
and scientists identified Zyklon B, an insecticide, as a could have been done to save Jews and others and
cheap and effective lethal gas. Labor camps in Poland why such efforts failed. Those who committed these
were transformed into extermination camps; at Ausch- crimes against humanity abound. In Germany, they
witz alone, 1.5 million Jews perished. By April 1945, were not just Nazi fanatics but ordinary citizens who
when the last camps were liberated, over 6 million either willingly helped or looked the other way. In oc-
Jews had been killed as well as more than 4.6 million
other people classified by the Nazis as undesirables. Zyklon B Type of insecticide used by the Nazis for
The tragedy of European Jewry is incomprehensible efficient extermination of the Jews in the death camps.
in rational terms and raises questions about what
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
George Orwell Reflects on Nationalism
In May 1945, Europe lay in ruins, beyond recognition. George Orwell had reported
on the war for the BBC and had seen both Nazi racism and British nationalist pro-
paganda take their turn at vilifying the enemy. To Orwell, it seemed hardly suit-
able to stand proud because the Allies had just won the war in Europe. Instead, he
wrote a sobering reevaluation of the nationalism that had fueled the war effort
on both sides.
➜ Do you agree with Or- ➜ By “nationalism” I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings
well’s distinction between can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions or tens of millions
patriotism and nationalism? of people can be confidently labeled “good” or “bad”. But secondly—and this is
Are there instances when much more important—I mean the habit of identifying oneself with a single na-
defending oneself can actu- tional or other unit, its interests. Nationalism is not to be confused with patrio-
ally mean military aggression tism. By “patriotism” I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way
and securing more power for of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force on
one’s nation? other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally.
Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. The
abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige,
not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his
own individuality.
➜ Do you agree with this ➜ Confronted with a phenomenon like Nazism, which we can observe from
statement? How, then, is one the outside, nearly all of us would say much the same things about it. But here I
to explain the popularity of must repeat what I said above, that I am only using the word “nationalism” for
the Nazis? lack of a better. Nationalism includes such movements and tendencies as commu-
nism, political Catholicism, Zionism, antisemitism, Trotskyism and Pacifism. It does
not necessarily mean loyalty to a government or a country, still less to one’s own
country, and it is not even strictly necessary that the units in which it deals should
➜ How can the proletariat actually exist. ➜ To name a few obvious examples, Jewry, Islam, Christendom, the
be the object of passionate Proletariat and the White Race are all of them objects of passionate nationalistic
nationalist feeling? Is it feeling: but their existence can be seriously questioned, and there is not definition
equivalent to hold a religious, of any one of them that would be universally accepted.
versus racist, versus class It is also worth emphasizing once again that nationalist feeling can be purely
identity at the heart of one’s negative. There are, for example, Trotskyists who have become simply enemies of
nationalism? Are there im- the USSR without developing a corresponding loyalty to any other unit. . . . A na-
portant differences among tionalist is one who thinks solely, or mainly, in terms of competitive prestige. . . . He
these categories of identity? sees history, especially contemporary history, as the endless rise and decline of great
World War II, 1939–1945 801
power units, and every event that happens seems to him a demonstration that his
➜ Looking back at the case own side is on the upgrade and some hated rival is on the downgrade. . . . ➜ Na-
studies before Orwell’s eyes in tionalism is power-hunger tempered by self-deception. Every nationalist is capable
1945, do you see this combi- of the most flagrant dishonesty, but he is also—since he is conscious of serving
nation of self-delusion and something bigger than himself—unshakably certain of being in the right.
intense passion as a strength
or a weakness of nationalist
movements?
How did the challenges to democracy from 1929 to world domination. Between Hitler’s drive for Lebens-
1945 help transform European identity and civilization?
raum in the east and Stalin’s attempt to turn his coun-
➜
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
in Washington, D.C.
“We must draw a veil over all the horrors of the past,” concluded Winston Churchill after World War II.
Indeed, for more than two decades few people wanted to talk about the Holocaust. For some, it was an
uncomfortable feeling of guilt for not having done enough; for others, the victims, it was the unbearable
memories of the camps. The word Holocaust did not begin to enter mainstream vocabulary with reference
to the genocide against the Jews until the 1960s. In the next decades, trials of Nazi officials for crimes
against humanity, interest in the stories of survivors, the establishment of Holocaust archives, and the de-
classification of many World War II archives increased interest in the events of the war years and permitted
details, long hidden or suppressed, to be uncovered.
It was in the spirit of preserving the memory of the victims, educating future generations about this tragedy,
and encouraging individuals to “reflect upon the moral and spiritual questions raised by the events of the
Holocaust as well as their own responsibilities as citizens of a democracy” that in 1978 U.S. President Jimmy
Carter established the Holocaust Memorial Commission in Washington, D.C., which led to the building of
the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Open since 1993, this museum is a unique presence on the National
Mall, home to the Smithsonian Institution, as it focuses on one historical event that did not take place in
the United States or primarily involve Americans.
The museum houses a permanent exhibit, a number of temporary exhibits such as “Nazi Olympics Berlin
1936” (1996–1997), and a research institute on the history of the Holocaust and genocide. It has had more
than 19 million visitors, of which almost 6 million have been children. The most impressive feature of the
museum is the identity each visitor is asked to assume at the beginning. By following the fate of one real
victim step by step, each visitor is able to feel something of the powerlessness and dehumanization suffered
by innocent women, men, and children. The museum carries the clear message that “this could happen to
you,” a sobering reflection on the value of democracy.
Suggested Readings
Bartov, Omer, ed. The Holocaust: Origins, Implementation and University of Wisconsin Press, 1996. A classic comparative his-
Aftermath. New York: Routledge, 2000. A critical study of the tory of fascism in Europe, from Italy to Romania.
Holocaust that summarizes the state of the field and offers ma- Tucker, Robert. Stalin in Power: The Revolution from Above,
jor reinterpretations by leading Holocaust authors. 1928–1941. New York: Norton, 1992. A close look at the totali-
Dülffer, Jost. Nazi Germany, 1933–1945: Faith and Annihila- tarian policies of Stalin and the cult of personality before World
tion. New York: E. Arnold, 1996. A general introduction to the War II.
Third Reich reflecting the latest research, including the author’s, Weinberg, Gerhard. A World at Arms: A Global History of
and emphasizing the preparation for and conduct of the war. World War II. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University
Kindleberger, Charles P. The World in Depression, 1929–1939. Press, 2005. A comprehensive examination of World War II that
Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1986. looks at grand strategy and diplomacy.
A broad comparative look at the impact of the Great Depression. Weintraub, Stanley. The Last Great Cause: The Intellectuals
Payne, Stanley. A History of Fascism, 1914–1943. Madison: and the Spanish Civil War. New York: Weybright and Talley,
1975. An illuminating collection of stories about the war.
Websites
A Library of Congress virtual exhibit on politics and daily life Multimedia teaching site of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s on-
under Soviet control with many interesting documents and line Museum of Tolerance containing brief articles and in-
useful links, Soviet Archives Exhibit, at www.ibiblio.org/ depth analyses of controversial questions about the Holocaust
expo/soviet.exhibit/entrance.html#tour and Nazi Germany, with photographs, documents, bibliogra-
Detailed timeline of World War II with related articles, web phies, and several virtual exhibits, Multimedia Learning Center,
links, and good photographs, World War II Timeline, at http:// at http://motlc.wiesenthal.com
history.sandiego.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/start.html
804
CHAPTER
Europe Divided,
1945–1968
CHAPTER OUTLINE
A
0
DE
E
nco
S HU
EAST
GERMANY
French
Sector EAST
GERMANY
East
British Sector Berlin
West
Berlin Soviet
Sector
U.S. Sector
Potsdam
am
805
806 CHAPTER 28 Europe Divided, 1945–1968
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Ana Pauker Submits to the
Communist Party
In August 1944, Ana Pauker rode into Bucharest atop a Soviet tank,
returning to the city of her troubled youth as a liberator (or
conqueror). She had traveled a long and difficult path from her
birth to an impoverished Jewish family in northern Romania, at
a time and place where antisemitism was popular and where
women were regarded as second-class citizens. Intelligent and
fearless, she worked hard against this double discrimination and
the roles traditionally assigned to women like her. She first chose
to study Judaism and then went on to join the Communist Party
during World War I, having opposed Romania’s entry into the war.
Though she spent some years abroad after the war, she returned
to Romania to lead underground activities against Romania’s
unstable governments. During the 1920s and 1930s, she served
several prison sentences, the last one at the same time that her
husband, Marcel Pauker, was imprisoned by the Soviets during
the Great Purges.
Ana Pauker Pauker denounced her husband at his 1938 trial in
Moscow. At that moment, she understood clearly that she had to pick one
Named by Time magazine in
of her conflicting loyalties—family or the communist revolution. If she
1948 as “the most powerful
questioned the Moscow party line, she would be betraying her ideological
woman alive,” Ana Pauker
convictions. She chose ideology. By betraying her husband, she aligned
was in charge of the Com-
herself with Moscow and made herself ready to win control in Romania
munist Party in Romania
after the war.
between 1948 and 1953. Yet
After she returned to Romania in 1944, she retained this all-consuming
she never served as the gen-
loyalty. She willingly gave up leadership of the Communist Party in recognition
eral secretary of the party, for
that, as a woman and Jew, she was a liability to the party. Only by downplaying
as woman and a Jew, she
these identities could she be a decision maker in the government. As shadow
realized these identities
leader of the party in the Politburo, she oversaw the purging of the pre-
would hamper her authority
communist political leadership and the transformation of the state into one
as the official leader. (Time
modeled after Stalin’s vision. In 1948, Time magazine named her “the most
Life Pictures/Getty Images)
powerful woman alive.”
Yet by 1951, Pauker had come into conflict with other Romanian communist
leaders, as well as Stalin, especially over collectivization. Having given so much
of her personal life to the party, Pauker assumed she could independently make
the most important decisions in this aspect of economic reform. She wanted to
collectivize slowly, to ensure that peasants would not come to resent the party.
Though she did not come from a peasant family, she cared about the fate of
peasants, and though she felt deep personal loyalty to Stalin, she also cared
about Romania. Still, many in Romania perceived her as a “foreigner” because
of her Jewish origins. In an atmosphere of growing antisemitism, Pauker’s
competitors in the party used this conflict to accuse her of betraying com-
munism. Only her personal friendship with Stalin saved her life. But in 1953
The Iron Curtain, 1945–1958 807
Pauker was forced to denounce herself as a traitor and renounce her member-
ship in the Communist Party. Once more she sacrificed herself for the sake of
the party.
Few people mourned Pauker’s departure from the party leadership, as her ruth-
less style was much feared. But, unlike other communists, Pauker seems to have
wanted power not so much for herself but rather in order to carry out her convic-
tions. She passed away two decades later, in anonymity and still much hated by
many Romanians.
Chronology
1945 Potsdam Conference discusses how to administer 1951 European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)
postwar Germany is established
1946 National Health Service Act ensures healthcare 1953 Stalin dies
for all in Britain
1954 Vietnam gains independence
1947 India gains independence;
Truman Doctrine commits the United States to 1954–1962 Algerians win independence from the
fight communism worldwide; colonial French government
U.S. Marshall Plan offers reconstruction aid to
western Europe 1955 Warsaw Pact is formed
1947–1948 Communists take over Romania, 1956 Khrushchev delivers Secret Speech criticizing
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, East Stalin;
Germany, and Bulgaria Hungarian Uprising is crushed by Soviets;
Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal
1948 Stalin expels Tito from Cominform;
Stalin begins purges of eastern European 1958 European Economic Community is formed
communist leadership
1958 French Fourth Republic falls;
1949 Indonesia gains independence; De Gaulle succeeds in French presidential coup
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is
1961 Soviets construct Berlin Wall
founded;
Committee for Mutual Economic Assistance 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
(CMEA) is founded;
Mao Zedong leads communist takeover in China 1968 Prague Spring is crushed by Soviets;
Students and workers create national strike in
1950–1953 Korean War ends in stalemate France
Berlin were divided into four occupation zones, while man rights, to sit in judgment on Nazi racism and the
other areas of Europe fell under the control of the lib- Final Solution. But many high-ranking Nazi officials
erating ally. involved in the death camps and most rank-and-file
In 1945, Soviet troops had liberated all the coun- party members escaped trial. Many of them now cast
tries east of Berlin and were fully in control of them. themselves as victims or innocent bystanders. During
A 1944 percentages agreement between Winston his trial at Nuremberg, Hermann Göring, head of the
Churchill and Joseph Stalin assigned Romania and Luftwaffe, rejected the notion of collective guilt. “It is
Bulgaria to the Soviet sphere of influence, Czechoslo- the leaders of the country who determine the policy,”
vakia and Greece to the West (Britain, France, and the
United States), with Yugoslavia and Hungary in a
fifty-fifty arrangement. Subsequently at Yalta (1945), percentages agreement Secret agreement reached by
Churchill and Stalin in 1944 regarding the division of
Poland was placed in the hands of the Soviets, while
eastern Europe.
Czechoslovakia’s fate remained open.
Nuremberg Trials Postwar trials of Nazi leaders
To be viewed as liberators, the Americans, aided and collaborators, held in Nuremberg, Germany, in
by the British and French, swiftly rounded up Nazi 1945–1946.
Party members and collaborators. The Nuremberg de-Nazification Destruction of Nazism and its influ-
Trials were the most famous of the de-Nazification ence.
war crime trials that took place everywhere in Europe Hermann Göring (1893–1946) Nazi leader, founder of
between 1945 and 1948. These international tribunals the Gestapo and head of the Luftwaffe, who was con-
brought charges of “crimes against humanity,” a new victed at the Nuremberg Trials.
legal concept rooted in Enlightenment notions of hu-
The Iron Curtain, 1945–1958 809
A
Palestine, 1920–1948
fascist dictatorship.”
RI
SY
Using the Nuremberg model, in eastern Europe, as U.N. Partition Plan, Nov. 1947
Acre
Proposed Jewish state
the Soviet sphere was increasingly called, the Soviets Haifa
Proposed Arab state
orchestrated trials against many military and politi-
Jordan
International Zone
cal leaders who had worked with the Nazis or, more
Tulkarm
recently, opposed the Soviets. Invariably, those tried Tel Aviv Nablus
Jaffa
were found guilty and executed or sent to prison. In
eastern Europe, the de-Nazification trials became both Mediterranean Jericho
N
DA
sponsibility for war crimes rested exclusively on the EGYPT
OR
shoulders of the Germans and other foreign fascists.
SJ
NEGEV
AN
The de-Nazification trials failed to find all Nazi
TR
collaborators and punish them. The prosecutors had SINAI PENINSULA
neither the ability nor the political will for such a vast
task, and many collaborators went into hiding or
committed suicide. But the trials did enable survivors 0 50 Km.
to achieve a degree of closure on the Nazi past and
0 50 Mi.
get on with their lives. In addition, in light of the grow-
ing competition with the Soviet Union, the western
allies found it politically expedient to complete de-
MAP 28.1 UN Mandate for Israel and Palestine,
Nazification quickly in order to shift focus toward
1947 The UN Mandate, which created the legal frame-
economic reconstruction. work for international recognition of Israel, left the status
of the Arab inhabitants of Palestine unresolved. The con-
flict that rages today between Israel and the Arab states
Displaced Persons in the Middle East originated with the formation of the
To get on with their lives, however, many Europeans state of Israel in 1948.
first had to try to find a home. Entire cities were in
rubble, and many Germans and others had fled West
as the Soviet armies advanced. At the end of the war,
between 11 and 20 million individuals were displaced tions and had become subjects of the Nazi state only
persons. after 1938. Often resettlement was abused by envious
Moreover, entire populations were resettled. At the neighbors who wanted a piece of property or simply
Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the western allies revenge for some past wrong. The process reinforced
agreed that eastern European governments in Poland the power of the state to decide the identity and fate
and Czechoslovakia could forcibly remove all Ger- of its inhabitants. Ultimately, more than 13 million
mans from their countries. In Poland, hundreds of ethnic Germans, mostly in eastern Europe, were forc-
thousands of ethnic Germans were expelled. A simi- ibly removed. In expelling Germans, Czechoslovakia
lar policy sent hundreds of thousands of Poles from and Poland enforced the racist definitions of nation-
western Ukraine and Belorussia to Poland. Czecho- ality developed by the Nazis. Ironically, the western
slovakia also expelled its Germans. There was much defenders of democracy were enabling the elimina-
debate over who exactly was a German, as there were tion of populations promoted by the Nazis.
many ethnically mixed marriages and individuals
whose families had long lived in the contested areas.
A Czech woman married to a Sudeten German would Potsdam Conference Meeting in July 1945 at which
likely become a candidate for expulsion, even though the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union de-
she and her husband had been born subjects of Czecho- cided how to administer postwar Germany.
slovakia and his family had lived there for genera-
810 CHAPTER 28 Europe Divided, 1945–1968
Those forced out left almost everything behind. these poles. New identities and allegiances were cre-
They walked or rode bicycles or donkeys; the lucky ated in connection with the two superpowers, and
had horse-driven carts. In the process, children were new enmities developed among old neighbors. The
sometimes separated from parents and wives from Hungarians, who had been the Austrians’ partners in
husbands. More than 100,000 families ended up living ruling the Habsburg Empire a century earlier, were
across the East-West divide, unable to keep in touch now to be their enemies by virtue of the barbed wire
with each other for a generation. The process of mov- that separated the two countries. East Germans, un-
ing millions of people away from their homes and der Soviet occupation, were to begin thinking of their
into potentially hostile communities generated psy- West German relatives and friends as imperialist trai-
chic wounds that began to heal only later, primarily tors. This division of Europe into East and West came
through forgetting. An important political result was about as a result of the superpower confrontation.
the reshaping of most of eastern Europe into more In the contest over world domination, the two su-
ethnically homogeneous countries. Poland, for in- perpowers gave different explanations and used dif-
stance, became almost entirely Polish and Catholic, ferent methods. The Soviet Union had lost more people
with Jews, Germans, and Ukrainians gone. (over 30 million by some accounts) and resources than
Among the displaced persons were more than any other war combatant and wanted to recoup the
250,000 Jews, located primarily in the American zone, economic resources spent fighting the war. In fact,
where they were placed in camps. Jewish leaders since Germany had experienced 80 percent of its ca-
from Palestine, such as David Ben-Gurion, worked sualties at the hands of the Soviets, Stalin was not ex-
with the western allies to decide the fate of these aggerating when he claimed that Europe owed the
people. More than 130,000 of them settled in British- Nazi defeat to his country. To rebuild the Soviet econ-
controlled Palestine, which became Israel in 1948. omy, he wanted Soviet troops in the occupied zone to
Those who stayed in Europe were subjected to anti- oversee the production and subsequent transfer of
semitic discrimination and even postwar pogroms, goods to the Soviet Union. The Soviets also acted out
which generated additional emigrations to Israel. of fear. Having been attacked by Germany twice in
the twentieth century, they wanted a buffer zone in
Beginnings of the Cold War eastern Europe, where friendly political regimes and
military resources would protect Soviet security.
The wartime alliance between the United States and The United States, on the other hand, had an over-
the Soviet Union against a common enemy dissolved whelming interest in bringing back democracy and
into an adversarial relation, as the victors could not capitalist markets to the regions it had liberated. One
agree on postwar goals for Germany and the rest of lesson from World War I was that a punishing peace
Europe. Both nations emerged from the war as super- could lead to resentment and revenge. This time, the
powers, with great international prestige, and each victors focused on rebuilding a Germany committed to
embarked on a struggle for political, economic, and their ideals. In addition, the Great Depression’s costly
moral-cultural world supremacy. No other state could economic and political consequences also pointed to-
match their strength, and most European states owed ward rebuilding markets as a better strategy than ex-
their survival to one or both of them. In this contest, acting high war payments. Strong capitalist economies
the engagement of the United States in European af- would bolster political stability, American strategists
fairs was a greater departure from past behavior than concluded. These goals were not entirely altruistic.
for the Soviet Union. While after World War I the The American economy had grown during the war,
Soviets had aided communist movements in Europe, and businesses were looking for new markets. Euro-
the United States had pursued isolationism. After pean countries had already become deeply depen-
World War II, however, the development of Europe dent on American goods and dollars, and they were a
cannot be understood without the essential involve- good investment.
ment of the United States. The means by which the Soviets pursued their
Europe became the playing field in a struggle be- goals in eastern Europe were in keeping with Stalin’s
tween the opposing options of the Americans and the personality. He fundamentally distrusted those not
Soviets: liberal democracy versus communism, pri-
vate property versus state ownership, capitalism and
free-market economies versus state-controlled ones, David Ben-Gurion (1886–1973) Zionist leader central
freedom and material comforts versus equality and to the establishment of the state of Israel and its first
social justice. Both sides wanted to erase whatever prime minister.
gray areas existed in each European country between
The Iron Curtain, 1945–1958 811
under his control. He sent some of the toughest mili- sent in supplies by means of the Berlin airlift, flying
tary leaders and most unquestioning loyalists from in up to 13,000 tons per day. By May 1949, the Soviets
the communist parties in eastern Europe, such as Ana had backed down, and Germany became divided
Pauker (see Choice), to oversee postwar regimes. The into the Federal Republic of Germany, known as West
Soviets manipulated the western observers and used Germany, and the German Democratic Republic,
any legal means available, as well as illegal and vio- known as East Germany. Berlin itself was divided into
lent ones, to eliminate all political enemies and place East and West Berlin. Though stabilized, Germany re-
Soviet pawns in power. Political legitimacy and the mained at the epicenter of the contest between the
well-being of the populations involved were low on United States and the Soviet Union for the next forty
Stalin’s agenda. years—the cold war.
Stalin had a formidable opponent in U.S. president Other developments helped shape the cold war.
Harry Truman, who, as vice president, had never After the contentious creation of Israel in 1948, the
trusted the Soviet Union. Following President Frank- Middle East became an important ground for compe-
lin D. Roosevelt’s death in April 1945, the simple man tition between the Soviets, generally backing Arab
from Missouri brought his common sense to the pres- states and insurgents, and the Americans, generally
idency and his own strong views about the postwar supporting Israel, especially from the late 1960s on-
peace. He followed a careful line of encouraging a ward. In addition, in 1949, Mao Zedong led a success-
stable international environment through the United ful communist revolution in China, a development
Nations (UN) and an increasingly hard line against that made the Americans more fearful of the spread
the Soviets. of communism. Communist China complicated Amer-
In Europe, Truman was committed to prosperity ican strategies, as it operated independently of the
and democracy through positive, though anti-Soviet, Soviet Union, unlike other communist states. Finally,
incentives. Instead of sending troops to defend Amer- after the Soviets exploded an atomic bomb in 1949,
ican interests, in March 1947 he issued the Truman the prospect of nuclear war intensified. Fear of total
Doctrine, which offered to help countries fighting annihilation kept the Soviets and the Americans at
communist expansion, specifically Turkey and Greece, some distance, while their ambitions kept them in un-
where communist partisans in a civil war were re- comfortable proximity and often in indirect military
ceiving help from Yugoslavia and the Soviets. Greece confrontation in the regional struggles they wanted to
was considered key to the political stability in the manipulate.
Mediterranean and American overseas markets. With The Soviets’ development of nuclear weapons af-
substantial American support, the military establish- ter 1949 ushered in an arms race. Starting in the 1950s,
ment defeated the communists and imposed its own both the United States and the Soviet Union expended
authoritarian rule. huge sums on military technology and espionage, as
In addition, the 1947 Marshall Plan allocated more
than $13 billion in grants and loans to rebuild Eu-
rope’s economies. This money helped rebuild roads, United Nations (UN) International organization
industries, and housing. The plan found unprece- founded in 1945 to facilitate collaboration among
dented support among Americans and generated a nations; replaced the League of Nations.
host of programs that paved the way for the Euro- Truman Doctrine Policy statement issued by U.S.
pean Union. American aid came with a price, how- president Harry S. Truman in 1947 announcing U.S.
ever. The United States encouraged France, Britain, commitment to fight the spread of communism every-
and Germany to hunt down communist sympathiz- where in the world.
ers who might have infiltrated leftist parties and be Marshall Plan Economic recovery plan established by
plotting communist takeovers. The Marshall Plan the United States in 1947 that offered grants and low-
interest loans to noncommunist European states.
also served to further separate western from eastern
Europe, where countries occupied by Soviet troops Berlin airlift (1948–1949) U.S. shipment of supplies to
Western-controlled sectors of Berlin following a Soviet
were never in a position to accept U.S. aid. blockade.
In Germany, the Soviets dismantled industrial cold war Name by which the 1945–1991 standoff be-
plants in their occupation zone and took no interest tween the superpowers, the United States and the
in preventing the starvation of German civilians, Soviet Union, came to be known.
which drew the criticism of the West. In response, in Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Leader of the communist
February 1948 the Soviets set up a blockade to isolate revolution and, from 1949, the communist regime in
the western zones of Berlin from access by Western China.
powers. To avert military conflict, the United States
812 CHAPTER 28 Europe Divided, 1945–1968
each tried to keep up with the other. In 1953, the pressure and resources to bear on broad issues from
United States spent $50 billion, or almost 40 percent human rights to poverty and health.
of the federal budget, on the military. Spending by the However, other international organizations reduced
Soviet Union for the same purposes reached 25 percent hopes for peaceful solutions to international problems.
of its revenues during the same period. This obsession In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
with being militarily prepared for global conflict cre- (NATO), a military defense alliance aimed primarily
ated a predicament, as neither country had enough in- against the Soviets’ alleged plans for armed global
telligence about the other’s capacity to make reasoned conflict, was created, with collective security as its
judgments, and the political leadership was easily per- cardinal principle—an attack on one member was an
suaded about the need for military spending. Un- attack on all, and the security of each individual mem-
precedented levels of military spending only increased ber depended on the security of all. NATO forced uni-
the fear of conflict and fed the perceived need to form policies on its members and required that each
spend more. be in a permanent state of military preparedness. The
establishment of NATO signaled a formal division of
International Security the postwar world between the western democracies,
with the twelve NATO members—the United States,
The piecemeal peace agreements of the first postwar Britain, France, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Bel-
years secured a somewhat stable relationship between gium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, and
the superpowers in Europe. But the most important Iceland, later joined by West Germany, Greece, and
step for creating a different international order was Turkey—at the forefront, and the Soviet-dominated
the establishment of the United Nations (UN) in 1945. communist camp on the opposite side.
Unlike with the League of Nations, which it never The Soviet Union retaliated by calling for the cre-
joined, the United States was a founding member of ation of a communist alliance. First, the Committee
the UN. This organization was similar to the league for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) was formed
in its aim to facilitate collaboration among all states in 1949 as a counterpart to the Marshall Plan, serving
by giving all members the same rights regardless of to increase Soviet control over eastern European econ-
size, military power, or wealth. But the UN was differ- omies. Subsequently, the Warsaw Pact was created in
ent from its predecessor in how it achieved these goals. 1955 as a direct response against the rearming of West
It included a governing body, the Security Council, on Germany and counterpart to NATO. But the Warsaw
which China, France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, Pact increasingly policed its own communist member
and the United States sat as permanent members, along states.
with ten rotating members. The UN also acquired fi- In this new international order, European states
nancial resources and a military force to take action were pawns rather than major players. Military build-
when necessary. Its large budget enabled it to manage ups provide an example. Although NATO presumed
international programs for public health, child pro- that all members would participate actively in mili-
tection, and cultural exchange, giving states large and tary defense, the United States and Britain led in ar-
small, poor and rich, access to new opportunities for
peaceful cooperation, such as the successful anti-
malaria campaigns in Africa and assistance in under- Security Council Leading body of the United Nations
developed areas to increase productivity and eradicate in matters of international security.
poverty. Universal Declaration of Human Rights Declaration
The UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in
(1948) specified unprecedented rights and freedoms, 1948 outlining universal basic human rights.
such as the freedom to move from one location to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Defen-
another, the right to education, and the right to be sive alliance established by Britain, France, and the
United States in 1949 with Canada and other western
protected from unemployment. Though not legally European allies.
binding, the declaration became a powerful means Committee for Mutual Economic Assistance
whereby citizens could hold their governments ac- (CMEA) Soviet organization created in 1949 to coor-
countable for human rights abuses in an international dinate economic production and trade in communist
arena. The autonomous International Criminal Court bloc countries.
at The Hague became an important forum for punish- Warsaw Pact Organization of communist states cre-
ing human rights abuses and war crimes. Thus, the ated in 1955 as a counterpart to NATO.
UN revolutionized international relations and brought
The Revival of Western Europe 813
wartime hero, Churchill was defeated by Labour Party the state made it possible for record numbers of work-
contender Clement Attlee in July 1945. The election ers to partake in the consumer culture and enjoy leisure
outcome reflected a widespread desire among the activities. British workers attended concerts, partici-
public to shift away from deep involvement in Euro- pated in sports, took paid vacations, and traveled
pean and world security. For more than five years the abroad. Tourism took off, with more than 100 million
British public had been told to sacrifice for others, and people taking trips every year. The working class was
they did so at great human and material cost. Now looking like and identifying more with the middle
they wanted the government to look out for them. class, and old stereotypes about national characteris-
The Labour Party interpreted its victory as a man- tics weakened as people traveled in other countries
date for welfare programs. The state established firm and worked together in Common Market projects.
control over important areas of the economy and pub-
lic services, from transportation to utilities. The Bank of
England was nationalized, as were the coal and steel The Restructuring
industries. The National Health Service Act of 1946
placed health insurance under state control while still of Eastern Europe
allowing for private practice. This pioneering law made ➜
What were the important steps in the communist
healthcare accessible to virtually all British citizens. takeovers in eastern Europe?
A similarly radical reform established government-
➜
S
LE
Town renamed after Stalin Minsk
A
W
ENGLAND Gdansk BELORUSSIA
Y
Mountain peak renamed 'Stalin'
Hamburg
Amsterdam DS
AN
London AN
The Hague RL Member of
E
RM
H T Warsaw Pact Berlin
Other NATO members NE 1955–1990 Warsaw
GE
U.S.A. Brussels
ST
Bonn
POLAND
BELGIUM
EA
CANADA Kharkov
Kiev
ICELAND LUXEMBOURG WEST
GERMANY Prague
Paris
CZ UKRAINE
ECH
O SL
ATLANTIC OCEAN OVA K
IA
Munich
FRANCE Vienna
Bern AUSTRIA
Geneva SWITZERLAND Budapest
HUNGARY ROMANIA Crimea
Milan Yalta
Belgrade Bucharest
Black Sea
AL
Marseille
YUGOSLAVIA
UG
Madrid ITALY Sinope
RT
Lisbon
Barcelona Corsica BULGARIA
PO
SPAIN Sofia
Defense treaty with U.S.A., 1953 Rome
Istanbul
Tiranë
Sardinia ALBANIA Ankara
MAP 28.2 East European Stalinism Between 1945 and 1953, the Soviet Union consolidated its grip
over the political institutions and economies of its eastern European satellites. Yugoslavia alone remained
The Restructuring of Eastern Europe
a thorn in Stalin’s side. Source: Magocsi, Paul R., Historical Atlas of East Central Europe, cartographic
design by Geoffrey J. Matthews, Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993. Reprinted by permission.
817
818 CHAPTER 28 Europe Divided, 1945–1968
exile, especially the Poles and Czechoslovaks, as well about a thousand members, the Soviets played a more
as the leaders of parties that had not cooperated with direct role in the communist takeover. Under the strict
the Nazis. The Soviets were able to eliminate many of oversight of Soviet generals and their troops, Pauker
these during the de-Nazification trials. And with the and a handful of other Moscow protégés imprisoned,
Soviet troops on the ground at the end of the war, exiled, or executed all noncommunist politicians. This
noncommunist politicians stood virtually no chance loyal leadership also followed Moscow’s orders in tak-
of resuming office in the new regimes unless they co- ing over all newspapers and radio stations, the police,
operated with the Soviets. the military, and labor unions. By 1947 the communists
The noncommunist Czechoslovak leader Edvard controlled the elections and orchestrated the victory
Beneš, for example, had kept channels of communi- of their party. The communist takeovers in Hungary,
cation with Moscow open throughout the war, and Poland, East Germany, and Bulgaria were similar.
after the war his country was not occupied. Instead, By 1948, the Communist Parties had outmaneu-
the Soviets used Beneš’s political and moral authority vered their political opponents everywhere in eastern
to smooth the transition to the postwar regime. Beneš Europe, often due to the presence of Soviet troops.
won the 1946 presidential election as head of a coali- But the victory of communist regimes was also due to
tion government led by communists and socialists, the lack of viable political options and to the collapse
who had been fairly strong in Czechoslovakia in the of democracy long before the Soviet occupation. In
1920s and 1930s. In contrast to other eastern European Poland, many saw the Soviet Union as the only power
countries under Soviet domination, these elections interested in securing the Polish borders against fu-
were not outright rigged. By 1947, however, the Sovi- ture aggression from the West, and Polish commu-
ets had made it clear that Czechoslovakia was not to nists cast themselves as patriots protecting their nation
accept Marshall Plan aid. The electoral popularity of from another German invasion.
the Czech Communist Party quickly dropped to 20 per-
cent. In February 1948, the Soviets helped the com-
munists force a political coup. Beneš refused to sign Edvard Beneš (1884–1948) President of Czechoslova-
the new constitution, which banned all parties save kia after World War II who resented the communist
for the Communist Party, and died soon afterward. takeover in 1948 and resigned.
In Romania, where the Communist Party had only
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Jakub Berman Defends the Communist
Takeover in Poland
In an interview conducted by Teresa Toranska, a young Polish journalist, in the
early 1980s, Jakub Berman, one of the main leaders of the Polish communist
regime in the early Stalinist years, staunchly defended the legitimacy of that
regime. Like Ana Pauker, Berman had spent the war in Moscow. He returned to his
native Poland as part of the Soviet “liberation” of the country but was very much
perceived, again like Pauker, as a foreign occupier, in part because he was Jewish.
This interview reveals the huge gap between Berman and Toranska’s generations
in their understanding of communism.
➜ How does Berman de- Berman: ➜ After all the disasters that had befallen this country, we brought in its
scribe the communist ultimate liberation, because we finally got rid of those Germans. We wanted to
takeover? Do you agree with get this country moving, to breathe life into it; all our hopes were tied up with
this assessment? the new model of Poland, which was the only chance it had had throughout its
thousand years of history. We were bound to succeed, because we were right;
The Restructuring of Eastern Europe 819
not in some irrational, dreamed-up way we’d plucked out of the air, but
historically—history was on our side. . . .
Toranska: You’re considered the cause of all the evil that has befallen
this nation. . . .
Berman: That’s the result of mental backwardness. . . . Two great powers arose. ➜
We found ourselves in the Soviet sphere of influence, which was lucky for us.
They had to meet with resistance on the part of a population raised on and
accustomed to an entirely different set of ideas. . . . Was it plausible at any
➜ How does Berman depict moment to imagine that Poland would be again the country it had been be-
the role of the Soviet Union? tween the wars? . . . You have to be deaf and blind not to see that we, the Pol-
Why would the Poles be ish communists, rescued Poland from the worst. . . . ➜ Our efforts were stifled
“lucky” to have ended up in by the extraordinary pressure of the cold war atmosphere and by a genuine
the Soviet camp? threat from America. . . . She wanted to invest in Europe (hence the Marshall
Plan) in order to make it dependent on her. . . . For us to break away from the
Soviet Union would have meant losing the recovered territories. Poland would
have become the duchy of Warsaw. . . . The world has changed, can’t you see
➜ According to Berman, that? There aren’t any sovereign states any more, only semisovereign ones. . . .
how did the reconfiguration Poland can’t be uprooted from the Soviet bloc. Poland lies on the road between
of international relations the Soviet Union and western Europe, and its position is clear: either/or. There
after World War II impact are no half shades, because Poland can’t float in the air.”
Poland’s political fate?
To oversee relations with Communist Parties abroad with the Germans, such as the Croatians. But by 1947,
and the new governments of the communist bloc, as the Yugoslav Communist League was popular and
communist eastern Europe came to be called, the So- widely viewed as the legitimate political leader.
viets established the Cominform. Under direct Soviet Josip Broz Tito, the leader of the communist parti-
control, it was a ruthless instrument for purging vari- sans, became the undisputed leader of Yugoslavia, and
ous Communist Parties. As relations with the West he stood up against Stalin’s designs for eastern Eu-
worsened, Stalin became convinced that he was sur- rope. Born to a Slovenian mother and Croat father, Tito
rounded by enemies, that he could not trust even al- embodied a Yugoslav identity devoid of ethnic nation-
lies, and that his efforts to win the war had gone alism. Moreover, he was a veteran communist, initially
unappreciated. The Cominform’s close control over favored by Moscow. He had fought for the Reds in the
the affairs of European Communist Parties reflected Russian Civil War, was trained in Moscow afterward,
his increasingly paranoid view. and ruthlessly followed Stalin’s line during World
War II. Thus, he considered himself untouchable and
Yugoslavia’s Independent Course after 1945 embarked on an independent plan to indus-
trialize and modernize the economy. He also sought
Yugoslavia was the only country in eastern Europe to speed up communist revolution in the Balkans by
where the communist victory was due overwhelm- giving military aid to communists in Greece and
ingly to internal forces. Communist partisans had ef-
fectively struggled against the Nazi occupation and Cominform Postwar international organization, di-
liberated Yugoslavia’s territory. To be sure, the Yu- rected from Moscow, that coordinated Communist
goslav communists also abused their power, especially Parties abroad, including those in western Europe.
at the expense of populations who had collaborated
820 CHAPTER 28 Europe Divided, 1945–1968
Albania. At a time when all regional relations were its highest leaders. Ostensibly aimed at all communist
subject to Soviet oversight, he sought closer relations leaders who had been friendly to Tito before 1948, the
with Bulgaria independently of Moscow. anti-Tito campaign actually proved an opportunity
Stalin perceived these moves as a direct challenge to for revenge among Communist Party factions, as ex-
his authority, and Tito’s insistence on remaining auton- emplified in Romania by the purge of Ana Pauker at
omous soon incurred the wrath of the Soviet leader. the hands of her rival, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej.
Increasingly paranoid about the growing strength of The years 1948–1953 were dominated by fear and
his ideological and personal enemies, Stalin was fix- violence, similar the Great Purges in the Soviet Union
ated on punishing anyone who disobeyed. After re- but with the important difference that these purges
peated warnings, Stalin summoned Tito to Moscow came about through both internal rivalries and Soviet
in 1948. When the Yugoslav leader failed to appear, interference. For many loyalists, this interference
Stalin denounced him as a capitalist spy and expelled tainted the ideals of communism. Any legitimacy the
him from the Cominform. Tito stood his ground and Communist Parties claimed on the basis of having
survived, due to internal support and significant help fought the fascist threat and struggled for social jus-
from the West. The United States, perceiving him as an tice now eroded. As leaders fell and were replaced by
important tool in the cold war, lavished financial aid others, who in turn could fall at any time, people
on Yugoslavia, over $600 million in 1950–1953 alone. learned to keep their heads down in fear and to dis-
In some ways Yugoslavia became another pawn in trust party ideology. Those who rose to the top of the
the superpower game for world domination. party hierarchy were not idealists but opportunists.
Yet Tito also remained independent of both super- The most bitter disillusionment came in Czecho-
powers, challenging the notion that the world had to slovakia in 1951 with the Slánský trial. Like Pauker,
be divided into two camps. He became a role model Rudolf Slánský had been a ruthless communist, but
for many Third World countries emerging from colo- now he was accused of having spied for the West and
nial rule and, after 1948, founded the Non-Aligned plotting against the Soviet Union. Slánský’s Jewish
Movement. Tito saw a great opportunity among newly background was used against him, and others who
liberated colonial territories such as India and Indone- were purged with him were Jewish survivors of con-
sia to create a bloc of states independent of the Soviet centration camps and idealistic communists. Anti-
and American alliances. This movement focused on semitism had become a feature of Soviet policies in
increasing trade relations among members to reduce Russia and beyond. In Czechoslovakia, the communist-
their economic dependency on the two superpowers controlled press identified the Jewish communist
and lobbying the UN to represent their interests, espe- leaders alternatively as Zionists and as fascist radi-
cially in situations of international crisis. For instance, cals, once picturing Slánský in an SS uniform. Most
as a supporter of Arab nationalism in the Middle East, troubling, people generally accepted the absurd anti-
Tito used nonalignment to represent the interests of semitic accusations not only out of fear but also be-
the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) against cause they often shared antisemitic attitudes. By 1953,
Israel.
Third World Term coined in 1952 to identify the na-
Anti-Tito Purges tions that aligned with neither the West (the First
World) nor the Soviet bloc (the Second World) during
While Tito purged his internal political enemies and the cold war.
skillfully used his position to advance his interests in Non-Aligned Movement Grouping of states initiated
the international arena, other Soviet bloc countries bore by Josip Broz Tito in 1948 that did not wish to be
the brunt of the Tito-Stalin split. Stalin took his anger caught in the East-West cold war and tried not to
out on the eastern European regimes, as the Soviet choose sides.
Union helped orchestrate vast purges of the commu- Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Organiza-
nist leadership between 1948 and 1953. Many leaders tion founded in 1964 by Palestinians fighting for an in-
dependent Palestinian state in territories claimed by
who had been in Moscow during the war and ruth- Israel after 1948.
lessly followed Stalin’s orders in the early postwar
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (1901–1965) Leader of
years were now put on trial for fabricated charges of communist Romania from 1948 to 1965 who carried
collaboration with western “imperialist” forces against out a ruthless campaign of collectivization in the 1950s.
their own people. In reality, these were sham trials, Slánský trial Anti-Titoist purge trial in 1951 against
staged to satisfy Stalin’s growing fear of imagined en- Rudolf Slánský, leader of the Czechoslovak Commu-
emies and to reinforce the threat that the communist nist Party.
police state could eliminate anyone at any time, even
The Restructuring of Eastern Europe 821
most of the top echelon of the communist leadership accomplish it. As a result, by 1958 the Romanian state
and government officials in the communist bloc had fully controlled agriculture, and the regime was able
been removed from power, stripped of their party to persuade the Soviets to withdraw all troops. The
membership, like Pauker, or executed, like Slánský. Poles relied on Soviet troops, however, to secure their
western borders, which were not recognized by West
State-Controlled Economies Germany until the 1960s. Without the incentive of So-
viet troop withdrawal, Polish communists allowed
While implementing these purges, the communist most peasants to keep their land but controlled the
regimes in eastern Europe also began economic re- sale of agricultural products instead.
construction with the direct Soviet support. Initially, Economic restructuring produced a social restruc-
the Soviets focused on rebuilding Russia, and they did turing like that in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and
so by directly extracting resources from the communist 1930s. Using the Soviet model, each Communist Party
bloc, from wheat and cattle to entire factories. The So- attempted to create a larger urban proletariat and
viets justified these seizures as war reparations. Thus, eliminate all class enemies, including the old middle
there was little economic growth in eastern Europe classes and rich peasants. In addition, many religious
during the first few years of communist domination. leaders were imprisoned, and writers and artists with
Moscow sent observers, usually with military per- a “bourgeois” background were censored or impris-
sonnel, to oversee economic planning in each country. oned to make way for a new atheist communist spirit.
Instead of imposing a Soviet-style command economy, Ultimately, the communist regimes in eastern Europe
planners required each country to specialize in certain wanted to replicate the total social control achieved
areas so that the region would collectively achieve by the Soviets in their own country.
economic growth. This clever plan ensured that no The stamp of Soviet domination was made visible
one state could gain economic autonomy. Thus, East also through the renaming of places after Stalin. The
Germany, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, which were old Romanian city BraSov became Stalin; the highest
already more industrialized, were to focus on indus- peak in the Tatra Mountains in Poland was renamed
trial goods, while Romania, Bulgaria, and, to some Stalin; and one of the largest squares in Budapest took
extent, Hungary were to provide raw materials and on Stalin’s name as well. But no Poles, Bulgarians, and
agricultural goods to support the industries and con- Romanians rushed to name newborns after the Soviet
sumer needs of the other countries. The Soviets pro- leader, as many in the Soviet Union had done in the
vided energy sources for industrial production in first decade of communist control. Many feared Stalin’s
exchange for finished industrial products, at prices set close embrace; few admired him in the way Russians
by the Soviets. The Committee for Mutual Economic had looked up to V. I. Lenin in the 1920s.
Assistance coordinated economic exchanges among
these countries, with support from the Soviets, but De-Stalinization
in reality the Soviets controlled all the economic ex-
changes. For instance, the sale of Czech-produced cars In 1953 Stalin suddenly died. Soviet leaders and the
in Poland was subject to Soviet approval. population at large were petrified: Stalin’s presence
This formula for economic growth had some pay- had been so overwhelming that virtually nobody knew
offs: by 1950, some industrial products, like steel, had how to behave in his absence. The funeral became a
surpassed prewar production. But these successes performance for anticipating Stalin’s successor, as he
came at great cost for both agricultural and consumer had not given the issue much thought. Thousands
goods. In addition, just as in the Soviet Union, the per- crowded to see the corpse, laid beside Lenin’s in the
formance of the economy was judged by production mausoleum in downtown Moscow. Party members
rather than its value on the open market. For this rea- paid their respects out of loyalty and fear of the un-
son, the quality of goods remained inferior to goods known future; average people were mostly curious to
produced in western Europe. see the great man dead. The pallbearers and funeral
Although the goals of economic restructuring were speakers were viewed as the potential successors, es-
everywhere the same, the processes varied, depend- pecially Georgy Malenkov. He was prime minister
ing on the relationship of the local communist leader- and assumed the position of party general secretary.
ship with Moscow. For instance, the collectivization
of agriculture was pursued aggressively in Romania Georgy Malenkov (1902–1988) Soviet communist
but not in Poland. Polish communists viewed collec- leader who lost to Nikita Khrushchev in becoming
tivization as potentially destabilizing, while the Ro- Stalin’s successor.
manians were more willing to apply violent means to
822 CHAPTER 28 Europe Divided, 1945–1968
What role did the American-Soviet conflict play in the The Security Council agreed, primarily because the
colonial struggles for independence?
Soviets, boycotting the UN at the time, were not pres-
➜
for help and UN endorsement. In reality, the Korean hower, the United States expanded its military alliances
War was a heated conflict unfolding between the So- and placed nuclear missiles around the world, from
viets’ pursuit of a zone of influence in Korea and the France to Pakistan and the Philippines. The Soviets
Americans’ implementation of the Truman Doctrine to also built a missile arsenal. In 1957 they launched
aid those fighting the spread of communism. The new Sputnik 1, the first space satellite and a scientific
Chinese communist regime also became involved, achievement that placed them ahead of the Ameri-
sending military aid to the North Koreans. A truce in cans in the space race.
1953 left Korea divided, with families split across the The Soviets attempted to parlay this success by
border and unable to communicate. The Soviets and threatening to hand over control of access to West
Chinese celebrated a communist victory, while the Berlin to the East Germans, hoping to force the Amer-
United States boasted success in stopping the spread icans out of the city and ending the flow of Germans
of communism. from East to West. After a three-year standoff, in 1961
Yet the Korean War was an abysmal failure. It East Germany put up the Berlin Wall, dividing the
brought the two superpowers into a military conflict city. There was little the Americans could do about it.
that left nothing resolved; troops remain poised at The wall became a powerful symbol of what the cold
the border today. The outcome of this conflict for the war meant for average people.
world scene was twofold: it established that the two
superpowers were willing to use military power in
their contest for world domination, and it showed the Korean War (1950–1953) Military conflict between
communist-backed North Korea and United States–
great military and human costs of such actions. If Ko- supported South Korea.
rea could be a setting for war among the superpow- Sputnik 1 Soviet satellite that in 1957 was the first to be
ers, then all political leaders of liberation movements launched into earth orbit and began the Soviet-American
in colonial territories had to think carefully about the space race.
choices they made. Berlin Wall Wall built through Berlin by East Germany
In the following decade, the contest between the in 1961 to prevent its citizens from escaping into West
Soviets and the Americans circled the globe and esca- Germany.
lated to outer space. Under President Dwight Eisen-
Superpower Conflicts and Colonial Independence Movements, 1945–1968 825
The most dangerous confrontation of the Soviets consideration. The British led decolonization by offer-
and Americans came in 1962, during the Cuban Mis- ing colonies independence and a new, autonomous
sile Crisis. After Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba relationship with Great Britain through the Common-
in 1959, he was courted by both the Americans and wealth of Nations, which focused on economic rela-
the Soviets. For the United States, Cuba had great eco- tions. India was a relatively successful model. Given
nomic and strategic interest because of its proximity. the large population and great variety of traditions
For the Soviets, Cuba could be an outpost for nuclear and cultures that existed on the subcontinent, the In-
missiles, to counter the American bases in Turkey and dian nationalist movements were remarkably united
Pakistan. After a failed American attempt to depose in their negotiations with the British. The leadership
Castro in 1961, the Soviets offered to bolster the Cuban of Mohandas Gandhi gave these movements cohe-
defenses by bringing in nuclear weapons. For a few sion and a strategy of peaceful resistance to colonial
days in October 1962, President John F. Kennedy and rule. His protégé Jawaharlal Nehru became the first
Khrushchev came close to nuclear war. Each leader prime minister of independent India. Both resisted
called on the other to back down, while both were in
fact mobilizing out of fear that the other would strike.
Then, when the Americans promised not to invade Cuban Missile Crisis Standoff between the United
Cuba and to withdraw their missiles from Turkey, the States and the Soviet Union in 1962 over Soviet equip-
Soviets removed the missiles from Cuba. The crisis ping of Cuba with nuclear missiles.
made both powers aware of the need for constant Fidel Castro (1926– ) Leader of Cuban communist
communication. revolution in 1956 and president of Cuba since 1959.
decolonization Process by which European imperialist
powers moved to withdraw from colonial holdings
Colonial Independence Movements and ready colonies for independence.
Commonwealth of Nations Association of indepen-
While American and Soviet economic and military dent states, originally former British colonies, that was
power expanded, most European countries with created in 1947 to enhance economic and cultural
colonies realized that their reduced political, military, cooperation.
and economic resources made it impossible for them Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) Leading figure of the
to maintain control over vast territories outside of Eu- Indian independence movement who became the first
rope. In Britain, the Labour Party favored liberating prime minister of India in 1947.
the colonies as a matter of ideology and pragmatic
826
GREAT
BRITAIN
NETHERLANDS
BELGIUM
FRANCE
ITALY
JORDAN KUWAIT
ALGERIA LIBYA 1946 1961 PAKISTAN
WESTERN SAHARA 1962 EGYPT 1947
(Morocco) 1951 1922 BAHRAIN 1971 LAOS
1975
From Spain QATAR 1971 INDIA 1949
1947
UNITED ARAB OMAN 1971 MYANMAR
EMIRATES 1971 (BURMA)
MAURITANIA MALI PAKISTAN 1947, 1947 NORTH VIETNAM
PACIFIC
1960 NIGER BANGLADESH 1973 1954
1960
1960
CHAD SUDAN Unified 1974
SENEGAL 1960 1960 YEMEN P.D.R. OF YEMEN 1967 PHILIPPINES OCEAN
1956 1946
GAMBIA 1965 DJIBOUTI
BURKINA FASO 1977 SOUTH VIETNAM
1960 BENIN 1960 1954
GUINEA-BISSAU GUINEA
1974 1958 NIGERIA
CÔTE ETHIOPIA SRI LANKA
SIERRA LEONE 1960 1941
1961 D'IVOIRE (CEYLON) CAMBODIA BRUNEI 1984
1960 CENTRAL AFRICAN 1948 1954 From Great Britain
LIBERIA REPUBLIC 1960 SOMALIA
1820s TOGO CAMEROON
GHANA 1960
1960 MALAYSIA 1963
1957 1960 UGANDA
EQUATORIAL GUINEA DEM. REP. 1962 KENYA SINGAPORE
1968 From Spain GABON OF CONGO 1963 1965
1960 1960
RWANDA
1962
REPUBLIC OF CONGO BURUNDI INDIAN OCEAN
1962 TANZANIA INDONESIA
1960 1964 1949
ANGOLA MALAWI
1975 1964
ZAMBIA
1964
ATLANTIC Date is year independence was achieved.
ZIMBABWE MADAGASCAR Shading indicates former ruler.
1980
1960
OCEAN NAMIBIA 1985 MAURITIUS
From South Africa BOTSWANA MOZAMBIQUE
1966 1974 1968 Great Britain Belgium
From Great Britain
France Portugal
SWAZILAND
1968 Netherlands United States
SOUTH AFRICA
(Republic 1961) LESOTHO
1966 Italy
MAP 28.3 Decolonization Movements, 1945–1968 Between 1945 and 1968 most European
colonies gained independence. For some, like Ghana, the process was peaceful. Others, like Vietnam,
fought bloody wars. The United States and the Soviet Union became involved in these struggles as the
new world power brokers.
Superpower Conflicts and Colonial Independence Movements, 1945–1968 827
the strategy of outright military conflict over India’s vision, President Richard Nixon reached a truce with
borders, a serious threat as India was culturally and North Vietnam and pulled out.
ethnically divided, most importantly between Hin- The French had troubles with their overseas terri-
dus and Muslims. In 1947, British India devolved into tories in Africa as well, with the costliest conflict in
Muslim-dominated Pakistan and Hindu-dominated Algeria. More than 1 million European settlers had
India. Border conflicts between the two countries lived there for generations, and the territory had been
continue today. formally integrated into France as an administrative
The British pursued a similar disengagement policy region. Therefore, when a revolt broke out in 1954,
in their African colonies but proceeded more gradu- shortly after the humiliating defeat in Vietnam, the
ally, as these colonies had not yet developed an indige- French felt a threat to the homeland, and repression
nous intellectual and economic elite like that in South of the rebels became a core political issue. Yet the
Asia. In addition, as the white settlers in these African Muslim rebels were committed to fighting for inde-
territories were far more numerous than those in Asia pendence from French rule. The Algerian War divided
and unwilling to give up their homes, the process of France both at home and in North Africa, bringing
decolonization was more contentious and violent. In down the Fourth Republic in 1958. In this civil war,
West Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria were the first to gain some white settlers and European French citizens
independence peacefully. By contrast, a great deal more sided with the pro-independence insurgents, while
conflict occurred in Kenya, where white settlers wished some of the North African indigenous populations
to retain their economic privileges after independence, sided with the French colonial administration. By and
by force if necessary, while indigenous radical groups large, however, the division was racial—whites against
such as the Mau Mau fought for a radical break from nonwhites—and the abuses committed during the
the British. After five years of violence, the British war only reinforced racism in French society. De Gaulle
won the war but lost the colony. Having become fi- was able to save the state from the brink of collapse in
nancially overextended, the British pulled out their 1958 through a new constitution that strengthened the
troops. Kenya became independent in 1963. power of the president and military establishment
The French wanted to preserve greater control over against the parliament. Yet he eventually gave up Al-
colonies in Africa and Asia and chose to repress inde- geria in 1962.
pendence movements. In Asia, de Gaulle attempted to The rest of French Africa, where the French were
persuade Vietnam to remain part of the French Union. less invested politically and culturally and the number
This arrangement allowed colonial territories to gain of European settlers smaller, gained independence
more autonomy and become more democratic through with less strife. After Algeria, the French administra-
enfranchisement of the local population. But adminis- tion was eager to grant independence to the rest of its
tration, education, and commerce would remain heav- colonies. Yet, as the level of indigenous economic de-
ily dominated by French-educated and -speaking elites. velopment remained low, these countries continued
But the postwar Vietnamese political factions in their economic dependence on France.
proved impossible to control. The communists were a While disengagement and decolonization domi-
growing pro-independence group that secured help nated the political fate of former colonies in Asia and
from the new regime in China. In 1954, the commu- Africa, the Middle East became a new battleground
nist leader Ho Chi Minh defeated the French, despite for the two superpowers, primarily because of its
massive financial help from the United States. Viet- tremendous oil resources. The United States gradually
nam was divided between the communist-controlled
north and the western-supported south. The loss of
Vietnam produced a political crisis in France that even- Mau Mau (in Kikuyu, “burning spear”) Pro-
tually brought colonial rule to an end. independence Kenyan rebels who advocated violent
Yet Vietnam remained an important battleground methods against white settlers in order to reclaim land
and political power for indigenous Africans.
in the cold war. In the early 1960s, the United States
Vietnam War (1959–1975) Successful effort by the
sent military advisers and then troops into South
communist North Vietnamese to take over South Viet-
Vietnam to forestall what President Lyndon Johnson nam, which was supported by the Americans and the
saw as the threat of communist revolution every- French.
where in Asia. The Vietnam War became increasingly Algerian War (1954–1962) Civil war in which Algerian
brutal but did not bring any resolution. In 1973, under nationalists eventually defeated the French colonial
pressure from the American public, who watched the administration and established an independent state.
atrocities committed by both sides every day on tele-
828 CHAPTER 28 Europe Divided, 1945–1968
replaced the British in the area, trying to broker be- States like Saudi Arabia could display the trappings
tween the newly established state of Israel and its of material civilization in step with Europe while its
hostile Arab neighbors while competing with the So- justice system and suppression of women remained
viet Union for alliances with oil-rich Arab leaders. violent. Until the 1970s, neither superpower inter-
The development of Arab nationalism was acceler- vened directly in the internal ideological preferences
ated by the creation of Israel and the failure of the of these states so long as they could benefit from ac-
United Nations to create a Palestinian Arab state. On cess to the region’s oil resources.
the one hand, Israel came to define itself and be viewed
increasingly as a promoter of progressive ideas and of The Nonaligned Movement
western civilization. After 1967, it was sturdily on the
side of American interests in the area. On the other By the late 1960s, European colonial rule had come to
hand, some Arab populations in Palestine and the an end almost everywhere. This process was uneven
rest of the Middle East began to look toward the So- and very costly in some instances, and it brought
viet Union as a better broker for their interests. After about radical change in international relations. The
1964, when the PLO established itself as the foremost UN General Assembly became dominated numeri-
leader in the Palestinian struggle for statehood, the cally by relatively poor postcolonial states. By 1980,
organization was quickly recognized by and sought the nonaligned movement grew from 25 to 117, be-
the material support of the Soviet Union and other coming the largest bloc in the UN and acting force-
communist states, such as Yugoslavia. fully as a faction when important matters came to a
Yet neither communism nor capitalism was the vote. Thus, the nonaligned bloc was able to direct fi-
choice of the political leaders of the Middle East. In- nancial assistance to underdeveloped areas, such as
stead, the region produced a blend of Arab national- South Asia and Africa. This bloc regarded Europe
ism with strong Muslim influences. Many territories sometimes positively, as an important patron in cul-
remained kingdoms, while postcolonial states estab- tural and economic relations, and at other times with
lished authoritarian governments with only a thin ve- bitterness, as the seat of imperialist oppression. Al-
neer of parliamentary life. Political institutions in these most half of the presidents of the assembly have come
countries often resembled premodern theocracies, and from postcolonial states of the nonaligned bloc.
their oil resources brought great wealth to ruling elites. Postcolonial regions became a new arena for su-
Cultural Developments and Social Protest 829
perpower struggle. The Soviets invested heavily in took off. At first, people wanted refrigerators, radios,
economic and educational exchanges with the newly and comfortable furniture. By the 1960s, they wanted
independent African states, accompanied by a heavy a television, a car, and the leisure activities that a car
dose of communist ideology. African rulers often found made possible.
the Soviet propaganda about western imperialism ap- The availability of inexpensive consumer goods was
pealing. By contrast, the United States backed regimes closely connected to technological advances made dur-
that supported its economic interests. American oil in- ing and after the war. Plastics made everything
vestments in the Persian Gulf, for example, prompted cheaper—and also created an unprecedented level of
U.S. support for an authoritarian monarchy in Iran dependency on oil. As consumer goods proliferated,
that replaced the nationalist republican independence their very availability induced people to want to have
movement. more of what other people had. The desire to conform
States such as Indonesia, Egypt, and India main- increased as the possibility for purchasing the same
tained more distance from the two superpowers. One goods grew. This kind of social pressure was not new,
important moment in this process was the Suez Canal but it had never before been expressed on a massive
Crisis. In 1956, during the Hungarian Uprising, Egyp- scale that defied social class divisions. Ironically, while
tian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the struggling to be individually successful, people now
canal. With encouragement from the Soviets, the Egyp- proclaimed their status by fitting in; conformity and
tians hoped to secure control over this strategic body anonymity gave a sense of security. This reaction
of water that had been under French, British, and more seemed natural after the wartime years, when many
recently American control. But Khrushchev did not had lived the experience of being singled out in
send direct military aid. Thus, in winning the conflict, painful ways.
Nasser established an independence position, able to Nothing parallel to consumer culture developed in
broker between the superpowers without a direct com- eastern Europe, but the new communist regimes did
mitment to either side. Like Tito before him, Nasser place great emphasis on conformity. This conformity
also secured hefty financial support for Egypt from was, however, imposed without mercy from above and
both superpowers. enforced by manipulating fear. Behavior regarded as
deviant was harshly punished, with imprisonment or
exile to labor camps. Priests and religious believers
Cultural Developments were often singled out. Some theological institutes
were closed. All denominations were persecuted, but
and Social Protest not to the same extent. For instance, members of the
Greek Catholic Church, made illegal in Romania in
➜➜
series of meetings, from 1962 to 1965, allowed churches of their elders. The clash of generations arose from
to use local languages, gave reformist bishops more several factors. First, while the direct experience of
autonomy, and permitted greater involvement in so- deprivation and death made the prewar generation
cial activism—for instance, on behalf of the poor in overly preoccupied with material comforts, abun-
Latin America. dance made the postwar generation indifferent to the
If the primary struggle of churches in western Eu- value of material goods. Those born after 1945 were
rope was against the moral and spiritual alienation marked by the culture of conformity and consump-
of the population at large, in the communist bloc, tion in two ways: on the one hand, they fully enjoyed
churches and religious believers fought for their very the fruits of the economic miracle, the availability of
survival in the face of political persecution. The com- cheap material goods, books, records, and other forms
munist regimes tolerated and gradually used some of entertainment and information; on the other hand,
churches both to appease religious believers and to they wanted more meaning in their lives than the sat-
inform on them with the help of corrupt priests. In isfactions their parents found in material goods. They
other instances, however, religious institutions became deplored the conformity and cultural boredom of
the seat of spiritual survival against communism. In their elders and wanted to engage in meaningful
Poland, the Catholic Church preserved a degree of in- choices and spread their comforts among others less
tegrity and moral authority unparalleled anywhere fortunate. Finally, the postwar generation had much
else in eastern Europe. In fact, religiosity among Poles greater access to college education.
grew, and many gravitated to the church as the one A new pop culture best expressed the mood of this
institution uncorrupted by communism. Protestant de- new generation. Rock and roll developed first in
nominations also offered a secure and morally uplifting America, but by the mid-1960s, European bands like
refuge. But most eastern Europeans became estranged the Beatles and the Who had taken the new musical
from religious experience through the aggressive anti- form and made it theirs: “Things they do look awful
religious campaigns of the communist regimes. cold / Hope I die before I get old / Talkin’ bout my
generation.”1 Rock music was rebellious and appeal-
ing precisely because it was loud and rough. Young
Youth and the Counterculture
people loved it as much as their parents hated it.
By the mid-1960s, a new postwar generation was ques- Some performers brought a broader political and so-
tioning the direction of prosperity and security in cial content to their lyrics. Bob Dylan, the most pow-
western Europe and rejecting the values and lifestyles erful voice of the postwar generation, wrote verses
“My Generation.” Words and music by Peter Townshend. Copyright © 1965 (renewed) Fabulous Music, Ltd., London, England. TRO-Devon Music, Inc.,
New York, controls all publication rights for the U.S.A. and Canada. Used by permission.
832 CHAPTER 28 Europe Divided, 1945–1968
500 1968
These generational tensions came to a head in the
400 extraordinary year 1968. In an explosive set of coinci-
dences, the world seemed headed toward a revolu-
300 tion. In the United States, the charismatic civil rights
leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. His
murder signaled the end of the peaceful civil rights
200
movement and the beginning of more belligerent
African American protests. At the same time, protests
100 against the Vietnam War were taking a more radical
form. On campuses across America, originally peace-
0 ful marches often ended as violent clashes with the
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 police. Television news reports showing long-haired
Year hippies being clobbered by steel-helmeted police made
this generational clash real for everyone. To some, the
FIGURE 28.2 Enrollment Figures for French Uni-
young appeared unruly, self-indulgent, and irrespon-
versities from 1900–1968 After World War II western sible. To others, they were heroic for shaking up the
Europe was fundamentally changed by the great growth political establishment and addressing large issues
in college attendance. The beneficiaries of this growth such as racism, sexism, postcolonial imperialism, and
were especially the poor and women. Source: Wilkinson, naked military aggression.
James D.; Huges, H. Stuart, Contemporary Europe: A His- A similar style of protest emerged in Europe, as
tory, 9th Edition, © 1998, pp. 425. Reprinted by permission
student antiwar and anticolonial protests erupted
of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.
from London to Berlin. But the most powerful student
movement was centered in Paris, where, in May 1968,
that resonated with young people all over western under the inspired leadership of Daniel Cohn-Bendit,
Europe: “I learned to hate the Russians /all through it made common cause with the French workers. Born
my whole life / If another war comes / it’s them we in the year the war ended Cohn-Bendit embodied many
must fight /. . . with God on my side.” 2 of the characteristics of his generation. He came from
In film, New Wave cinema merged a social and a German Jewish family that, having fled the Nazis
political critique with a harsh style that echoed the during the war, had returned to West Germany after-
loudness of rock music. The films of French director ward. His background made him painfully aware of
Jean-Luc Goddard confronted materialism, sexuality, the cost of postwar western European reconstruction—
and political violence. He and other film makers broke the abandonment of moral imperatives for the sake
free of the conventions and conservative aesthetics of of material well-being. In the impassioned works of
their predecessors. Film, they contended, should not Marxist revolutionaries, Cohn-Bendit found inspira-
be an escape. It should depict life, and life was neither tion for challenging all that was accepted around him
heroic nor even coherent, but full of violence, break- and struggling for social justice in ways that the tradi-
down, and loss.
One central unifying element of this new generation
Jean-Luc Goddard (1930– ) Prominent French New
was its unprecedented access to education. In France, Wave filmmaker.
for instance, university enrollment went up by almost
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) African American
200 percent in the 1960s, especially among women and Baptist minister and nonviolent leader of the American
working-class people. This dramatic change forced civil rights movement in the 1960s.
important questions about the quality of education Daniel Cohn-Bendit (1945– ) German-born charis-
and the political agenda of its content. In the ensuing matic left-wing leader of the student protests in France
battles over democratizing university education, both in May 1968.
students and teachers became increasingly radical-
Lyrics from Bob Dylan, “With God on Our Side,” from Times They Are A-Changin’, Columbia Records, New York, 1964. Reprinted by permission of Bob
Dylan Music Company, Special Rider Music Company.
Cultural Developments and Social Protest 833
tional left seemed to have abandoned. The national social policies that would benefit all citizens with poli-
strike Cohn-Bendit led put France on hold for almost cies that would accelerate economic growth. He even
a month and helped bring down de Gaulle. Similar pardoned political prisoners, including religious be-
student protests across Europe evidenced the reen- lievers, who had been harshly persecuted in the 1950s.
gagement of youth in politics, in support of the anti- The reforms in Czechoslovakia proved too radical
colonial struggle, social justice, the guerrilla fighters for the Soviets, who recalled the 1956 Hungarian Up-
in Algeria and Vietnam, and communist leaders such rising, even though the Czechoslovak movement pro-
as Mao in China. posed not to end communist rule but to reform it. In
Yet the most important political challenge of 1968 August 1968, Leonid Brezhnev sent tanks into Czecho-
came from inside the communist bloc, in Prague. slovakia to wipe out all opposition. All Warsaw Pact
Until the late 1960s, the Czechoslovaks had avoided members save Romania also sent in troops. The mili-
de-Stalinization because of their success in industrial tary intervention was out of proportion, given the fact
production. As long as their industrial production that Czechoslovak reformers did not put up armed
worked to the benefit of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev resistance, and the West came to associate the com-
left the Czechoslovaks alone. By the early 1960s, how- munist leadership of eastern Europe with this crude
ever, the productivity of the Czechoslovak economy
was decreasing, and growing numbers of party mem-
bers called for economic, social, and cultural reforms. Alexander Dubček (1921–1992) Leader of the
Czechoslovak Communist Party during the Prague
Alexander Dubček, a reformer who had spent the
Spring who initiated liberalizing reforms but was
wartime years fighting in the anti-Nazi resistance, forcibly removed from power.
convinced the Soviets, responding to pressure from Prague Spring Short-lived period of liberalization in
dissidents, to allow him to experiment with liberal- Czechoslovakia in 1968 that was violently crushed by
izing reforms. For a few brief months during the the Soviets.
Prague Spring, Dubček attempted to create “social- Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) Soviet leader between
ism with a human face”—abolishing censorship of the 1964 and 1983 who oversaw the reversal of the liberal-
press, allowing criticism of the communist leadership, ization efforts of the Khrushchev regime.
and reviving workers’ councils. He tried to combine
834 CHAPTER 28 Europe Divided, 1945–1968
military response. The crushing of the Prague Spring politics, culture, technology, and commerce, their coun-
brought to a tragic end the era of de-Stalinization and terparts in eastern Europe spent years in jail or learned
reform. Over the next two decades, while the western not to challenge the system. A lucky few escaped into
European youthful protesters became influential in the West.
How did the cold war affect international security? ing. But Europe remained tied culturally, economically,
What were the costs of postwar reconstruction in and politically to the postcolonial world. By 1968,
western versus eastern Europe?
however, liberation movements in places like Algeria
➜
How did the new polarization of the world into two and Vietnam were also becoming a powerful influ-
superpower-dominated camps and anticolonial inde-
pendence movements affect Europeans’ identity? ence in the opposition movements in Europe.
The experience of the war had a profound impact
on Europeans’ views of their culture and European
World War II transformed Europe from the most identity. The continent that had fostered Christianity
powerful seat of democratic tradition, economic de- and the Enlightenment had also produced hateful mass
velopment, and cultural progress into a pawn in the movements, atrocities, and genocide. Yet few political
struggle between the two superpowers of the cold leaders were prepared to deal with these moral dilem-
war—the United States and the Soviet Union. In the mas in the first postwar decades, and the wartime
process, Europe became divided into two camps: the generation focused instead on hard work. It was the
capitalist West, which became a place for rebuilding next generation of better-educated, more diverse, and
democracy, and the communist East, where dictato- less traumatized Europeans who forced a new period
rial regimes came to power under Soviet control. of social and political engagement, moral responsibil-
Western European states embarked on creating social ity, and self-sacrifice. The 1968 student protests brought
stability through extensive and unprecedented wel- this generational conflict to a head and prompted Eu-
fare measures. ropeans East and West to look back at their past as
In the two decades after the war, both sides of well as toward their goals for European development
this divide tried to legitimate themselves as the in the future.
“true” Europeans—the West by rebuilding demo-
cratic regimes, the East by fighting against capitalist ➜
Thinking Back, Thinking Ahead ➜
imperialism. Even as the new regimes made impor-
tant attempts to link themselves to prewar traditions, How were questions of international security
new multinational organizations like the UN, NATO, confronted and resolved by Europeans in 1918,
and the Warsaw Pact marked an entirely new interna- 1945, and 1968?
tional order in which European states were often rel-
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
The Volkswagen Transporter
Today’s SUV (sport-utility vehicle), the mark of middle-class America, has as its ancestor a little box on
wheels thought up in 1947 by a Dutch car importer, Ben Pon. At that time, the British controlled the Volk-
swagen (VW) factory in Wolfsburg, which had been developed under Adolf Hitler to produce affordable
vehicles for all Germans. Pon met with British authorities to suggest building a vehicle that would, like the
Websites 835
original Volkswagen (“people’s car”) Beetle, be small and affordable, yet more useful for hauling both
people and goods. German manufacturers liked the idea and created the first prototype by 1949. The
minibus or Transporter, as this hybrid vehicle came to be known, became an instant success, and, though
modest by today’s standards, it revolutionized transportation. By 1961, more than 1 million had been sold.
Minibuses became a fixture all over Europe, even behind the Iron Curtain, because of their great versatility,
low price, and great gas mileage. For a small-business owner, the bus could be both workplace and vaca-
tion vehicle. It could be easily outfitted with sleeping and eating quarters, becoming the first affordable,
compact camper to hit the European market. In fact, the minibus became more than a vehicle: it repre-
sented a lifestyle, providing a new generation with a mobility, freedom, and interconnectedness that con-
trasted with what they saw as the dull conservatism of their parents.
By the late 1960s, traveling bands of young people could be seen driving minibuses on highways in Europe
and the United States and parked at music festivals, antiwar protests, and vacation spots. The minibus
became the symbol of the “flower power” generation and continues to be so today. Transporters still travel
the roads of Europe, especially in postcommunist countries, and in the United States they show up at rain-
bow gatherings and other Dead Head events. But the sons and daughters of the “flower children” rebelled
against their parents by embracing materialism again and turning to bigger, more powerful descendants of
the minibus—the minivan, the SUV, and more recently the Hummer—for hauling kids and their gear to and
from programmed activities.
Suggested Readings
Caute, David. The Year of the Barricades: A Journey Through versity Press, 2002. An insightful history of ethnic cleansing
1968. New York: HarperCollins, 1990. A survey of international and its relationship to genocide and population transfer in the
political developments in 1968, including the antiwar and civil violent twentieth century.
rights movements. Painter, David. The Cold War: An International History. New
Hogan, Michael J. The Marshall Plan: America, Britain, and York: Routledge, 1999. A compact international study that pro-
the Reconstruction of Western Europe, 1947–1952. New York: vides a fresh perspective on the cold war.
Cambridge University Press, 2005. An analysis of how the Rothschild, Joseph, and Nancy M. Wingfield. Return to Diver-
Marshall Plan was more than an effort by American officials to sity: A Political History of East Central Europe Since World
refashion western Europe into a smaller version of the U.S. War II. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. A compre-
capitalist economy. hensive political history of eastern Europe.
Mahoney, Daniel J. De Gaulle: Statesmanship, Grandeur, and Springhall, John. Decolonization Since 1945: The Collapse of
Modern Democracy. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Pub- European Overseas Empires. New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
lishers, 2000. A comprehensive study of the thought and ac- 2003. A study that focuses on each major European overseas
tions of Charles de Gaulle. colony.
Naimark, Norman. Fires of Hatred: Ethnic Cleansing in
Twentieth-Century Europe. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Uni-
Websites
Documents and scholarly analyses on the development of the An archive of documents related to the history of European inte-
cold war in the military field, The Parallel History Project on gration from 1930 until today, EU History, at www.eu-history
Cooperative Security, at www.isn.ethz.ch/php .leidenuniv.nl/index.php3?m=1&c=3&garb=0.3437423344549452
A growing archive of documents pertaining to the cold war, &session
Cold War International History Project, at wwics.si.edu/index
.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=topics.home
836
CHAPTER
Lifting the Iron
Curtain, 1969–1991
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Choice: Václav Havel Chooses Dissent Cultural Leaps over the Wall
Whose Sexual Revolution?
Introduction
Religious Revival
Politics in Western Europe Postmodernism
Relaxed Tensions and Renewed The Americanization of European Popular
Cooperation Culture
Security and Economic Challenges from
the Middle East The Collapse of the Soviet System,
The Transformation of the Left 1989–1991
The Antinuclear and Environmental The Velvet Revolution
Movements Violent Struggle in Romania
The New Conservatism The End of the Soviet Union
NORWAY
Lake
Ladoga
Oslo SWEDEN Helsinki R U S S I A
Leningrad
Stockholm
SCOTLAND
ESTONIA
a
olg
V
NORTHERN Moscow
IRELAND North Riga LATVIA
IRELAND DENMARK
Dublin Sea Copenhagen
LITHUANIA
GREAT
BRITAIN S O V I E T U N I O N
WALES
NETHERLANDS
Gdansk Minsk
The Hamburg
El
Hague b BELARUSSIA
London K A ZA K H STA N
e
Lo i r e CZ E C
hin
ine
r
H O S LO
R VAK I A
Munich
FRANCE LIECH. Vienna
Budapest MOLDOVA
Bern AUSTRIA
Geneva SWITZ. HUNGARY
Milan Crimea
ROMANIA
Po
Yalta GEORGIA
ANDORRA SAN Belgrade Bucharest
MARINO
Marseilles MONACO YUGOSLAVIA D a nu b e Black Sea AZERBAIJAN
ARMENIA
Madrid ITALY
Corsica BULGARIA
Lisbon T ag us Barcelona Sofia
(Fr.)
SPAIN Rome ALBANIA Istanbul
VATICAN Naples
CITY Tiranë Ankara
Sardinia
Balearic TURKEY
(It.)
Islands
(Sp.) GREECE
Gibraltar
(U.K.)
Mediterranean Sea
Athens
SYRIA
Crete Nicosia
MOROCCO MALTA (Gr.)
CYPRUS
IRAQ
ALGERIA
LEBANON
TUNISIA 0 250 500 Km.
JORDAN
0 250 500 Mi. ISRAEL
LYBIA
EGYPT
837
838 CHAPTER 29 Lifting the Iron Curtain, 1969–1991
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
Václav Havel Chooses Dissent
To live in truth: this is the deceptively simple choice Václav Havel,
the first president of postcommunist Czechoslovakia, made most
of his life. In a brave letter to the communist leadership, he
wrote: “Even a purely moral act that has no hope of any immedi-
ate and visible political effect can gradually and indirectly, over
time, gain in political significance.” This strong faith in the power
of each individual to make a difference in the world by living a
moral life guided the famous playwright in his own life and im-
posed on him costly personal choices—from social isolation to
imprisonment—but it also made him an inspiration to people
throughout the communist bloc.
During the short-lived Prague Spring, from January to August
1968, Havel was at the forefront of the reform movement that
sought full freedom of the press, religion, and assembly in addi-
tion to important social and economic changes advocated by the
reformist party leadership. Thirty-two at that time, and thus older
Václav Havel than most of the students who stood beside him, Havel publicly criticized the in-
In the 1980s, Václav Havel justices of the communist regime even though, as a prominent playwright, he had
became the face of peaceful much to lose. But he believed in truth telling, and in an open letter to the commu-
anticommunist dissent in nist leadership, he laid out the major abuses of the regime.
eastern Europe. His plays, These actions made him a target of the repression that came in 1969, after
critical of communism, had the Soviets rolled their tanks through Prague. Havel was blacklisted, his plays
already been staged abroad, removed from all theaters: he was forced to choose between being a playwright
but he became renowned for without a stage or abandoning his political principles. Havel chose neither. He
his role in the Charter 77 remained an unconcealed opponent of the regime, but as he was not allowed
human rights petition, writ- to publish or stage his plays, he created an underground publishing house and
ten in Czechoslovakia in arranged to have his plays staged in unlikely places, from barns to restaurants.
1977, protesting abuses by As he could not make a living as a playwright, he took on a day job stocking
the communist regime barrels in a brewery. In this way, he continued to provide an inspiring example
against members of a rock of how one could not only survive but also live in truth under a regime of lies,
band. In 1989, Havel was exposing it for what it really was. His underground press published many texts
elected the first president of that opposed the regime, contributing to the development and recognition of
postcommunist Czechoslova- an important body of works. Many of these publications were also smuggled
kia. (AP/Wide World Photos) abroad, making Havel, his cohort of writers, and, more broadly, Czechoslovakia a
place to which western Europeans and Americans looked for signs of a crack in the
Soviet bloc.
Havel’s best-known act of opposition was his central role in co-writing and
publicizing a petition against the Czechoslovak government in 1977. Charter 77, as
it became known, pointed out real but undisclosed facts about the abuses of the
communist regime, which in 1975 had signed the famous Helsinki Final Act that
guaranteed citizens’ basic human rights. Charter 77 became the foundation for a
new movement for rehumanizing social relations, restoring human dignity, and
reenergizing moral conviction. In its most public challenge, the petition asked the
Politics in Western Europe 839
government to release the members of a rock band who had been imprisoned for
their lyrics and for loud aesthetics—supposedly “unbecoming” of a musical group
in a communist state. Charter 77, and Havel in particular, challenged the regime to
show how it could claim to support freedom of speech and personal movement
while treating people as subjects of a tyranny. For his role in Charter 77, Havel was
imprisoned in 1979 and suffered great abuses. In 1983 he almost died from an
untreated case of pneumonia, and only under great international pressure was he
finally released to recover in a regular hospital. By now he had become a larger-
than-life hero of the underground intellectual and civil rights reform movement in
the communist world. In 1989, he emerged as leader of the anticommunist opposi-
tion and was soon elected as president of a democratic Czechoslovakia. After Slo-
vakia declared its independence in 1991, he remained the president of the Czech
Republic until his retirement in February 2003.
Chronology
1972 West Germany recognizes the East 1980 Solidarity movement begins in Poland
German border;
United States and Soviet Union sign the 1981 Greece joins the Common Market;
Antiballistic Missile Treaty Spain legalizes divorce;
Millions march in antinuclear protests in
1973 Great Britain, Ireland, and Denmark join the western Europe
Common Market;
Egypt and Israel engage in the Yom Kippur War; 1982 Britain defeats Argentina in Falklands War
Arab oil embargo begins
1983 François Mitterrand becomes president of France;
1974 Abortion is decriminalized in France Petra Kelly, first Green Party representative, is
elected to the West German parliament;
1975 European states sign Helsinki Final Act AIDS crisis begins
1976–1977 Massive strikes erupt in Poland 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the
and Romania Soviet Union
1977 Charter 77 movement in Czechoslovakia begins 1986 Explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
spreads contamination
1978 Polish cardinal Karol Wojtyla a becomes Pope
John Paul II 1989 Berlin Wall is taken down;
Communism falls in eastern Europe
1979 Soviets invade Afghanistan;
Margaret Thatcher becomes British 1991 Soviet Union collapses
prime minister
If Ostpolitik and détente meant relaxation, toler- iffs to eastern European countries that abided by the
ance, and the willingness to sit down at the negotiat- provisions of Helsinki and threatened to cut off eco-
ing table, they also encouraged greater scrutiny and nomic benefits to regimes with human rights abuses.
manipulation of the flow of information between East
and West. It was a gamble on both sides, and it proved
very costly for Brandt. A few dramatic cases of Soviet Security and Economic Challenges
agents in West Germany caught with important Ger- from the Middle East
man secrets encouraged the perception that western
leaders who promoted détente were not watchful and As tensions across the East-West divide relaxed, Eu-
tough enough on communist threats from over the ropeans countries faced new security and economic
wall. Brandt became the victim of one such a scandal. challenges from the Middle East. In October 1973,
Although he had not been personally responsible for in alliance with Syria, Egyptian president Anwar el-
the actions of a Soviet spy who had infiltrated his Sadat attacked Israel, to regain territories lost by both
administration, Brandt lost legitimacy at home and fi- states in the Six-Day War (1967). The Yom Kippur War
nally resigned in 1974. But the policy of détente con- grew in complexity as Arab states lent support and
tinued in the hands of other European leaders and troops to Egypt, while Israel enlisted the support of the
with the support of U.S. presidents Gerald Ford and United States and western Europe. Arab states, view-
Jimmy Carter. ing western support of Israel as a conspiracy against
Brandt’s policy of opening up trade with the East in Egypt’s legitimate reconquest of territories Israel had
order to improve the quality of life under communism seized, retaliated through an oil embargo that lasted
provided an important starting point for a broader in- until March 1974. The embargo sent the world econ-
ternational process of European cooperation, and this omy into a decade-long crisis. The immediate effect
gave birth to the Conference on Security and Coop- was soaring oil prices, which generated a rise in the
eration in Europe. The conference represented the first price of virtually all products. In addition, most Euro-
attempt to broadly rethink European international re- pean states were unable to provide sufficient energy
lations not only in terms of the cold war superpower resources for their economies. Some went so far as to
contest, but also in terms of the interests and needs of ration the use of oil and other energy resources. In the
the European states. All European states participated, United States, the government introduced unprece-
as well as the United States and Canada. The process dented supply and price regulations.
itself, together with the Helsinki Final Act (1975) it
generated, created a new forum for collaboration be-
tween East and West, especially in the area of human
rights. All signatories recognized existing European Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Meeting of all European states, the United States, and
borders and committed themselves to protecting their Canada in 1972–1975 to rethink East-West relations.
citizens’ human rights, including freedom of religion, Helsinki Final Act Accord signed in 1975 by all Euro-
free speech, freedom to move or travel, and the right to pean states that introduced human rights as a principle
due process. The Final Act became a guiding principle in international relations.
for the Carter administration’s foreign policy. For Eu- Helsinki Watch Nongovernmental organization cre-
ropeans, it represented a new basis for international ated to oversee the implementation of the Helsinki
relations that went beyond the political interests and Final Act’s human rights provisions.
ideologies of the United States and the Soviet Union. nongovernmental organization (NGO) Voluntary
The conference also gave rise to institutions for im- nonprofit organization often focused on humanitarian
plementing these agreements. Helsinki Watch became issues.
one of the important nongovernmental organizations Anwar el-Sadat (1918–1981) President of Egypt who
contributed to the rise of Arab nationalism in the
(NGOs) reporting on human rights violations, both in
1970s.
the West and in the East. As Helsinki Watch and other
Six-Day War War fought in 1967 between Israel and its
NGOs worked with western governments to guide the Arab neighbors Egypt, Jordan, and Syria; won by Israel.
implementation of the Final Act, they became new
Yom Kippur War 1973 war between Egypt and Israel
players in international relations. Often lobbying on over the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, which
behalf of the powerless, they also worked with west- had been conquered by Israel in 1967; won by Israel.
ern governments to expose abuses by regimes that did oil embargo (1973–1974) Refusal by Arab petroleum-
not acknowledge their violations of basic human rights exporting countries to ship petroleum to countries that
and to bring international pressure to bear on them. had supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
The United States, for instance, offered reduced tar-
Politics in Western Europe 843
The energy crisis signaled two important long-term House. The United States shifted toward a renewed
trends in Europe and elsewhere. Economic processes military buildup against the Soviet Union, which re-
were becoming increasingly globalized, so it was no sponded with similar moves. Until 1985, relations be-
longer possible for the West to be economically self- tween the two superpowers remained extremely
sufficient. And western Europeans, with only meager tense. NATO became an important institution for ral-
internal oil resources, resolved to deal with the crisis lying western Europe support behind Reagan’s vi-
by looking into alternative energy resources, from hy- sion of military buildup as the guarantee for peace,
droelectric to wind and nuclear. Overall, the energy with Britain as the most outspoken ally. Other Euro-
crisis induced greater cooperation among members peans saw themselves cast again as second-tier par-
of the Common Market in finding alternative fuels ticipants in the superpower contest.
and markets that would buffer them from fluctua- Yet, despite such challenges, western European
tions in the global economy. During the oil crisis, the states moved along toward European integration. The
Common Market provided important benefits to its major successes of the 1980s were Greece, Portugal,
members, such as access to nuclear power and coal, and Spain, which quietly abandoned authoritarian
but its success was also measured by its general pros- rule between 1970 and 1975 and in the 1980s were
perity and growth, as Brandt had been able to recon- welcomed into the Common Market. By this time,
cile the French to the idea of allowing Great Britain to vestiges of the old dictatorships were largely gone in
join in the very year of the oil embargo. the politics of these countries, while their economies
Member countries continued to negotiate and move began to flourish and a culture of pluralism also devel-
forward toward a European Monetary Union. But in oped. Their Common Market membership enhanced
1979, a second oil crisis brought about by the 1977 their political stability in the face of continued chal-
Iranian Revolution, together with a spike in the value lenges from extremist movements.
of the dollar, made European currencies more vul-
nerable on the international markets. As European The Transformation of the Left
economies slowed down, further discussions of the
monetary union ended. The strongest western Euro- In the 1970s and 1980s, domestic politics in western
pean economies—the German and the British—turned Europe saw an ebb and flow among traditional parties,
inward to solve their problems with rising unemploy- but two trends were about to transform them. First,
ment and low economic performance instead of pur- traditional politics seemed to draw less voter support.
suing further collaboration with the Common Market. As 1968 had shown, average citizens were less inter-
Overall, by 1979, the era of détente was ending. ested in what politicians had to offer through the
There were some important changes—the stabiliza- regular channels of political platforms and elections.
tion of European borders and recognition of human Second, new types of movements—grass-roots politics
rights as an important component of international and radical, secret terrorist organizations—attracted
politics. Yet trust did not catch hold, and ideologues more followers.
on both sides of the cold war skillfully exploited the In Britain, where the Labour Party had come to
fears of average voters about loss of stability. In addi-
tion, the Soviets changed their international stance
significantly. On Christmas Eve 1979, they invaded
Afghanistan. The reason for this intervention seems globalization Increasing global connections among
to have been the fear of the spread of Islamic funda- national and international economic and cultural
mentalism from Afghanistan into Soviet-controlled forces, starting in the 1970s.
Central Asian territories. But the United States read European Monetary Union Unification in 1990–1999
the Afghanistan invasion as a challenge to the bal- of the fiscal policies of European Community mem-
bers, with the goal of creating a single currency.
ance of power in the Persian Gulf, a region to which it
had become vulnerable since the 1973 oil embargo. Iranian Revolution Nationalist uprising in 1977 that
ousted the Iranian monarchy and destabilized the
The Americans reacted swiftly and sent military help global oil supply.
to the Islamic Afghan rebels who opposed the Soviets. Afghanistan invasion Military invasion by Soviet
Thus, a significant change in U.S. relations with Union in 1979 to prevent the spread of Muslim funda-
the Soviet Union and western Europe took place in mentalism to the Soviet Republics in Central Asia.
the 1980s. American voters viewed Carter’s stance on pluralism State of society in which diverse groups
human rights and his response to the Iranian Revolu- can participate while maintaining their interests and
tion as weak, and they put Ronald Reagan, an un- traditions.
abashed hawk in international relations, in the White
844 CHAPTER 29 Lifting the Iron Curtain, 1969–1991
power in 1973, the oil crisis of that same year under- Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
mined economic prosperity. Unemployment stayed Organization started in the late 1960s by Northern
high, the economy did not bounce back, and the pound Ireland Catholics to record abuses by the Unionist
remained weak. When the party proved incapable of government.
effective solutions, it lost power in 1979. Unionists Representatives of the British government in
The Labour Party also lost support because of its Northern Ireland who favored preserving the union
inability to deal with the rise of protests in Northern with Great Britain.
Ireland. In the late 1960s, the Northern Ireland Civil Palmiro Togliatti (1893–1964) Italian Communist
Party leader who devised a compromise with the
Rights Association sponsored peaceful street protests
Christian Democrats that brought stability to the
and began documenting the abuses of the Unionist government.
government against Catholics. The government’s vi- Red Brigades Radical communist group in Italy that
olent crackdown led to actions by the Irish Republi- led campaign of terrorist actions from street and car
can Army (IRA) that brought the level of violence to bombings to kidnappings.
unprecedented heights. Car bombings in Protestant Aldo Moro (1916–1978) Italian Christian Democratic
communities and assassinations of government loy- politician who was instrumental in the compromise
alists became staple activities of this group. The situ- with the Italian Communist Party.
ation in Ireland soon became a permanent crisis in
Politics in Western Europe 845
For ten years, thousands of women kept a continuous presence at the Greenham Common military base west of
London. They camped, held vigils, and engaged in various other forms of protest to signal their commitment to
creating a nuclear-free Britain. (The Press Association [PA Photos])
The antiwar and antinuclear/environmental move- the social and environmental policies of the traditional
ments were closely connected and drew support from left. This trend was not exclusive to West Germany,
a wide range of scientists, student activists, house- but it developed faster and had broader appeal there,
wives, and people of any or no political persuasion. in part because of the committed sense of citizenship
In Britain, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, that was particular to post-1945 German political cul-
founded in the 1950s, became the leading organiza- ture. In the 1980s, the Greens remained a marginal
tion of the antinuclear movement. It served as a polit- presence in the Bundestag but made steady gains in
ical lobbying force and also a link for people beyond local politics. Throughout this period they continued
national boundaries, ideologies, and religious beliefs. to work closely with local environmental NGOs in a
Other environmental NGOs built communities on an new blend of community activism and parliamentary
ethic of caring that crossed national borders and pro- politics.
moted a new global identity. Free from the adversities
of the ballot box, these NGOs often acted swiftly and
also across borders, especially in moments of crisis. Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Antinuclear
The same concern for environmental issues gave British organization founded in the 1950s that became
birth to a new left-wing party in Germany, the Green a leader in the peace movement of the 1970s and 1980s.
Party. The party grew from small local groups that Green Party West German party founded by anti-
lobbied on behalf of ecological concerns starting in nuclear and environmental activists in 1979.
the early 1970s and attracted voters dissatisfied with
Politics in Western Europe 847
After 1981, as the Reagan administration resumed the backbone of the Common Market, producing one-
military buildup in Europe, the antinuclear movement third of its exports in the 1980s.
offered increased resistance. Though the British gov- In Britain, the electorate brought back the Con-
ernment welcomed the American missiles, the popu- servatives in 1979 under the leadership of Margaret
lar support of the generation who had welcomed the Thatcher, the first woman prime minister of Britain.
Americans as liberators during World War II was al- She dominated politics throughout the 1980s, orches-
most gone, as the numbers of this generation dwin- trating a decisive shift in foreign and domestic poli-
dled through death. Their sons and daughters, taking tics. Thatcher came to be known as the Iron Lady for
security and prosperity as a given, opposed nuclear her resolute support for the Reagan administration’s
threat of any sort—from West or East. Thus, when the rearmament policies and for her stiff refusal to consider
Reagan administration announced the deployment of the social welfare costs of her government’s support
new Pershing II intermediate-range missiles on U.S. for business and industry. Whether people admired
bases in western Europe, almost 1 million people or despised her, Thatcher articulated a new path for
marched in Bonn, London, and Rome in opposition; a conservative politics. Her years in power and policies
month later, half a million protesters gathered in Am- have reshaped the relationship between the traditional
sterdam. These protests continued throughout the left and right, making Thatcherism an important force
1980s, most famously at the Greenham Common mil- in contemporary politics until today. The focus on in-
itary base, where an all-woman camp established in dividual freedoms rather than social programs and
1981 continued until 1991, when the last nuclear mis- on encouraging business rather than favoring labor
siles were removed from the site. unions became the trademarks of this movement.
In April 1986, an explosion at a nuclear power As a woman, Thatcher was an improbable leader
station in Chernobyl, in Soviet Ukraine, forced all of the Conservatives, a party in which women were
Europeans to face the reality of environmental nuclear underrepresented and that generally lined up with
disaster. Though the details were at first suppressed areas of political and economic life that were domi-
by the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, the effects nated by men—from the armaments industry to the
were so severe and widespread that Chernobyl became landed aristocracy. Most western European women
an instant symbol of the dangers of nuclear power. who entered politics after World War II gravitated
More than thirty thousand square miles of land were to left-wing parties, which tended to have woman-
contaminated and, according to a 1994 study, almost friendly positions on issues such as child care, health-
5 million people in the region were affected. In west- care, education, and birth control. But Thatcher was
ern Europe, environmental pressure groups forced the not one to fit any particular cliché of a female politi-
closing of nuclear power plants: France, which had cian, and she followed her own path. Born in 1925,
been a leading producer of nuclear energy, had to re- she became interested in politics as a chemistry stu-
tool its energy sources. By the end of the 1980s, con- dent at Oxford. In 1953, as a brand-new mother of
cerns over with the possibility of nuclear disaster had twins, she also passed the bar and soon returned to
breached political divisions between East and West to work as a tax specialist. After she won a seat in Parlia-
become a common cause across Europe. ment at age thirty-four, she fully dedicated her public
manded greater social, political, and economic power. and child care for working mothers. This emphasis
Demographic change spurred social change, as birth- was in contrast to American feminists, who also em-
rates decreased and working populations aged. Newly braced these issues but who generally focused less on
arrived immigrants and guest workers tested the abil- difference and complementarity than on equality in
ity of western governments to deliver the same social economic power and in politics. American feminists,
services to all those who lived and worked in their for example, demanded “equal pay for equal work”
countries. and full representation in government, business,
sports, and education.
The Feminist Revolution De Beauvoir herself had not been interested in tak-
ing a public stance on women’s issues until 1971, when
By 1970, women had made dramatic gains in many she signed the Manifesto of the 343, acknowledging
areas. More women were employed outside the home that she had had an abortion. Since abortion was a
and received college degrees than ever before. Yet their criminal act in France, signing this document was an
economic opportunities were more limited than those act of civil disobedience, and it became a springboard
of men, their wages were significantly lower (by about for securing women’s access to birth control. Abortion
one-third), and they were still expected to be primarily was legalized three years later, one year after it was
wives and mothers. A woman with a college degree in also decriminalized in the United States. Other Catho-
business would more likely become a secretary than lic countries followed suit—Italy in 1978 and Spain in
a manager. Left-wing parties, which advocated eco- 1985—with women’s groups applying the pressure.
nomic and social equality, remained unsympathetic In 1990, Belgium became the last western European
to glaring gender inequalities in politics and the work- country to decriminalize abortion.
place. They were willing to offer social assistance to Catholic countries also eventually legalized divorce.
workers but not to consider housework as labor that Left-wing governments in Italy (1974) and Spain (1981)
was entitled to respect and protection. gave in to grass-roots pressure in which women played
Even in left-wing movements, women were rele- a major role. Women were only loosely organized in
gated to secondary roles—making signs, typing, and informal networks that focused mostly on coping with
making coffee—behind the masculine façade of the women’s burdens. But as more women became edu-
protests. Disillusioned, many women left these move- cated and understood their burdens as discrimina-
ments and formed their own, vowing to promote tory treatment that could be changed, they started to
gender equality in structures that rejected the male act differently in their daily lives. They applied pres-
patriarchal model. “The personal is political” was the sure to the Italian government by marching in the
motto of this feminist movement, which focused pri- streets, a traditional form of protest; but they also with-
marily on the social and economic empowerment of held household “services” such as cooking and clean-
women rather than their relationship to men. Celebrat- ing. These methods made the point, as 60 percent of
ing women’s identities as women and defining them Italians came to support legalization of divorce in this
as worthy of public concern was at the heart of this most Catholic of western European states.
new movement. Thus, giving birth was viewed not as Women’s actions on behalf of abortion and divorce
a personal and private event but as a unique female had broad effects throughout society. The birthrate
experience with deep social, emotional, and political dropped significantly, and marriage patterns changed.
implications for the whole community. Feminists also Couples married later and became more committed to
addressed the problem of “compulsory heterosexual- long-term monogamous relationships than in the past.
ity.” Lesbian activism developed during this period Overall, women were now able to lead freer lives, with
as a form of celebrating women’s identities unencum- more economic and social choices than ever before.
bered by relations with men. This was the age of uni- But in traditional politics, women remained mar-
versal sisterhood. ginal. The percentage of women in elected national
The most prominent intellectual figure of the
women’s movement in Europe, Simone de Beauvoir,
defined the struggle for women’s liberation as an in- Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) French philosopher
and author of The Second Sex (1949), a central text of the
dividual quest to gain respect for differences. Her second-wave feminist movement.
study of women’s cultural and psychological condi- Manifesto of the 343 Manifesto in support of legaliz-
tioning, The Second Sex (1949), became an important ing abortion in France, signed in 1971 by 343 French-
manifesto for European feminists, who focused on es- women who acknowledged they had had illegal
pecially family issues. They sought the right to di- abortions.
vorce, access to birth control (including abortion),
850 CHAPTER 29 Lifting the Iron Curtain, 1969–1991
➜
governments opened up their borders to guest work- What impact did détente have for the people of the
communist bloc?
ers and immigrants. People with skills for critical eco-
➜
How did the Soviet Union change from the 1970s to the
nomic needs were permitted to live temporarily in late 1980s?
European Community states as guest workers. The
needs most often cited were for low-paying, menial For most eastern Europeans, 1968 represented the
jobs, such as domestic service and janitorial work, and end of hope. Yet, by the late 1970s, Ostpolitik and dé-
for hard labor in dangerous settings. The migrants had tente had increased the availability of consumer goods,
the right to work. They had to pay taxes, but they did allowed people to travel more freely inside the bloc
not have the right to apply for permanent residency, and beyond, and made room for dissidents to express
nor did they have the same social rights as citizens. their criticisms. The 1973 economic crisis did not hit
Healthcare, education, pensions, and vacations were eastern Europe as hard as it did the West. But by the
not guaranteed to guest workers. Nor was there any beginning of the 1980s, severe inflation and under-
attempt to acculturate them to the language and cus- production were forcing the Soviet Union to rethink
toms of the host country. Guest workers remained on its economic and foreign policy. At the same time,
the margins of their host societies. popular protests in Czechoslovakia and Poland forced
Yet foreign nationals reshaped the demographic communist regimes there to use increasingly brutal
profile of western Europe. Policies encouraged immi- repressive measures. Communism was weakening.
gration from the old colonies in Asia, Africa, and the
West Indies, and large numbers of Muslims came to Détente and False Prosperity
work in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain,
France, and Britain. At first guest workers seemed When Brezhnev pulled Soviet bloc troops from Czech-
largely invisible, but as their populations grew cultural oslovakia in 1969, the hope of reform—so strong dur-
differences were exposed. Western European govern- ing the Prague Spring on 1968—seemed dead. The
ments were largely unprepared for the presence of leaders of the dissident movement had been impris-
large groups of unassimilated migrants. Moreover, oned or purged. By directly participating in the inva-
just as Italians, Danes, and Germans were starting to sion, eastern European communist regimes had also
identify themselves as Europeans, there were new signed on to the Brezhnev Doctrine, a commitment to
populations to define themselves against—new people crush dissent.
of color and adherents of different religions. Thus new But the communist leaders understood that mili-
tensions arose over what it meant to be European. tary force and fear alone were not sufficient to suppress
Tensions also arose as guest workers lived in opposition. The era of détente made possible a shift in
poverty while they worked in prosperous settings. A economic planning from heavy industries toward
Turkish worker cleaning toilets in the Frankfurt Inter- consumer goods. For the first time, radios and televi-
national Airport, for example, saw the lifestyle avail- sion sets became available. New countries in addition
able to Germans and knew it would never be possible to Czechoslovakia, such as Romania, began to pro-
for him. The loneliness and resentment of guest work- duce their own cars. Only a generation earlier, most
ers was compounded as they observed ethnic Germans transportation had been either by horse and cart or on
repatriated from eastern Europe gaining citizenship foot; in contrast, this new emphasis in economic pol-
and access to full social services. The significance of icy was breathtaking. Items formerly considered luxu-
race in eligibility for citizenship was clear. The race line ries were now mass-produced, and western consumer
was a particular problem for children born to guest goods began to be imported.
workers in the host country: Were they to be “toler-
ated,” or could they become citizens with full rights?
As temporary workers lived in host countries for guest workers Citizens of foreign countries temporar-
decades, a new generation of children were exposed ily allowed to live and work in western European
to the possibility of losing their rights if their parents countries.
were deported. And, because they attended European Brezhnev Doctrine Policy of Soviet military interven-
schools and spoke European languages, they began to tion to secure the interest of communism in Soviet bloc
identify themselves as Europeans. Thousands of fam- countries, established by Leonid Brezhnev in 1968.
ilies struggled with divided identities.
852 CHAPTER 29 Lifting the Iron Curtain, 1969–1991
For many eastern Europeans, the early 1970s was an helped develop the Soviet hydrogen bomb, gave up
age of prosperity. For the first time, a factory worker his privileges when he openly discussed Soviet treat-
could get in his car and take his family on a trip to an- ment of dissenters and put his life in danger by speak-
other country. A Bulgarian teenager could wear jeans ing out on behalf of human rights. For these efforts,
and makeup. Polish students spent their summer va- he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975, but he was
cations camping in Romania, sipping Cuban rum and unable to collect it. Placed under house arrest, he con-
Pepsi at dance clubs that played the latest tunes from tinued his activities from his tiny apartment in Gorky
the Swedish pop band ABBA. Workers from non- and remained one of the important leaders of the
aligned Yugoslavia went to West Germany to work and movement for peace and human rights until his death
returned home with western cars, whiskey, or plain in 1989.
cash. Though salaries were relatively low, many people
now dreamed less of life in the free West than of vaca-
tions and new furniture. Charter 77 and Solidarity
The communist regimes shifted economic priorities By 1977, it was becoming clear that the governments
partly because oil from the Soviet Union was avail- of eastern Europe had failed in their attempt to win
able at a time when the rest of the world was suffer- loyalty through consumerism. Centralized economic
ing from the oil crisis and partly because cheap loans planning could not sustain the growing demand for
were a stimulus. West Germany had been the first to consumer goods at the low prices people had come to
extend cheap loans to East Germany, but soon Poland, expect. And with increased expectations about con-
Yugoslavia, Romania, and others benefited. After the sumer goods, those inside communist countries were
Helsinki Act, the United States and western European more likely to become dissatisfied when such goods
countries extended special loans and lower tariff rates disappeared or became too expensive. The strikes were
to eastern European countries that agreed to protect only the most visible sign that the workers’ states
human rights and allow the freedom of religion. were facing the revolt of the workers. In Gdańsk, the
This deal afforded the communist regimes new strikes gave birth to an underground organization, the
means of “buying off” the loyalty of their citizens. But Workers’ Defense Committee, which offered assis-
it also compelled these regimes to conceal their hu- tance to those who lost their jobs in the strikes. This
man rights abuses, if not to curb them. And the avail- network provided the foundation for an alliance of
ability of western goods, especially movies, VCRs, and workers, lawyers, and intellectuals that was a first in
books, also made many increasingly aware of the pros- eastern Europe.
perous lifestyle of the noncommunist West. People did The Czechoslovaks followed the Polish example
not regard the new goods as proof of the success of with Charter 77, which called on the government to
the communist regimes but rather as proof of West’s abide by the Helsinki Final Act. It listed actions taken
ability to offer superior products. by the government, such as imprisoning citizens with-
By the end of the 1970s, the veneer of economic well- out due process, which contravened the agreement
being was wearing off. Because they were not pro- signed by the Czechoslovak government in 1975. This
ducing goods that could be sold abroad, most eastern petition was signed by more than a thousand people,
European states could repay foreign loans only by including prominent writers such as Václav Havel (see
raising prices for basic goods, such as bread and milk, Choice) but also by engineers, workers, and other av-
which had long been subsidized. But wages were not erage people. The petition refused to define itself as a
raised, and in 1976–1977 strikes erupted from the Jiu
Valley in Romania, to Gdańsk, Poland. At the Lenin
shipyards in Gdańsk, violent clashes between workers Andrei Sakharov (1921–1989) Soviet physicist who
and police were followed by a crackdown. The govern- was the most prominent human rights and antinuclear
activist during the Brezhnev era.
ment canceled the price hikes but avoided dealing
with the underlying economic issues. People went back Workers’ Defense Committee Polish underground
organization founded after the 1976 Gdańsk labor
home, bruised and fearful, but it was clear that the strikes to provide assistance to the participants.
consumerist policies of the early 1970s had backfired. Charter 77 Document signed by Czechoslovak citizens
By the mid-1970s, even the Soviet Union was ex- in 1977 protesting the communist government’s non-
periencing economic troubles. There was a sense of compliance with the Helsinki Final Act.
stagnation—that things were not getting any better Václav Havel (1936– ) Czech playwright and dissident
during a period when people expected more. Voices who became the first president of postcommunist
from inside the Soviet Union rose to criticize Brezh- Czechoslovakia.
nev. Andrei Sakharov, a brilliant physicist who had
Growing Crisis in the Communist East 853
political movement; it simply stood as a grass-roots leaders of Charter 77 were imprisoned and stripped
act. Thus, it became the foundation for a new type of of their rights. But the crackdown did not match the
civil society that tried to change political culture and purges of the early 1950s.
government policies from outside traditional political
channels. Like citizens in the West, but for different
reasons, eastern Europeans were tired of traditional civil society Nongovernmental institutions and social
politics and turned toward grass-roots activism to ex- networks that help negotiate civil rights, social justice,
press their criticism. For those living under a dictator- and a public space outside of direct state control.
ship, the price of such actions was high. Predictably, the
Voice
VoiceVoiceVoiceVoice
Václav Havel Calls on the Power
of the Powerless
This essay, written a year after the founding of Charter 77, is Václav Havel’s most
famous piece. It was first published abroad in an English translation and came out
in its original Czech only after 1989; before that, mimeographed copies circulated
in the underground. The parable of the greengrocer has become a legendary
statement of the corrupting power of totalitarian regimes and the apparently
simple, potentially costly, yet fundamentally liberating means of escape from the
vicious circle of living within a lie. Note that in calling people to live in truth by
rejecting the communist regime as fundamentally untruthful, Havel does not em-
brace capitalism. He sees the consumerism of Western capitalist societies as a coer-
cive conformity, pressuring individuals into other forms of living within a lie.
The manager of a fruit and vegetable shop places in his window, among the
➜ This is one of the most onions and carrots, the slogan: ➜ “Workers of the world, unite!” . . . I think it can
famous mottos of The Com- safely be assumed that the overwhelming majority of
munist Manifesto, which shopkeepers never think about the slogans they put in
adorned the front page of their windows, nor do they use them to express their ➜ Why does Havel
many communist newspapers real opinions. ➜ That poster was delivered to our pick a greengrocer for
in the Soviet bloc. Why does greengrocer from the enterprise headquarters along this parable?
he do it? with the onions and carrots. He put them all into the
window simply because that is the way it has to be. If
he were to refuse, there could be trouble. He could be reproached for not having
the proper “decoration” in his window; someone might even accuse him of disloy-
alty. He does it because these things must be done if one is to get along in life. It is
one of the thousands of details that guarantee him a relatively tranquil life “in
harmony with society,” as they say. . . .
We have seen that the real meaning of the greengrocer’s slogan has nothing to
do with what the text of the slogan actually says. Even so, this real meaning is
quite clear and generally comprehensible because the code is so familiar: the
greengrocer declares his loyalty (and he can do no other if his declaration is to be
accepted) in the only way the regime is capable of hearing; that is, by accepting
the prescribed ritual, by accepting appearances as reality, by accepting the given
rules of the game. In doing so, however, he has himself become a player in the
854 CHAPTER 29 Lifting the Iron Curtain, 1969–1991
game, thus making it possible for the game to go on, for it to exist in the first
➜ How does the ritual of place. . . . ➜ Because of this, dictatorship of the ritual, however, power becomes
displaying the slogan help clearly anonymous. . . .
dictatorship become anony- [A] woman who ignored the greengrocer’s slogan may well have hung a similar
mous? What does it mean for slogan just an hour before in the corridor of the office where she works. She did it
power to become anonymous? more or less without thinking, just as our greengrocer did, and she could do so
precisely because she was doing it against the background of the general
panorama and with some awareness of it, that is, against the background of the
➜ If the greengrocer helps panorama of which the greengrocer’s shop window forms a part. . . . ➜ The
create the conditions to greengrocer and the office worker have both adapted to the conditions in which
which he had to adapt, then is they live, but in doing so, they help to create those
he a victim of the regime? Is conditions. . . .
he powerless? ➜ Let us now imagine that one day something in ➜ Are these two
our greengrocer snaps and he stops putting up the forms of noncompli-
slogans merely to ingratiate himself. He stops voting in ance acts of opposi-
elections he knows are a farce. He begins to say what tion against the
he really thinks at political meetings. And he even finds regime? What is their
the strength in himself to express solidarity with those meaning and for
➜ What would be the conse- whom his conscience commands him to support. In this whom?
quences of living within the revolt the greengrocer steps out of living within the lie.
truth? Is that an easy choice He rejects the ritual and breaks the rules of the game.
to make and maintain? He discovers once more his suppressed identity and dignity. He gives his freedom a
concrete significance. ➜ His revolt is an attempt to live within the truth. . . .
The most devastating challenge to a communist tion independently of the communist regime. Entire
regime came in 1980, when another wave of strikes communities gave everything they had to make this
swept through Poland following a government an- effort work, from Catholic priests, who described the
nouncement that it would raise the price of basic actions of Solidarity in their sermons, to housewives,
foods. The deep economic problems that lay behind who turned their apartments into miniature publish-
the previous round of strikes had not been solved. ing houses, hostels, and cafeterias. By December 1981,
Poland was defaulting on its international loans, and the communist regime regarded Solidarity as enough
its economy collapsed. People were forced to wait in of a threat to send tanks into the streets of Warsaw.
line for everything from bread to shoes, as the state For a year Poland was under martial law. Solidarity
became unable to deliver even basic goods. leaders were imprisoned, and the state imposed harsh
The strikes in the Gdańsk shipyards were led by control over all media. But the organization was too
Lech Wale˛sa, a young worker with boundless energy, strong to be eliminated.
great charisma, and an unshaken belief in the Catho- In the following years, Solidarity supporters formed
lic Church. Wale˛sa was not well educated, nor was he an underground network known as the flying uni-
a party member. He was truly of the people, and many versity. The government tried to shut it down but had
came to seem him not only as a workers’ representa- neither the will nor the resources to succeed, as many
tive but also as a Polish patriot. Throughout Poland,
most factory workers, teachers, rural workers, and
even some party members struck in sympathy with Lech Wale˛sa (1943– ) Shipyard worker who led 1980
labor strikes in Gdańsk, Poland, and leader of the
the Gdańsk workers. Poland’s economy came to a Solidarity union and movement.
standstill.
Solidarity First noncommunist workers’ union of any
With other dedicated workers, Wale˛sa established communist regime in eastern Europe, founded in
Solidarity to negotiate better working conditions and August 1980 in Poland.
wages. The organization was independent of com- flying university Underground Polish educational
munist control and at its height had more than 10 mil- network that was a training ground for dissidents in
lion members. This organization gave hope to most the 1980s.
Poles that they could organize themselves and func-
Growing Crisis in the Communist East 855
Poles were no longer afraid. Writers expelled from of- Initially, the policy was not intended as full freedom
ficial publications immediately found employment as of speech. Gorbachev hoped to control reform by po-
teachers and editors in the underground classes set sitioning trusted party members as critics of the sta-
up in churches and farmhouses. Those who still had tus quo and the advocates of change. He anticipated
official jobs used their economic resources to help criticisms of Joseph Stalin and Leonid Brezhnev but
people in the underground. Virtually everyone in also a positive reevaluation of some Leninist legacies,
Poland, including party members, either knew some- especially the NEP years, as well of Nikita Khrush-
one who was an underground activist or helped in chev, all intended to reinforce commitment to the cen-
such activities. tral ideals of communism.
The Polish dissident movement was unique in The gamble was fundamentally wrongheaded: Gor-
eastern Europe for its long-term worker activism and bachev believed openness would strengthen commu-
the organizational structure of the Workers’ Defense nist rule and restore the faith of satellite regimes. But
Committee and also because of the role of the Catho- reform was too little, too late. Both inside the Soviet
lic Church, which opened its doors to the flying uni- Union and elsewhere, many took glasnost to mean
versity and Solidarity activists after 1981. In addition, openness not to choose communism and tested Gor-
in 1978, the Catholic Poles gained one of their most bachev’s willingness to deliver on his promise. Within
important spokesmen in the international commu- three years the Soviet Union was falling apart.
nity through the election of Karol Cardinal Wojtyla as Still, glasnost had important accomplishments, es-
Pope John Paul II. The first Polish pope, John Paul pecially in encouraging the growth of independent
was an inspiration for all Catholics in Poland and organizations that became the kernel of a new civil
gave them renewed faith. The pope himself became an society, much like Solidarity in Poland. Gorbachev
outspoken, if diplomatic, critic of the communist bloc. himself oversaw the restoration of civil rights to many
Even though there were large groups of Catholics in political prisoners, including Sakharov, and a new re-
Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Croatia, nowhere spect for human rights. The new openness also had
else did the Catholic Church provide such a catalyst an intolerant underside. For instance, the organiza-
for mass dissent in the last decade of communism. tion Pamiat’, dedicated to the victims of communism,
had openly antisemitic overtones and encouraged
Reform in the Soviet Union new forms of xenophobia.
Gorbachev saw glasnost as part of a broader agenda,
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the new Soviet which also included perestroika, or restructuring. In
leader, turning out to be the right man at the right 1988, he introduced open elections and set new time
time, as Soviet leaders and the general population limitations to political office. In effect, he was institu-
had come to see the necessity for change. As the old tionalizing a more democratic process that prized
generation of party activists from World War II passed change, rather than stability, as the key to healthy
away, younger people, who had not lived under un- politics.
constrained Stalinist terror, came to expect reform to In the economy perestroika proved more challeng-
be possible. Gorbachev exemplified this new genera- ing, as some reformers called for decentralizing plan-
tion of leaders. He had been just eight years old when ning and production, which would have meant a
Germany invaded the Soviet Union, and when Stalin systemwide overhaul. Previous economic reform had
died he was pursuing a law degree in Moscow. In some focused on fighting corruption, reviving worker control
ways Gorbachev was typical: an ambitious, hard-
working, and talented party activist, rising through
the ranks very quickly to become, at age forty-nine, John Paul II (r. 1978–2005) Pope who inspired Polish
Catholics and encouraged their opposition to the com-
the youngest member of the Politburo. His relative
munist regime.
youth made him attractive to those desiring reform.
glasnost (in Russian, “openness) Policy of encouraging
Once in power, Gorbachev moved swiftly to elimi- constructive criticism of the Communist Party that was
nate most of the upper and midlevel old party leader- introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985.
ship, replacing them with younger men he personally Pamiat’ Nongovernmental Soviet organization that
trusted. Such a change might have appeared auto- fostered antisemitic, radical-right nationalism.
cratic, but he followed this power consolidation with xenophobia Intense fear of foreigners.
a much more radical change. Starting in 1986 he in- perestroika (in Russian, “restructuring”) Failed eco-
troduced the policy of glasnost, or openness, which nomic reforms aimed at decentralizing state control of
was an invitation to both party members and the me- the economy, initiated under Mikhail Gorbachev.
dia at large to discuss domestic problems honestly.
856 CHAPTER 29 Lifting the Iron Curtain, 1969–1991
on the factory floor, and replacing political leaders with embraced sexuality as a part of their identity. Intellec-
able technocrats. Gorbachev himself gained popularity tuals challenged faith in progress, while many people
by firing corrupt factory managers and giving speeches turned to new religious practices. In eastern Europe
about making peasants the new masters of the land. these shifts did not directly challenge communism,
But the Soviet economy was too large and sluggish to but they did show the extent to which people no
be changed just by introducing new laws and possi- longer believed in government propaganda and tried
bilities for freer market relations. All signs pointed to create alternative identities.
toward the need to let the market, rather than the
party, set prices and production priorities. But neither
Whose Sexual Revolution?
the party leadership nor the population at large was
ready for such a radical change. The four decades after World War II saw a virtual
The very culture of work needed to be transformed revolution in sexual identities. Men and women be-
so as to encourage personal incentive and creativity. came more open about sex as integral to their iden-
But neither the manager of a textile factory nor the tity. New technologies for birth control made it easier
workingwoman on the floor could make such a switch to separate reproduction from sexual intercourse.
in thinking. The communist regime had so success- And with methods that allowed both partners to con-
fully reshaped the identity of the New Soviet Man and trol the process, men and women both became gen-
Woman that workers identified more closely with the erally more sexually active—earlier and with more
fixed paycheck they took home every month than with partners.
productivity or creativity at work. The security of ac- But this new openness did not necessarily bring
cess to free public health, education, and a meager greater sexual equality between men and women. In
pension rendered workers supporters of this status the West, feminists lobbied for greater access to birth
quo. Similarly, the communist regime had success- control, especially the contraceptive pill, as a means
fully directed factory managers to respond to party for women to eliminate unplanned pregnancies. Yet
directives: they were not used to having to make de- the pill, first available in Europe in the late 1960s, and
cisions about what the factory would produce, for other contraceptives increased pressure for women to
whom, and at what cost. These decisions were made become sexually active. By the early 1980s, the aver-
in Moscow, and the manager’s job was to simply im- age age when a girl became sexually active in Sweden
plement them. was fifteen years and two months and for a boy, two
So when Gorbachev’s reforms allowed the opening months later. For almost half of these young women,
of small individual enterprises and gave more power their first sexual encounter was not consensual.
to factory managers, the response was mixed. Most In communist Europe, with abortion having become
managers were unwilling to really change: their choice legal after World War II and with methods of birth
was most often to maintain things as they had been. control available, especially interuterine devices, there
Workers were no less conservative. And allowing was also a revolution in sexuality. But the revolution
prices to reflect the true market value of products here was directed from the top down, as the commu-
brought inflation, which devalued the savings most nist regimes wanted to separate production from repro-
people had gathered for years under their mattresses. duction to facilitate the entry of a maximum number
By the end of the 1980s, the Soviet gross domestic pro- of women into the workforce. Indeed, in some eastern
duction figures had declined by 17 percent and retail European countries, almost 40 percent of women
prices had increased by 140 percent. The communist worked, but usually in low-level, poorly paid jobs.
system was collapsing, though the speed with which More women entered technical professions than in the
it unraveled caught the whole world by surprise. West (engineering was especially popular), but, as else-
where, women were less likely to rise to the top of their
professional ranks than men.
Cultural Leaps over the Wall Yet, by the late 1960s, concerns for women as ac-
tive workers were replaced by fears of depopulation.
➜
How did cultural concerns shared by people on both Everywhere in Europe, the birthrate was decreasing
sides of the Iron Curtain transform European identities?
dramatically, and the total population of many coun-
➜
government of Nicolae Ceauşescu recriminalized abor- sexuals. Despite medical research indicating that het-
tion and eliminated all forms of birth control. Women erosexuals were often as likely as homosexuals to be-
went overnight from being free to choose any form of come infected with the AIDS virus and that the
birth control to being forced to undergo monthly gy- source of infection could be blood transfusions rather
necological examinations to monitor any pregnancy. than sexual contact, the myth that AIDS was a homo-
Women’s identity shifted from being partners in the sexual illness or punishment for sexual deviants per-
labor force and public life to becoming birthing ves- sists in many places.
sels. Yet mothers were given little assistance by the These important changes in how sexuality was de-
state, and the quality of healthcare and child care in- fined had much to do with social practices, medical
dicated that the regime was interested primarily in advances, and public policy. But equally important
the number of children born. was the role of popular culture. The emergence of
Another important aspect of the sexual revolution rock and roll and of youth culture as a product that
was the emerging acceptability of homosexuality as could be easily marketed, together with the growth of
an identity. Underground gay communities and cul- television, helped popularize sexual freedom. Rock
ture had existed for a long time, but in the late 1960s stars openly flaunted their sexuality, and their fans
and early 1970s politicians began to consider decrim- imitated these trends. Movies, television programs,
inalizing homosexual acts. Sweden had led the way billboards, and newspaper advertisements promoted
in 1944. In the 1970s and 1980s, gay rights activists in sexually explicit images, reinforcing the notion that
the West largely achieved decriminalization and a de- people’s sexual desires and actions were not shame-
gree of cultural tolerance. Sexual equality was added ful taboos but integral components of their identity.
to the list of human rights that most western Euro- Yet popular culture generally did little to challenge
pean governments protected by law. By contrast, in traditional gender and sexual identities. James Bond
the communist East homosexuality remained crimi- movies celebrated masculine sexual promiscuity and
nalized, and many gay persons were placed in abu-
sive psychiatric wards.
Then, in 1983, the AIDS (acquired immune defi- Nicolae Ceauşescu (1918–1989) Dictatorial leader of
ciency syndrome) crisis reignited worldwide fears of communist Romania from 1965 to 1989.
sexual promiscuity, especially regarding male homo-
858 CHAPTER 29 Lifting the Iron Curtain, 1969–1991
the ideal of the sexually submissive woman. Later in tellectuals were targeted in the crackdown against
the 1970s, the lifestyles of rock stars like David Bowie the protest movements. In the Soviet Union, the Jew-
and Elton John challenged the staunchly heterosexual ish population began to demand the implementation
aggressive masculine ideal, but most people in western of the Helsinki Final Act, but only after Gorbachev
Europe were not ready to accept their sexual choices came to power were a considerable number of emi-
as anything more than eccentric. In eastern Europe at- gration requests granted. With a significant influx of
titudes changed even more slowly, though by the 1980s eastern European Jewry in the 1980s, the population
an infatuation with western popular culture had in- of Israel changed dramatically. Many immigrants ar-
troduced important aspects of the sexual revolution rived in Israel barely familiar with the religious and
in the communist bloc. As men traveled abroad, they cultural traditions of their new home and had to make
brought back copies of pornographic magazines and a radical transition to assume their role as citizens.
sexually explicit movies. Yet, untouched by feminism, As Jews were leaving Europe, another religious
many women in eastern Europe came to equate free- group was growing—Muslims, who arrived as guest
dom from communist oppression with the freedom workers. Because of their poverty and cultural margin-
to be erotically provocative in ways that western fem- alization by the larger community, most guest work-
inists might decry as turning themselves into sexual ers remained conservative in their religious practices.
objects for the enjoyment of men. Their children were often raised in the spirit of strict
Muslim traditions in the midst of larger secular com-
Religious Revival munities often intolerant of Islam. These economic
and cultural factors combined to reinforce the mar-
In both West and East, the generation coming of age ginalization of Muslims in their host countries, even
in the 1970s and 1980s turned away from established in France, where this group had become the second-
religious traditions. In the West, those who rejected largest religious denomination by the beginning of
the increasingly consumerist and materialist society the twenty-first century.
sought a new spirituality. In the East, many who were
alienated from the ideas of communism and from the Postmodernism
religious institutions that had not opposed commu-
nism also became interested in nontraditional religions. While some Europeans experienced new or renewed
Buddhist and Hindu practices, particularly yoga, of- religious affiliations, others questioned the essence of
fered spiritual fulfillment for some. Following the faith in progress and western civilization itself. In the
trend set by famous stars like the Beatles, some west- formulations of French philosopher Michel Foucault,
erners traveled to Asia to immerse themselves in lo- the most important thinker of the postmodern move-
cal traditions. People retreated into either private or ment, these two critiques were closely intertwined.
highly informal ways of expressing their religious be- Born in 1926, Foucault was active in the 1968 political
liefs rather than supporting established religious in- protests. Yet, as a homosexual, he was a closet minor-
stitutions. Church attendance declined even as interest ity even within that progressive vanguard. In the
in spirituality grew. 1970s he published a series of studies that questioned
Ireland and Poland were exceptions, however, as in the concepts of “knowledge” and “truth,” arguing that
both the Catholic Church became a focus of national both were products of specific ways of thinking and
resistance to oppression—imperial in Ireland and com- thus fundamentally subjective. In the postmodernist
munist in Poland. In Northern Ireland, the Catholic universe, action was part of a complex web of rela-
population, whether they supported the IRA or not, tions, and individual ideas and deeds did not have
found in the Catholic Church a space in which to cul- meaning outside that web. Postmodernists suggested
tivate Irish national identity as separate from Protestant it was foolish to believe that any political or social
English nationalism. In Poland, there was an upsurge system could be reformed from within. The funda-
of religious attendance as young people found the mental injustices were in the imbalances of power be-
church a refuge from their bleak political and eco- tween those who had economic and other resources
nomic life. and those who started from marginal positions. Thus,
Other developments revived affiliation with tra- it was impossible to pinpoint the causes and conse-
ditional religions. In the case of Judaism, antisemitic
policies in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union
prompted Jews to reassert their religious identity and Michel Foucault (1926–1984) French philosopher and
request permission to emigrate to Israel. In Poland the prominent postmodernist author.
turning point was 1968, when Jewish students and in-
The Collapse of the Soviet System, 1989–1991 859
quences of any action. The theory generated a funda- consciously attempted to preserve some distance be-
mental dilemma: if there was no way of establishing tween their consumption of American popular culture
a clear relationship between any two actions of even and material goods, on the one hand, and their iden-
one individual, then knowledge was nothing more tification with their local and regional European cul-
than an illusion. To “know” was to insert one’s own ture, on the other.
beliefs into the interpretation of facts. This critique
did not point to any way out. The only response was
irony and skepticism.
For many intellectuals in both the West and East,
The Collapse of the Soviet
postmodernism expressed the contradictions of their System, 1989–1991
age—the promises of plenty and the persistence of
➜
poverty, access to education and growing ignorance, What were the immediate causes of the collapse of
communism in eastern Europe?
the ideals of freedom and the shackles of consumer-
➜
How was the fall of communism different among the
ism. In particular, the ironic stance proposed by post- communist bloc countries?
modernists was a survival tool for many writers behind
the Iron Curtain. They were themselves caught in a By 1989, Gorbachev’s attempts at reform in the Soviet
web of powerlessness vis-à-vis the political leader- Union were failing. Talk of perestroika was not fol-
ship, for political repression made it impossible to be lowed by spectacular results at a time when most
true to one’s calling as a writer and at the same time people were expecting a dramatic rise in their quality
the calling compelled them to try to express their ideas. of life. Yet, the final blow to Gorbachev’s reforms re-
It is no wonder, then, that some of the most original sulted from his unwillingness to hold back the new
and sophisticated thinkers of the postmodern move- nationalist wave sweeping through both the Soviet
ment came from eastern Europe. For example, the Union and its eastern European clients. Even as he
Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek’s preoccupation was struggling to revive the Soviet Union’s viability,
with the ways in which language is shaped by power, his actions prompted dissident movements in eastern
and power by language, was an extension of his ex- Europe to overthrow the communist regimes. With no
perience growing up with a regime in which lies were hope of support from Moscow, most of these regimes
the norm. gave up without a struggle. Romania, however, expe-
rienced a bloody revolution that brought the end of
The Americanization of European communism at a much higher price. By the end of
Popular Culture 1991, the communist bloc had ceased to exist.
While some intellectuals worried about the meaning The Velvet Revolution
of postmodernism, most Europeans became addicted
to American television. Comedy shows like Married Under glasnost, many informal groups with an openly
with Children and Roseanne became very popular in non-Russian national character developed in various
Britain and Germany. At seven o’clock in the evening, Soviet Republics. They were most outspoken and well-
families across the entire continent could watch the organized in the Baltic Republics, where massive ral-
evening news in their native language or broadcasts lies in 1988 showed popular support for economic
of American sitcoms. Late-night shows that tried to independence from Moscow. Perestroika was inter-
replicate David Letterman’s format sprang up every- preted there in a nationalist-separatist direction. In
where. There were local alternatives, but the popular- addition, by 1988 Gorbachev was speaking clearly
ity of the American programs was undeniable. about the need to let European nations follow their
American musicians from Willie Nelson to Madonna own paths. This policy reversed the interventionist
regularly sold out all their European performances. Brezhnev Doctrine and signaled the beginning of So-
American fast-food franchises such as McDonalds viet disengagement from its imperialism in eastern
opened everywhere in Europe, including Budapest Europe. Though Thatcher and Reagan took credit for
and Moscow. Some worried that eating Big Macs and pressuring the Soviet leader into making such state-
watching reruns of Roseanne would make European ments, Gorbachev’s position was, in fact, an extension
culture bland. In fact, Europeans still read more and
watch less television than Americans, and they are
less likely to eat fast food. It is not clear whether eco- Slavoj Žižek (1949– ) Postmodernist Slovenian
nomic reasons or cultural preferences are behind these philosopher and literary critic.
differences. But it seems that Europeans have self-
860 CHAPTER 29 Lifting the Iron Curtain, 1969–1991
N
Yugoslavia, dissolved in civil war, 1991–1992
EDE
OCEAN
AY
SW FINLAND
RW
NO
Ca
BULGARIA
GEORGIA
sp
ALBANIA
ian
Broke into Czech Republic
SPAIN ARMENIA
and Slovakia in 1993
Se
GREECE TURKEY TURKMENISTAN
a
AZERBAIJAN
TUNISIA MALTA
CYPRUS SYRIA
Mediterranean Sea LEBANON
IRAQ IRAN
0 250 500 Km.
ALGERIA ISRAEL
MAP 29.1 The Fall of Communism, 1989–1991 Between 1989 and 1991 most of the communist
states in Europe collapsed, bringing the cold war to an end.
of the glasnost and perestroika policies he had pro- into Poland, no tanks entered the streets of Riga. This
moted since his arrival in the Kremlin in 1985. The fall lack of response prompted the Hungarian government
of communism is summarized in Table 29.2. to open up its border with Austria. In a few days the
In eastern Europe, the reversal of the Brezhnev East Germans started to leave in droves for West Ger-
Doctrine was perceived by most of the older party many through Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Austria.
leaders as a personal threat to their authority. Reform- The road was tortuous, the lines at the border were
ers moved quickly to secure a peaceful transition to a long, but nobody could stop the exodus. Driving beat-
younger and more dynamic party leadership. In Pol- up Trabants, riding old motorcycles, or walking, people
and, Solidarity was the first noncommunist organiza- camped out on the side of the road, sharing food, mu-
tion to become the engine of change. In early 1989, it sic, and their strong hope that they were finally get-
held roundtable talks with communist officials who ting out.
hoped to secure a peaceful transition to a regime that By October 1989, the East German leadership had
would allow the party to retain some political power. acknowledged defeat and opened up the border with
But free elections resulted in a complete victory for Sol- West Germany. In a frenzy of youthful hope and pent-
idarity and in the peaceful ousting of the communists. up hate for the regime, people took axes, hammers,
A wave of activism followed. In the summer of and household knives to the Berlin Wall and tore it
1989, Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians formed a down. News of what was happening in Berlin was
peaceful human chain more than four hundred miles flashed instantly by Radio Free Europe and Voice of
long in opposition to Soviet rule. The rest of eastern America throughout the communist bloc. From War-
Europe awaited Moscow’s reaction to these political saw to Tirana, people celebrated in the streets or re-
challenges. Yet nothing happened—no troops crossed joiced quietly at home.
The Collapse of the Soviet System, 1989–1991 861
Table 29.2
The Fall of Communism
1976–1977 Massive strikes in Poland and Romania
1977 Charter 77 movement in Czechoslovakia
1978 Polish cardinal becomes Pope John Paul II
1980–1981 Solidarity movement in Poland
1985 Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of Soviet Union
1988 Anti-Soviet demonstrations in Lithuania
April 1989 Roundtable talks between Solidarity and Polish communist regime
June 1989 Anticommunist protests in Tiananmen Square, Beijing
September 1989 Hungary opens border with Austria
September 11, 1989 125,000 East Germans cross into Austria via Hungary
November 9, 1989 Berlin Wall comes down
November 10, 1989 Bulgarian communist leader Todor Zhivkov deposed
November 17–December 29, 1989 Peaceful street demonstrations and deposition of communist regime in
Czechoslovakia
December 16–21, 1989 Massive street protests in Romania; thousands killed
December 22, 1989 Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu flees
March 1991 Baltic Republics gain independence from Soviet rule
August 19–21, 1991 Failed coup by authoritarian communist group in Moscow
December 1, 1991 Ukraine declares independence from Soviet Union
December 8, 1991 Commonwealth of Independent States established
December 25, 1991 Soviet flag lowered for last time from Kremlin
In November–December, the Velvet Revolution signs of repression. Unlike in 1968, the government
brought down the Czechoslovak government. Al- had neither the force nor the political will to continue.
though massive student demonstrations in Prague on
November 17 were brutally suppressed by the police, Velvet Revolution The peaceful fall of communism in
peaceful street marches continued. Almost half a mil- most of eastern Europe in 1989.
lion Czechoslovaks joined the protests after the first
862 CHAPTER 29 Lifting the Iron Curtain, 1969–1991
Instead, the communists retreated. On December 29, a viable workers’ state. The Soviet political and mili-
Václav Havel was elected as president by the “power tary establishment realized that Gorbachev’s reformist
of the powerless.” talk had permitted the lawful and peaceful exit of the
eastern European communist bloc states and that even
Violent Struggle in Romania Soviet Republics no longer wished to be part of the
Union. The Baltic states had already made that clear,
In two countries, however, the fall of communism and after Gorbachev pulled troops out of Afghanistan
proved much more violent. In Yugoslavia, a bloody in 1989, a growing wave of independence movements
civil war set the country on a path of self-destruction swept the republics of Central Asia. Nationalism,
that would last a decade. In Romania, a much shorter whether secular or strongly Muslim in orientation,
violent popular uprising became the means by which was challenging the authority of communism and the
communist dictatorship was forced out. Nicolae Ceau- Russian party elites everywhere.
şescu was alone in disregarding Moscow’s encour- By August 1991, the party had become sharply di-
agements for reform, but that was not a new stance. vided into two factions: one led by Boris Yeltsin, the
Since the 1960s he had acted independently, secur- president of the Russian Republic and a young for-
ing good relations with China when the Soviets were mer supporter of Gorbachev, now disappointed with
in conflict with that country and, in the 1970s, emulat- perestroika’s lack of success; the other, a conservative
ing North Korea by breaking all links with the outside faction, now led by Gorbachev, which tried to undo
world to show that Romania needed no economic as- many of the reforms of the 1980s. The unforeseen
sistance from the West or the East. In reality, the Ro- consequences of his reforms had pushed Gorbachev
manian economy suffered from the same problems of to retreat. He was fundamentally still a supporter of
soaring prices and lack of energy resources as the rest the communist project and could not embrace the dis-
of the continent. integration of the Soviet Union even though he had
By 1989, basic goods such as bread, milk, and toilet provided the means for it. Thus, for a brief period of
paper were unavailable, and Romanians were simply time, Gorbachev attempted to rein in the nationalist
struggling to survive. On December 16, people took independence movements, with strong support from
to the streets of Timişoara to protest the imprisonment the military establishment and older party leaders.
of a prominent local Hungarian clergyman. Despite Yet Gorbachev was also troubled by his abandon-
the climate of terror that had increased in the 1980s, ment of the principles of glasnost and perestroika. So,
thousands joined the crowd. Then the police attacked, by early 1991, he returned to his reformist stance and,
killing some civilians. The street uprising seemed to under strong international pressure, allowed the inde-
calm down by evening. pendence of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. By Au-
A few days later, on December 21, Ceauşescu de- gust, together with Yeltsin, he had prepared a new treaty
cided to demonstrate his power by holding a public for a looser union with the remaining Soviet Republics.
gathering in Bucharest. The plan backfired. Within min- This treaty set the stage for the creation of a Common-
utes there was loud booing, and the dictator fled the wealth of Independent States (CIS), which offered its
scene. A few hours later he and his wife were seized by members autonomy in the management of internal
a group of secret police, military, and political lead- affairs while the CIS would coordinate foreign affairs,
ers. By the end of the year, the National Salvation security, and some economic policies, such as trade.
Front was in charge. Ceauşescu and his wife had been
executed after a sham trial, and some top communist National Salvation Front Emergency government
leaders were in prison. But many midlevel communists that came to power in Romania in 1989 after dictator
were part of this new government, led by an old party Nicolae Ceauşescu fled.
activist who had known Gorbachev since his youth, Ion Iliescu (1930– ) Communist leader of the National
Ion Iliescu. The Romanians had rid themselves of the Salvation Front in postcommunist Romania who be-
came the first president of the country after elections
most horrible aspects of communism, but they had
in 1990
not achieved a democratic regime. Still, the year 1990
Boris Yeltsin (1931–2007) First president of postcom-
began with great optimism in eastern Europe. The munist Russia, 1991–1999, who oversaw the dismem-
Iron Curtain had been lifted. berment of the Soviet Union and privatization of the
economy.
The End of the Soviet Union Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Al-
liance of former Soviet republics that oversees some
In the Soviet Union, 1990 began with the recognition trade, economic reform, and defense issues.
that the communist experiment had failed to achieve
The Collapse of the Soviet System, 1989–1991 863
In a last-ditch effort to save the status quo, a group to stand by protesters. Now, when the party threat-
of eight conservative party leaders tried to seize power ened to take over the government, he called on the
and establish a hard-line authoritarian regime. Work- people and the lower army ranks to stand by him as a
ing with the KGB, they detained Gorbachev at his Russian patriot.
summer home on August 19. But Yeltsin remained in Yeltsin thus became the face of democratic Russia.
Moscow, where he appeared in public, made state- As president of the Russian Republic, he shortly
ments broadcast in the state-controlled media, and ral- outlawed the Communist Party there, closed down
lied around him the support of the people and even communist newspapers, and transferred most state
many military troops. The most defiant moment of authority from the Soviet Union’s federal level of gov-
Yeltsin’s opposition to the August coup came when ernment to his own Russian Republic. On December 1,
he stood atop a tank that was supposed to separate Ukraine, the second most populous republic of the
the Duma from the population and spoke on live tele- Soviet Union, proclaimed its independence. By Christ-
vision surrounded by large crowds of supporters. mas Day, 1991, the Soviet Union had ceased to exist.
Russians everywhere instantly realized that the army The hammer and sickle flag in Red Square was low-
was divided, the coup was a sham, and Yeltsin was the ered, and the Russian flag raised. The seventy-year
man of the hour. Within three days the conservative communist experiment had ended, and Russian na-
coup collapsed and Gorbachev returned to Moscow. tionalism was restored.
But the real winner was Yeltsin, who had stood up The collapse of the Soviet Union was surprisingly
to the hard-liners and confronted the army through more peaceful than its beginnings, and it signaled the
an act of passive resistance. Instead of operating be-
hind closed doors to outmaneuver his opponents, as August coup Attempt in August 1991 by communist
the conservatives had done, Yeltsin had instead stood hard-liners to bring an end to the reforms of Yeltsin
with the people to protest the abuses of the govern- and Gorbachev that was crushed by a popular
ment. Earlier, when Soviet troops had threatened to uprising.
intervene in the Baltic Republics, he had flown to Riga
864 CHAPTER 29 Lifting the Iron Curtain, 1969–1991
end of the cold war. Arguments remain over the most West had won the cold war, the meaning of this vic-
important causes for this collapse: the strong military tory for Europeans at large was still to be determined,
stance of Reagan and Thatcher, Gorbachev’s reforms, as the communist bloc states remained weak econom-
or dissent movements in eastern Europe. While the ically and politically.
ECHO
ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO
Peace Protests
The peace and other street protests of the twenty-first century have a direct link to the antiwar activism that
started in western Europe after World War II and grew to mass proportions in the 1980s. The peace symbol,
now recognized throughout the world, originated as the logo of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, a
British organization, in the early 1960s. This group and many others are the inspiration for contemporary
peace activists.
Websites 865
The first antiwar and antinuclear activists were scientists, students, politicians, and housewives who were
drawn to these movements for personal or civic reasons. Most learned about them through word of mouth.
Neighbors and friends might post leaflets or chat about peace marches. People acted locally and had few
resources to coordinate more than small-scale actions. In the 1960s, antiwar protests grew to massive pro-
portions, partly because they made use of television publicity and so garnered faraway supporters who
staged similar protests of their own. In the 1980s, when the United States was rebuilding its nuclear arsenal
in Europe, massive peace demonstrations were staged in Britain, Germany, Italy, and other western Euro-
pean countries.
At the dawn of the twenty-first century, when peace protests rose against the military actions in Iraq, they
were organized quite differently from early protests. What were formerly loose coalitions became activated
by new technologies, such as cellular phones and the Internet. Online groups such as Move On had a cat-
alyzing effect, encouraging not only Internet activism but also local street activism, connecting concerned
citizens in specific cities. Activists also became able to respond much more quickly to government actions,
and they could instantly make their positions and activities known around the world. The international
context also became different, as the world is no longer divided by cold war antagonists. During the 1960s,
1970s, and 1980s, peace activists were protesting the actions of both superpowers as well as U.S. and
Soviet nuclear power and the militarization of their societies. After the end of the cold war, the protests
focused more squarely on U.S. attempts to maintain its international role as the sole superpower.
Suggested Readings
Garton Ash, Timothy. The Magic Lantern. The Revolution of Loth, Wilfried. Overcoming the Cold War: A History of De-
’89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague. New tente, 1950–1991. New York: Palgrave, 2003. A major new inter-
York: Vintage, 1993. An evocative portrait of the revolutions pretation of the cold war that offers new information taken
that swept communism from eastern Europe in 1989. from Eastern and Western archives.
Hayward, Jack, and Anand Menon, eds. Governing Europe. McCormick, John, Understanding the European Union: A Con-
Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. A com- cise Introduction. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. A
prehensive survey covering all aspects of politics in western uniquely broad-ranging but concise introduction to the Euro-
Europe. pean Union, covering in one volume all major aspects of Euro-
Hosking, Geoffrey. The Awakening of the Soviet Union. Cam- pean integration.
bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1991. Illuminates the Tismăneanu, Vladimir. Reinventing Politics: Eastern Europe
social, cultural, and historical developments that created the from Stalin to Havel. New York: Free Press, 2000. An exciting
need—and openness—for the political and economic changes comparative analysis of the breakup of the Soviet Union’s
that occurred in the late 1980s. outer empire that follows communist governance in each of the
Kaplan, Gisela. Contemporary Western European Feminism. communist bloc countries from postwar Stalinist intervention
New York: New York University Press, 1992. A sophisticated to the present.
comparative analysis of the feminist movements in western
Europe in the second half of the twentieth century.
Websites
Library of Congress online exhibit, archive, and bibliography Documents about the fall of communism in eastern Europe,
on Soviet-U.S. relations, useful for understanding the interna- The Revolutions of 1989, at //www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
tional context of the cold war, Cold War, at www.ibiblio.org/ news/19991105
expo/soviet.exhibit/coldwar.html
Full text of the Helsinki Final Act, Conference on Security
and Co-operation in Europe: Final Act, at www.osce.org/
documents/mcs/1975/08/4044_en.pdf
866
CHAPTER
Europe in a
Globalizing World,
1991 to the Present
CHAPTER OUTLINE
V
NORTHERN Moscow
IRELAND North Riga LATVIA
IRELAND DENMARK
Dublin Sea Copenhagen
UNITED LITHUANIA
KINGDOM (RUSSIA)
Vilnius R U S S I A
NETHERLANDS
Hamburg Gdansk Minsk
The El
Hague b BELARUS
London
e
istu
E. GERMANY
BELGIUM Bonn Leipzig la Kiev V ol
OCEAN Paris Frankfurt
Prague
Kharkov ga
Sei LUX. Luxembourg
CZECH
UKRAINE D niep
e
Lo i r Donetsk
e
r
Stuttgart REPUBLIC
ne
h in
e Dnepropetrovsk
R SLOVAKIA
Munich
FRANCE Zurich LIECH. Vienna
Bratislava
Budapest MOLDOVA
Bern Vaduz AUSTRIA
Geneva SWITZ. HUNGARY Chisinau
Odessa CHECHNYA
Lyons Ljubljana
Milan SLOVENIA Zagreb ROMANIA
Turin Po CROATIA
Porto GEORGIA
ANDORRA SAN BOSNIA & Belgrade Bucharest Tbilisi
PORTUGAL Monaco MARINO AZERBAIJAN
Andorra MONACO
San HERZEGOVINA
SERBIA Danube Black Sea
SPAIN la Vella Marino Sarajevo Kosovo: UN Protectorate, 1999 ARMENIA
Madrid ITALY BULGARIA Yerevan
Tagus Corsica MONT.
Lisbon Barcelona Sofia AZER.
(Fr.) Podgorica
Rome Skopje
ALBANIAF.Y.R. Istanbul
VATICAN
CITY
Naples Tiranë MACEDONIA Ankara
Balearic Sardinia
(It.) TURKEY
Islands
(Sp.) GREECE
Gibraltar
(U.K.)
Mediterranean Sea
MOROCCO Athens
Sicily
(It.) SYRIA
Crete Nicosia
Valletta MALTA (Gr.)
CYPRUS
IRAQ
LEBANON
ALGERIA 0 250 500 Km.
TUNISIA JORDAN
0 250 500 Mi. ISRAEL
LYBIA
EGYPT
867
868 CHAPTER 30 Europe in a Globalizing World, 1991 to the Present
Choice
Choice Choice Choice
José Bové Plows Down a McDonald’s
One fine summer morning in 1999, José Bové woke up early, as farmers
do. Then he stepped behind the wheel of a bulldozer and rolled into
the little town of Millau, France, and straight into a McDonald’s. This
particular fast-food restaurant, one of 31,000 worldwide, was due to
open in days. But Bové and other Millau citizens dismantled the build-
ing and placed the rubble in front of the town hall as a warning to local
politicians that the voice of the people must be heard. With this bold
action, Bové became an instant celebrity and a symbol, both loved and
despised, of environmental and anticorporate activism.
What drove Bové to destroy property and what his choice means is
the story of grass-roots activism in the era of globalization. The action
wasn’t just about McDonald’s; it was part of a larger trade war in which
the European Union refused to allow genetically modified beef to be
sold on its markets and the United States responded with a ban on the
import of Roquefort cheese. It was also part of an even larger contest
José Bové over the power of multinational corporations and the rights of consumers and
José Bové went from being small producers, as well as part of an international debate over food supplies,
an antinuclear activist in the poverty and hunger, ecological balance, and what is really good for the earth and
1970s to becoming a leader the humans who live on it.
in the environmental Grass-roots activism was not new for Bové. Born in 1953 to a family of scientists,
antiglobalization movement he grew up in France, Luxembourg, and Berkeley, California. Like many of his gen-
that seeks to end the use of eration, he took the affluence of his parents for granted but questioned their val-
genetically modified crops. ues. In high school, he protested the religious content of French state education
His activism has often been and was expelled for being “faithless.” At seventeen, he refused to serve in the
illegal and at times damaging military, instead joining other conscientious objectors who occupied lands slated
of private property, leading for military camps and farmed them. With hundreds of local farmers and conscien-
critics to characterize him as tious objectors, he built a traditional stone sheep barn. The project took almost
a terrorist. But Bové has two years. This creative pacifist action offered farming as a countermodel to milita-
always carefully staged his rization—a peaceful and useful, if difficult, lifestyle. Bové began to raise sheep and
protests against property learned to make Roquefort cheese, which became his livelihood as a farmer and
only, never against people, later the springboard for his more aggressive antiglobalization protests.
and has always willingly In the 1980s and 1990s Bové participated in Greenpeace actions, protesting
accepted the legal conse- France’s testing of nuclear weapons in 1995. About the same time, as multina-
quences of his actions. (Serra tional corporations spread throughout the world and companies like McDonald’s
Antoine/Corbis Sygma) began to bring their products and tastes to Europe, Bové turned his attention to
the effects of this new global economy at the local level. In 1997, he destroyed the
seed production facility of a company known for its genetically modified grain.
But it was the plowing down of the McDonald’s at Millau that turned Bové into
an icon of antiglobalization. He was soon a favorite of many around the world
who resented the dominant presence of American companies. He was also con-
demned for this new kind of violence; some labeled him a terrorist. In 1999,
antiglobalization protesters at a World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle
used his protest model when they destroyed corporate property in full daylight.
Looters followed. Bové himself did not participate in any of these actions. He just
Eastern Europe After Communism 869
Overall, democracy has been secured in Europe, What impact did the postcommunist transition have on
eastern European states and societies?
even in Russia and Yugoslavia, and Europeans now
➜
live in greater stability and prosperity, and with greater To what extent have these countries become more
democratic?
tolerance toward each other’s differences, than before.
Where such tolerance remains challenged is in accept- The West won the cold war. By the end of 1991, the
ing the increasing Muslim influences in European so- Soviet Union was defunct, and all but one eastern Eu-
cieties. While Muslim workers and their families are ropean country had renounced communism. Within
allowed to live in Europe, they have been generally a few years, Russia became a friend and ally of liberal
treated as outsiders. western Europe, the most remarkable achievement in
Europeans have once again become strong players politics of the last two decades. In eastern Europe, how-
on the international scene as a leading force in the ever, Yugoslavia remained a vestige of the old commu-
global economy. Though far from united, Europeans nist order, now transformed into an ethno-nationalist
have also been active in international conflicts, from dictatorship. As the postcommunist countries claimed
the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s to the War on Terror- a place in the larger European “home,” new challenges
ism since 2001. Internally, the greatest challenges have arose for countries embarking on democratization. The
been preserving democratic principles in the Euro- only politicians with experience were the communists,
pean Union while stretching its boundaries to include and the most popular ideas uniting the citizenry were
countries of the postcommunist bloc. Externally, the nationalist and often nondemocratic. Eastern European
870 CHAPTER 30 Europe in a Globalizing World, 1991 to the Present
Chronology
1991 Gulf War begins; 1999 NATO begins Kosovo War against Serbia;
Soviet Union is dissolved José Bové demolishes the Millau McDonald’s
1991–1995 Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians fight ethnic- 2000 Vladimir Putin is elected president of Russia
based civil wars in Yugoslavia
2001 Al-Qaeda hijacks passenger planes to attack the
1992 Internet society is chartered World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon
in Washington, D.C.
1993 Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization
sign Oslo Agreements; 2002 Euro becomes European currency;
EU comes into being after ratification of the Fall of Milošević government;
Maastricht treaty MTV opens local broadcast channel in Romania
politicians had to deal with internal political and social asked the Russian people to protect him and the re-
problems while also responding to outside pressures formist politicians from the abuses of the communist
from the West for transparency, increased economic leadership. He sounded and looked like a man of the
freedoms, and reduced corruption. For Russia, Roma- people, and his wild stunt worked in rousing the
nia, and Bulgaria, these challenges were difficult to population.
meet, while Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic Yet, Yeltsin was not an outsider to Communist
managed this difficult decade effectively. The post- Party politics. He had been handpicked by Mikhail
communist transitions have led countries of the Gorbachev to pursue perestroika in the mid-1980s as
Soviet bloc in different directions, and political demo- party chief in the Moscow region. But dutifully fol-
cratization has not always brought economic bet- lowing the rules was not Yeltsin’s way. He was cer-
terment, nor has international investment been a tainly ambitious and wanted to rise high in the party.
guarantee for democratization. The relationship be- But he had been a thrill seeker since childhood, when
tween the free market and democratic politics still re- he pursued many sports competitively, from volley-
mains problematic in this part of Europe. ball to boxing. As a teenager, he learned the skills of
the construction trade and then in college became an
Russia from Foe