10.3 The Great Powers of Central and Eastern Europe

        Eighteenth century Austria was a multi-cultured empire of diverse territories recognizing the Habsburgs as their hereditary sovereigns. In 1740 the new Habsburg ruler, Maria Theresa, was consequently the hereditary Archduchess of Austria, the Queen of Bohemia (including Silesia), the "King" of Hungary,[1] ruler of the ten provinces that were the Austrian (southern) Netherlands (today Belgium), the Duchess of Milan, and the Duchess of Tuscany (Florence).           

    In 1740 Maria Theresa, the 20-year-old daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, inherited all Austrian territories.  Her right to inherit these lands (she being the first woman to be heir to the Habsburg inheritance) had been recognized by other nations through an international treaty secured by her father called the Pragmatic Sanction. Maria Theresa would rule the Austrian Empire until her death in 1780.  Because a woman could not be elected Holy Roman Emperor, that honor went to her husband, Prince Francis of Lorraine. (When Francis died in 1765, the Imperial title was awarded to Maria Theresa's eldest son, Joseph.) 

            Maria Theresa was a remarkable woman.  In addition to the management of the complex and multi-cultured Habsburg territories, she effectively directed her country through two major wars, made “enlightened” reforms that won the admiration of contemporary philosophes, and was the mother of sixteen children, all of whom lived and two of whom would become Austrian rulers and Holy Roman Emperors.  A daughter would become Queen of France.  Maria Theresa would rule Austria for 40 years until her death in 1780.  Her son, the Emperor Joseph would inherit Austria’s hereditary dominions.

            During the reigns of Maria Theresa and Joseph II (1780 - 1790), Austria's foreign policy objectives were: to preserve its sovereignty over its diverse territories and to expand into territories held by Poland and the Ottoman Empire.  Circumstances were such that Austria would also see it necessary to make a major change in its foreign policy direction: an alliance with France.

            Twice during the reign of Maria Theresa Austria was involved in major European wars.  In December 1740, Frederick II of Prussia ordered his armies to invade the Austrian province of Silesia, precipitating the War of the Austrian Succession (1740 - 1748).  With the balance of power thus upset, the major powers aligned themselves with Austria and Prussia in opposing coalitions.

The War of the Austrian Succession, 1740 - 1748

Cause:  King Frederick II of Prussia, saw Maria Theresa as weak and inexperienced. Coveting the iron-rich Austrian province of Silesia, Frederick ordered Prussian forces to invade and seize Silesia for Prussia.  The resulting war between the two central European powers threatened the balance of power in Europe and resulted in a general international war.

             The war began badly for the young Austrian ruler.  She was pregnant; the royal treasury was practically empty; the Hungarian nobility refused to recognize her as their monarch (Hungarian tradition required a king.); her armies were in disarray with incompetent generals; other states wavered in their commitment to the Pragmatic Sanction; France and Spain joined the war against her. Nonetheless she persevered, using a combination of quick intelligence and personal charm.  She personally appeared before the Hungarian diet (parliament) with her infant son, and, appealing to their valor and sense of chivalry, asked if the nobility would not support their future king. It worked. Hungary became her most reliable source of support.  Britain, alarmed that France might move against the Netherlands and Hanover, committed itself to Austria's assistance. The war would last some seven years before peace was restored.

            The War of the Austrian Succession, as the earlier War of the Spanish Succession, was also a "world" war. British, French, and Spanish colonial interests took the conflict to the Caribbean, North America, and India.  In the American colonies this war was known as "King George's War."

Belligerents:           Prussia                Austria

                                 France                 Britain

                                 Spain        vs       Hanover

                                 Sardinia               UPN

                                 Saxony

            The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the war in 1748. This agreement confirmed Maria Theresa as the legitimate ruler of the Habsburg dominions in Europe.   Austria ceded Silesia to Prussia.   Austria ceded Parma to Spain.   Austria ceded part of Milan to Sardinia.  Britain gave up the Asiento (its monopoly of the Spanish American slave trade won in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht).

             In the peace settlement of 1748 as shown above, the powers confirmed international recognition of Maria Theresa as the legitimate ruler of the Austrian possessions, but Austria was compelled to recognize Prussian sovereignty over Silesia.  Resenting the loss of Silesia, Maria Theresa engineered what is known as the Diplomatic Revolution.

The Diplomatic Revolution, 1755 - 1756

Austria was unwilling to regard the loss of Silesia as permanent.  Count Wentzel von Kaunitz, the Austrian foreign minister, on behalf of Maria Theresa, sought a realignment of the powers through which Prussia would be isolated in the event of a future war.  To this end, Austria negotiated an alliance with its traditional enemy France.  Through the resulting treaty, France and Austria became allies.  The new relationship was solemnized through the betrothal of the Habsburg princess Marie Antoinette (then an infant) to the Bourbon heir Prince Louis (then three years old).  (They would be married in 1770.)  Both Prussia and Britain, abandoned by their old allies, joined as allies.  The Diplomatic Revolution, consequently, saw the political realignment of the great powers.

             For over 200 years France and the Habsburgs had been traditional enemies.  In all previous conflicts the two powers had fought each other: France to end the Habsburg encirclement; the Hapsburgs to keep France contained. Now they were allies.

            In 1756 Austria again went to war against Prussia.  Austria's purpose: to regain Silesia.  The balance of power was again upset, and the major powers joined new alignments as a result of the Diplomatic Revolution' having made France and Austria allies.  This great war of the mid-18th century is known as the Seven Years War.

The Seven Years War, 1755, 1756 - 1763

Cause: This war first began in 1755 as a colonial war between Britain and France.  In North America the war was known as the "French and Indian War" and began when British American colonists sought to move into the Ohio River Valley, a region claimed by France.  British and French interests also collided in India. 

             The war began as a general European war when Austria, intending to take advantage of the new alignment of powers achieved through the Diplomatic Revolution, sought to retake Silesia in 1756.  The sides were as follows.

Belligerents:        France                          Britain

                              Austria           vs           Prussia

                               Spain                            Russia (1762)

                               Russia (until 1762)

                In 1762 Prussia had been invaded by Russian armies and appeared all but defeated.  A change in the Russian monarchy saved Prussia when the new Russian czar abandoned the Franco-Austrian alliance and joined the Prussian-British side. In Prussia Russia’s switching sides became known as the “Miracle of Brandenburg.”

            The war ended in 1763. The settlement, usually called the Peace of Paris, was actually two separate agreements.  The Treaty of Paris, 1763 made Britain the dominant European power in North America and in India. France ceded all of Canada to Britain. France recognized Britain's supremacy in India. Spain ceded Florida to Britain.  The second peace was the Treaty of Hubertusburg between Austria and Prussia.   Prussia retained Silesia.  In Europe, the status quo ante bellum (the condition existing before the war) was restored. There were no other territorial changes.

Maria Theresa’s Reforms   

By reading the above, one would get the impression that Maria Theresa directed all her energies to war.  While she was often preoccupied with foreign policy and war, she was also making significant reforms to modernize the state.  It is through these reforms that she will be known as an "Enlightened Despot."

            Realizing that the cultural patchwork nature of her diverse dominions was a potential threat to unity, she sought greater centralization of authority.  The German-speaking Austrian-Bohemia lands and the Hungarian-Transylvanian lands were restructured under two major administrative systems responsible to the Habsburg ruler.  To bring the diverse parts of her empire into greater commercial unity, she ordered the reduction of internal tariffs. She required the nobility and Catholic clergy to pay taxes.  Feudal labor services owed by peasant serfs to their manor lords were transmuted to monetary payments, a reform that, while appearing harsh, actually weakened serfdom.  Peasants could now legally earn wages and would no longer be bound to the lands on which they lived. Realizing that criminal and civil laws were archaic and often conflicting, she sought to create greater legal uniformity through codification.

 The Emergence of Prussia as a Great Power

         Eighteenth century Prussia was an agrarian and militaristic state centered in the northern German state of Brandenburg (Berlin) and the German-speaking regions along the Baltic coasts of Poland.

          Prussia was ruled by an absolute divine right monarchy, the crown being held by the Hohenzollern family.   The foundation of the Prussian state was the army.  Without natural frontiers and with its lands spread across northern Germany and Poland, Prussia was wide open to attack.  Thus it was that in the 17th and early 18th centuries, Prussian monarchs had concentrated on building the army.  In fact, Prussia was described as an army with a state. In Prussia the highest personal value was service to the state and all classes served the state.  The land-owning nobility, the Junkers (pronounced Yunkers), served as army officers; the middle class as civil servants doing the bureaucratic functions of government; and the large peasant population, still in serfdom, served as laborers and soldiers.    

            In 1740 the crown of Prussia passed to a remarkable young man, 28-year-old Frederick II.  Frederick would rule Prussia until his death in 1786.  Because his father saw him as weak and effeminate, he suffered brutal physical abuse and actually - but unsuccessfully - attempted to flee Prussia to France. He was forced to watch the execution of a friend who attempted to escape with him.  Frederick loved all things French and was inspired by French culture and the thinking of the Enlightenment.  Unlike his royal predecessors Frederick was not a soldier.  Instead he was an accomplished musician, composer, poet, essayist, and historian.  As King of Prussia, he would surprise all of Europe.As king, Frederick would institute a number of significant reforms.  He decreed that there would be religious toleration for all Christian churches.  Judaism remained illegal, although there was no persecution of Prussia’s Jewish population. He created a system of compulsory elementary education (paid for by the state) for all male children, ages five to 15.  He oversaw the introduction of scientific farming methods to increase agricultural productivity.  He would reform the Prussian legal system through the codification of the laws, abolition of torture, creation of an appeals court system.  He pursued mercantilist policies in support of a Prussian iron and textile industry. He founded the Berlin Academy of Sciences.

          Frederick, as what the times would call an "Enlightened Despot," saw the role of the monarch as being the "first servant of the state" obliged to act with fairness and wisdom in the interests of his subjects. Because of Frederick's active interest in reform, Voltaire, his friend and advisor, would label him as history knows him today - Frederick the Great.  While not trained as a soldier, Frederick was still Prussian and understood Prussia's interests.  His foreign policy objective was to make Prussia a great power through acquisition of Silesia and western Poland.  The young king who wrote flute concertos would make his impact on Europe through war: war begun in the first year of his reign.

            Why did Frederick want Silesia for Prussia?   Frederick was quick to realize both the strategic and economic value of Silesia. He saw it as an Austrian sword pointing directly at the heart of Prussia, its location providing an easy invasion route into his dominions. As Silesia was rich both in farmland and iron deposits, its acquisition would enhance Prussia's economic development.  In short, he had to have it. What of the Pragmatic Sanction guaranteeing Maria Theresa's right to inherit Silesia?  Prussia was a signatory to that treaty. That agreement was made by his father, Frederick reasoned, and not by him. He was, therefore, not bound to it. Free in conscience that he was not in violation of international treaty obligations, he ordered Prussian armies into Silesia.  Since the territory was held by a young and inexperienced woman, it could be easily taken.  The result was the War of the Austrian Succession.

           Twice during the reign of Frederick II Prussia was involved in major European wars.  In both cases Prussia's principal enemy was Austria.  As we have seen from reading about Austria, both wars became general European wars as the great powers aligned themselves to restore the balance of power.  In both the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War, Prussia was invaded and severely devastated by enemy forces but survived.  With confirmation of Prussian sovereignty over Silesia by the 1763 peace settlement, Prussia would be recognized as a great power.

            In the years following the 1763 peace settlement, Frederick directed his energies to his "enlightened" reforms and the development of Prussia as an economically prosperous, efficient, and progressive state.

Russia in the 18th Century

            Czar Peter the Great's accomplishments were such that the powerful autocratic government he created continued to function efficiently under his somewhat weak and ineffective successors.  The 18th century was not a period of great significance in Russian history.  Russia would continue to be relatively isolated with no new efforts to make further reforms.  Russia would, however, begin to take a greater role in international affairs particularly because Poland was beginning to weaken.  A weakening Poland meant the opportunity for the expansion of Russian influence further westward.

            In 1756 Russia would become a factor in considerations relating to the European balance of power.  With the outbreak of the Seven Years War Russia joined France and Austria in opposition to Prussia and Britain.  Russian armies invaded Prussia and inflicted defeat after defeat on the Prussian armies led by Frederick the Great.  In 1762 the "Miracle of Brandenburg" saved Prussia from final defeat.  Czar Peter III, an admirer of Frederick, succeeded to the throne on the death of Czarina Elizabeth and immediately made peace with Prussia.  The Prussian-British alliance went on to "win" the war.

            Peter III's monarchy was short lived.  In the same year as his succession he was murdered: the result of a plot by army officers to place his wife on the throne.  The new czarina is known to history as Catherine the Great.  She would rule Russia for the next 34 years.

The Reign of Catherine the Great, 1762 - 1796

Although Czarina Catherine II was born in Germany, she became Romanov in mind and Russian in spirit.  She actively cultivated the good will of her Russian subjects and became Orthodox in her religion.  Her title, "the Great," comes from her reputation as an "Enlightened Despot."  Catherine, like Peter the Great, saw Russia as too locked into its "Russianness" and began a policy of renewed reform and modernization.  Attracted to the thinking of the French philosophes Voltaire and Diderot (with whom she corresponded and supported financially), Catherine sought a "rational" approach to Russia's backwardness. Catherine's reforms included religious toleration for non-Orthodox Christians, some degree of freedom of speech and press, restricted use of torture in the exercise of justice, and the establishment of health clinics, hospitals, and schools.  Her most ambitious attempt at reform was to establish a "Legislative Commission" made up of "representatives" of the people (most members were nobility) to codify Russian law.  Disagreement over conditions of serfdom stifled its deliberations and Catherine dismissed it, never to call it back into session.

            At the time her reforms were viewed as significant, but they would prove too shallow and affect only a small portion of the population.  Most would be undone either through lack of interest or neglect following her death.   Symbolic of Catherine's reform policy were the famous "Potemkin Villages."  When the Austrian Emperor Joseph II visited Russia he was taken on a river cruise.  To impress the emperor with Russia's prosperity, Catherine's prime minister Gregory Potemkin had false fronts constructed on the peasant houses facing the river.  Joseph saw only the new, clean, and comfortable-looking "homes."  He did not see, of course, the real Russia behind them.

            Two events undermined Catherine's enthusiasm for reform.  In 1773 a massive peasant rebellion rocked the country and seriously threatened the government.  Led by Emelian Pugachev thousands of peasants revolted against the regime's hated policies relating to serfdom.  The rebellion failed as the army officers remained loyal and famine devastated the rebel ranks.  Pugachev was captured and executed in 1775.  The other event influencing Catherine's thinking was the French Revolution, which began in 1789.  The lesson was clear: the liberal thinking of the Enlightenment was dangerous to monarchy.  The Pugachev Rebellion demonstrated the destructiveness of revolution.  The execution of the French king in 1793 was proof enough that it should not happen in Russia.

            In conservative reaction to these events, Catherine sought the support of the nobility.  She freed the nobility from the required obligations of state and military service.  Nobles were granted exemption from taxation and corporal punishment.  Nobles were confirmed as undisputed masters over the serfs living on their estates.  Restored to their privileges the Russian nobility became a bastion of conservative support for czarist absolutism.

            It is in the area of foreign policy that Catherine was indeed "great."  The now traditional policy of waging war against the Turks to gain access to the Black Sea continued.  She employed the American naval hero, John Paul Jones, to oversee the development of a Russian Black Sea fleet.  Through two wars with the Ottoman Empire, Russia successfully secured lands along the Black Sea coasts and the right to send ships through the Turkish straits.  This accomplishment alarmed Britain as it enabled another major power access to the Eastern Mediterranean.

            Catherine's diplomats were also successful in negotiating the agreements that would partition Poland out of existence in 1772, 1793, and 1795.  Russia gained vast new territories in the west, an achievement that would have profound implications for the future of Europe.

            In her later years Catherine took great interest in the education of her favorite grandson, Alexander.  Suspicious of her son, Paul, Catherine hoped she could secure Alexander's succession.  She wanted a western education for Alexander and placed him under the guidance of a Swiss tutor.  Like his grandmother, Alexander would prove to be an enigmatic ruler moving from liberal to reactionary positions.  His turn to rule, however, would have to wait.  Catherine's death came before she could remove her son from the succession.  In 1796 Czar Paul succeeded to the throne.  Alexander would follow on Paul's death in 1801.

The Partitions of Poland

     The late 18th century saw the demise of an independent Poland as the huge but weak kingdom fell victim to the expansionist ambitions of its more powerful neighbors, Austria, Prussia, and Russia.  The causes of Poland's weakness were threefold: its monarchy, its parliament, its being a multi-national state.

            Unlike the governments of other countries, Poland's monarchy was elected, not hereditary. The monarch was elected by the Polish nobility, which jealously sought to preserve its traditional feudal rights and privileges. Therefore, the Polish nobles elected as their kings men who were known to be weak or seen as no threat.  Often, they sought foreign candidates for the monarchy because foreigners would be content to have the title and their interests would be elsewhere than Poland.  Between 1572 and 1795 there were only two native-born Polish kings. Thus Poland had no strong kings who could govern the nation or provide it with direction in times of crisis.

            The Polish parliament was a Diet in which only the nobles (eight percent of the population – the largest nobility in Europe) were represented.  Each individual member held the privilege of the Liberum Veto. Under this privilege, any member could veto whatever legislation was being considered. Likewise, each member could dissolve (the Polish word translates into English as "explode") the Diet and thus veto everything that had been decided to that point. Between 1572 and 1764 some 55 diets were held, of which 48 were "exploded." Government in Poland was virtually impossible. 

            The third source of Polish weakness was its cultural diversity.  The Poland that existed on the eve of partition had once been a strong state easily able to dominate and absorb its weaker neighbors.  Consequently, there were large populations of non-Polish minorities under its weakening sovereignty. In the west there were large numbers of Germans who were Lutheran in their religion. In the east there were large numbers of Orthodox Russians and Ukrainians.  The Poles themselves were Roman Catholic, and their Diet (in rare moments of unanimity) had passed legislation protecting the Catholic Church and discriminating against non-Poles and non-Catholics. Thus, a policy of official cultural and spiritual discrimination alienated these minorities who appealed to Prussia, Russia, or Austria for support.

           Beginning in 1772 Austria, Prussia, and Russia began to partition Poland among them, each occupying sizeable portions of Polish territory along their borders.  Poland was far too weak to resist.  By 1795 Poland had disappeared from the map of Europe (not to be restored until 1918!).

           The big powers justified their partitioning Poland through several reasons.  By partitioning Poland they had ended an old cause of international rivalry and war.  Poland's elected monarchy had caused other nations to put forth their own candidates in order to further their foreign policy interests and ambitions.  In 1733, for example, there began a five-year War of Polish Succession as European nations backed rival French- and Austrian-supported claimants and candidates for the throne.

           Poland, they argued, had no right to claim sovereignty over non-Polish peoples.  The Roman Catholic Poles' insensitivity to the interests of their German Lutheran subjects in the west and Ukrainian Orthodox subjects in the east negated their right to exercise sovereignty over these and other minorities.  (The irony of this reasoning should be evident, especially if one thinks of Austria.)

           By partitioning Poland they had preserved the balance of power in Eastern Europe.  An old cause of rivalry had been eliminated and order had been established in an unstable region. The implications of this argument are interesting.  Here, the balance of power principle was being used to destroy, not protect, the sovereignty of a state.  The lesson of Poland for the rest of Europe was clear: it was dangerous for a state not to be strong.

            The partitions of Poland made Austria, Prussia, and Russia all "greater" as powers.  With their increased power, Central Europe became more important in European international affairs.  Austria, Prussia, and Russia came to play increasingly important roles in international affairs as Europe moved into the 19th century.

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 Illustrations are from Wikipedia sources.

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Sources for 18th Century Central and Eastern Europe

Ashley, Maurice. The Age of Absolutism: 1648 – 1775. Springfield, MA: Merriam, 1974.

Durant, Will and Ariel. The Age of Voltaire. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965.

---. Rousseau and Revolution. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967.

Gay, Peter.  The Age of Enlightenment.  New York: Time-Life, 1976.

Knapton, Ernest. Europe 1450 – 1815. New York: Scribners, 1958.

Langer, William L., ed. An Encyclopedia of World History. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1968.

Langer, William L. et al. Western Civilization. New York: Harper and Row, 1968.

Merriman, John. A History of Modern Europe. New York: Norton, 1996.

Palmer, Robert R. et al. A History of the Modern World. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2002.

Spielvogel, Jackson. Western Civilization. Minneapolis.West,1997.

Winik, Jay. The Great Upheaval: America and The Birth of The Modern World, 1788-1800. New York: Harper, 2007.  (Despite its title, it is an excellent source for Catherine the Great.)

[1] Under the traditions of Hungarian succession, the monarch of Hungary had to be a King. To pacify Hungarian concerns about the status of their monarch, Maria Theresa took the title “King.”