International relations 1648-1814 begun on June 17, 2017\ add more notes

Evaluations edit

Historian Frederick Nussbaum says the late seventeenth century, "was a period of marked uninteligence, immorality, and frivolity in the conduct of international relations, marked by wars undertaken for dimly conceived purposes, waged with the utmost brutality, and concluded by reckless betrayals of allies." ^[1]

Population and army strength edit

Main European countries	Population about 1648	Army about 1690
France	15 million	130 thousand
Holy Roman Empire (Austria)	8	50
Italian states	12
Low Countries	3.5	73 (Netherlands)
British Isles	7.5	80 (England)
Scandinavia	2.5	90 (Sweden)
Source:	Stearns, Encyclopedia (2001) p 284	Blanning, Pursuit of Glory (2007) p 289

Europe 1648 – 1721 edit

OLD

The European political scene changed in the late 17th century. Warfare was still more powerful influence than demography, economics or diplomacy, so the major changes resulted from a series of large wars. At first France, with the largest population in the West, a well-developed economy, and a good Navy, was predominant.^[2] It lost part of its preeminence in stages during a series of major wars: the Nine Years War, the War of the Spanish Succession, the Turkish wars of 1683-99 and 1714-18, and the great Northern war. Europe was largely regionalized, with wars fought either in the West, the North, or the Southeast. By 1700, there were five major states, Britain, France, Spain, Russia, and the Habsburg monarchy (also called Austria, or the Holy Roman Empire). Prussia was emerging primarily because of its aggressive leadership and its advances in the military arts. Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Venice, Sweden and the Ottoman Empire were declining powers after losses in a series of wars.^[3] The 1659 treaty of the Pyrenees marked Spain's submission to France.The major powers each developed sophisticated diplomatic, military, and financial systems at the national level, with a striking fall-off of the autonomy of regional aristocrats. England, although wracked with an intense civil war (1642 – 46), managed to gain strength internationally. Its Royal Navy reigned supreme on the oceans after a series of wars with the Netherlands. As an island nation secure from invasion, it could keep its army small, and invest in subsidies to support the armies of smaller countries to maintain its alliances. Its policy was to use diplomacy and enter wars on the weaker side so as to maintain a balance of power, and to thwart the danger of France maintaining its preeminence. ^[4]

NEW edit

Rise and fall of the great powers part one, the 1648-1713 edit

Organizational forces; Army infantry and cavalry and tactics, training, leadership; role of aristocracy; mercenaries
Navy: changing technology, Shipbuilding, role of merchant navies, role of leadership,

McKay, Derek, and Hamish M. Scott. The rise of the great powers 1648-1815 (1983).

Britain edit

Britain and its Navy, it's Army, its diplomatic methods, finances; overseas empire: East India Company as independent Army; American colonies-- no troops stationed until 1763. ^[5]^[6]

=France edit

France: remains powerful but others are starting to catch up; role of warfare; Finances. Louis XIV ^[7]^[8]

Austria, Russia and Prussia edit

Austria ^[9]
Russia ^[10]

Maratha edit

Declining states edit

Spain,^[11] Netherlands,^[12] Poland,^[13] Sweden,^[14] Ottoman Empire,^[15] Mughal Empire,^[16] China.^[17]

Rise and fall of the great powers part two 1713-1793; French Revolution and Napoleon: 1793 1814 edit

^[18]

==MOVED to Main 6-26-17: The War of the Spanish Succession: 1702-1715 edit

Spain had a number of major assets, apart from its homeland itself. It controlled important territory in Europe, especially the Spanish Netherlands ( which eventually became Belgian) and the Franche-Comté Province sans Francis eastern border, as well as a large portion of southern Italy and Sicily. Overseas it had a major empire that dominated much of the New World, including South America, Mexico Central America, and critical West Indies islands such as Cuba. Other possessions included the Philippine Islands. The overseas territories were an important outlet for the Spanish population. Most important all of all, the colonies in North and South America produced enormous quantities of silver, which were brought to Spain every few years in convoys. Spain had many weaknesses as well. Its economy was poor, there was little business or industry, or advanced craftsmanship. It had to Import practically all its weapons. Spain had a large army but it was poorly trained, poorly equipped. It had a surprisingly small Navy, for seamanship was a low priority among the Spanish elites. It never recovered from the self-inflicted disaster that destroyed being Spanish Armada. Local and regional governments, and the local nobility, controlled most of the decision-making. The central government was quite weak, with a mediocre bureaucracy, and few able leaders. King Charles II reigned 1665 to 1700, but he was in very poor physical and mental health.

King Charles had no children, and the question of a succession to the throne to two rivals: He represented the Habsburg family, and that family, based in Vienna, had its own candidate.^[19] However the Bourbons, based in Paris, also had a candidate: The grandson of powerful King Louis XIV. Spain's silver, and its inability to protect its assets, made it a highly visible target crossed Europe. For generations, Englishmen had contemplated capturing the treasury fleet--which they did in xx, And otherwise rating Spanish wealth. Charles II made a disastrous decision: on his deathbed he announced that the Bourbon candidate, a Frenchman, would be the next king, Philip V of Spain. France, of course, rallied to the choice. However a coalition of enemies quickly formed, and a major European war broke out 1701-1714.^[20] On the one hand the notion of France taking over Spain in all its colonies was anathema to France's main rivals. Secondly the prospect of dividing up Spanish holdings prove very attractive. The naval powers formed a Grand Alliance, led by the Holy Roman Empire's Leopold I, Prussia and most of the other German states, The Netherlands, Portugal, Savoy (in Italy) and especially England. France and Spain found allies among several local dukes in Italy and Germany. Extensive fighting took place primarily in the Netherlands, with both sides swaying back and forth. . When Emperor Joseph died, his son Charles became not only the alliance candidate for King of Spain, but he also became Emperor. That would make the Empire much too powerful, and the Alliance fell apart. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 resolved all of the issues. Philip V became king of Spain, and kept all his overseas colonies, but renounced any rights to the French throne. Spain lost its European holdings outside the homeland itself. As the former members of the alliance picked up their spoils. England gained Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Gibraltar, as well as trading rights in the Spanish colonies. Spain now had a new Bourbon government, which proved far more effective and energetic than the previous Habsburg rulers.^[21] Utrecht strengthened the sense of useful international law and inaugurated an era of relative stability in the European state system, based on balance-of-power politics that no one country would become dominant.^[22]

Major empires/states edit

Stearns page 279

Gunpowder empires edit

Ottoman Empire, strong central control using Janssen Neri soldiers, firearms, artillery,. Conquered most of the Arab Middle East and the Balkan Peninsula, but failed to capture Vienna in 1529 and again in 1683.
Portugal, with very strong navy, artillery, Navigation, merchant ships, network of forts, aand political success in establishing and maintaining naval bases. Large-scale immigration to Brazil. Portugal expanded rapidly in the Indian Ocean areas, as well as Brazil and to a lesser extent southern Africa. Was it enforced union with Spain from 1582 1640. By 1648, it was no longer a major world power, but it's long string of possessions, and its alliances with England, kept its empire intact until the late 20th century
Spain: rapid successful expansion in the entire Western Hemisphere from California-Texas-Florida South to Argentina. exclude Brazil. Very large flow of silver and some gold in annual treasure ships to Spain. The main exception, and some Caribbean islands controlled by other powers.. Politically united with Netherlands and Austria in the Habsburg Empire of Charles V, 1519-58, which lacked a strong central administrative capital. Spanish Hapsburgs under Philip II of Spain slowly weakened. Major decline marked by the War of the Spanish Succession, 1701-14 [ p 316]
India 1526-1707 Mughal Empire. Successful conquest from the Northwest using firearms and artillery. Administrative reorganization under the reign of Akbar ( 1556-1605). Rapid decline in power after 1700, although remained a nominal Empire until the 1850s.
Persia 1501-1722 Safavid Empire based in Shiite Islam. Used artillery but severe internal conflicts between the Imperial and the Army, another week shies. Disintegration by 1722 and replaced by warrior adventurers were unable to build an effective centralized state. See page 363
Russian Empire emerges under Ivan III (1462-1505) with effective artillery and centralized absolutism. Conquers other Russian cities, states by 1600 free from the old Mongol control. By 1700 using powerful nomadic cavalry. Modernizing efforts of Peter the Great (1689-1725) brings Russia to parity with Western Europe and Ottoman empires.

The Diplomatic Revolution of 1756and Seven Years' War copy ex Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg edit

Kaunitz was the mastermind of the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, that involved her dramatic shakeup of traditional military alliances in Europe. Austria went from an ally of Britain to an ally of France and Russia. Prussia became an ally of Great Britain, along with Hanover. The result was the basic lineup of forces in the Seven Years' War.^[23]^[24]

Once State Chancellor, Kaunitz pursued his policies seeking rapprochement with France. Upon the outbreak of the French and Indian War overseas in 1754, he had the Austrian ambassador in Paris, Prince Georg Adam of Starhemberg, raise the topic of forming a defensive league. King Louis XIV finally accepted, after the Anglo-Prussian Treaty of Westminster was signed in 1756. The alliance was expanded in 1757 to include Russia and Sweden.

Thus began the Seven Years' War in Europe, which ultimately failed to bring the lost provinces back to Austria.

rj add: Kaunitz worked around the objections of Joseph II to initiate the Austro-Turkish War of 1788-91. The goal was to humiliate Austria's old enemy, Prussia. However it misfired: it proved a costly military operation to help Russia, but it did not obtain any anti-Prussian objective. After Joseph II's death the war was ended and Kaunitz's power collapsed.^[25]

French Revolution edit

East India Company edit

copy ex "East India Company"

the East India Company was a privately owned British commercial trading firm that exported British goods to India and adjacent areas, and imported Indian products such as tea, spices, textiles and (for the Chinese market), opium.^[26] It started with several small port facilities, called factories, and expanded to control most of the Indian subcontinent by the 1850s. It primarily use diplomacy and financial incentives, with occasional use of military force. By 1803, at the height of its rule in India, it had a private army of about 260,000 - twice the size of the British army. The company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its private armies, exercising military power and assuming administrative functions. The officers were British officers; 8 of 10 soldiers were "Sepoys" (Indians), Parts of the army revolted in 1857-- after heavy loss of life, the British prevailed. They nationalized the East India Company and set up the British Raj, which ruled most of India directly, and the rest indirectly through semi-autonomous princely states.^[27]

books on India edit

Bowen, H V. "British India, 1765-1813: The Metropolitan Context." The in P.J. Marshall, ed., The Oxford History of the British Empire: Vol 2 The Eighteenth Century 2 (1998): pp 530-51.
Bowen, Huw, et al. eds. The Worlds of the East India Company (2002) .
Dodwell, Henry. Dupleix and Clive: Beginning of Empire. (1968).
Lawson, Philip. The East India Company: A History (1993) online
Lenman, Bruce. Britain's colonial wars, 1688-1783 (2001) pp 83-118
Marshall, Peter J. "The British in Asia: trade to dominion, 1700–1765." in P.J. Marshall, ed., The Oxford History of the British Empire: Vol 2 The Eighteenth Century 2 (1998): 487-507.
Marshall, Peter J. "The English in Asia to 1700." in Nicholas Canny, ed. The Oxford History of the British Empire: The Origins of Empire (1998): 264-285.
Oak, Mandar, and Anand V. Swamy. "Myopia or strategic behavior? Indian regimes and the East India Company in late eighteenth century India." Explorations in economic history 49.3 (2012): 352-366. online
Peers, Douglas M. India under colonial rule: 1700-1885 (2013).
Ray, Rajat Kanta. "Indian Society and the Establishment of British Supremacy, 1765-1818." in P.J. Marshall, ed., The Oxford History of the British Empire: Vol 2 The Eighteenth Century 2 (1998): 508-29
St. John, Ian. The Making of the Raj: India Under the East India Company (ABC-CLIO, 2011) online, focus on its impact on ordinary people in India
Stern, Philip J. "History and historiography of the English East India Company: Past, present, and future!." History Compass 7.4 (2009): 1146-1180.
Tuck, Patrick, ed. The East India Company: 1600–1858 (Routledge, 1998).

Notes edit

^ Frederick Louis Nussbaum, The triumph of science and reason, 1660-1685 (1953) p 148.
^ Carl J. Friedrich, The age of the baroque, 1610-1660 (1952) pp. 246-66.
^ Friedrich, The age of the baroque, 1610-1660 (1952) pp. 197-245.
^ Andrew A. Lossky, "International Relations in Europe," in J.S. Bromley, ed. The New Cambridge Modern History, vol 6 pp 154 – 192.
^ J.R. Jones, Britain and the World, 1649-1815 (1980) pp. 17-178
^ McKay and Scott. The rise of the great powers 1648-1815, pp 43-66.
^ John Stoye, Europe Unfolding: 1648-1688 (2000) pp 137-62, 187-215.
^ McKay and Scott. The rise of the great powers 1648-1815, pp 1-42.
^ McKay and Scott. The rise of the great powers 1648-1815, pp 67-77.
^ McKay and Scott. The rise of the great powers 1648-1815, pp 234-42.
^ Stoye, Europe Unfolding: 1648-1688 (2000) pp 74-91.
^ Jonathan Israel, The Dutch Republic: its rise, greatness and fall, 1477-1806 (1998) pp 700-862.
^ McKay and Scott. The rise of the great powers 1648-1815, pp 222-52.
^ McKay and Scott. The rise of the great powers 1648-1815, pp 77-93.
^ Stoye, Europe Unfolding: 1648-1688 (2000) pp 216-45.
^ Michael H. Fisher, A Short History of the Mughal Empire (2015) ch 10
^ Franz Schurmann and Orville Schell, eds., Imperial China: The Decline of the Last Dynasty and the Origins of Modern China, the 18th and 19th Centuries (1967).
^ McKay and Scott. The rise of the great powers 1648-1815, pp 272-338.
^ John B. Wolf, The Emergence of the Great Powers: 1685–1715 (1962) pp 59-91.
^ Henry Kamen, The War of Succession in Spain, 1700-15 (1969).
^ John Lynch, Bourbon Spain 1700–1808 (1989)
^ Dale Miquelon, "Envisioning the French Empire: Utrecht, 1711-1713." French Historical Studies 24.4 (2001): 653-677.
^ Franz A.J. Szabo, "Prince Kaunitz and the Balance of Power." International History Review 1#3 (1979): 399-408. in JSTOR
^ D.B. Horn, "The Diplomatic Revolution" in J.O. Lindsay, ed., The New Cambridge Modern History vol. 7, The Old Regime: 1713-63 (1957): pp 449-64.
^ Karl A. Roider, Jr. "Kaunitz, Joseph II And The Turkish War," Slavonic & East European Review (1976) 54#135 pp 538-556.
^ Philip Lawson, The East India Company: A History (1993) online
^ Philip J. Stern "History and historiography of the English East India Company: Past, present, and future!." History Compass 7.4 (2009): 1146-1180.

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