Chapter 4 Section 4-5

The Thirty Years War

• Rival German princes held more power than the emperor.

• Religion divided the Protestant north and the Catholic south and created a power vacuum.

• Electors: Leading authority of the Holy Roman Emperor chosen by 7 German Princes.

The War Begins

• Two great empires, Austria and Prussia, rose out of the ashes of the Thirty Years’ War.

• France gained territory

• The Hapsburgs were forced to accept independence of all of the princes of the Holy Roman Empire.

• Ferdinand-the Hapsburg king of Bohemia, was elected Holy Roman Emperor.

A Brutal Conflict

• Soldiers burned villages, destroyed crops, and kill without mercy.

• Mercenaries: A professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army.

• The war led to severe depopulation

Peace at Last

• 1648, combatants accepted a series of treaties, know as the Peace of Westphalia.

• The Netherlands and present-day Switzerland won independence

• The Peace of Westphalia ended the war with a general European peace.

• Germany was divided into more than 360 states.

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Hapsburg Austria

• The Hapsburgs kept the title of Holy Roman emperors and expanded their lands.

Unity and Diversity

• Hapsburg monarchs worked to unite the empire, including people from many backgrounds and cultures.

• 1700, Empire included Germans, Magyars, slaves, and many others.

Maria Theresa

• Daughter of emperor Charles VI, was the future ruler for the land.

• Maria Theresa won popular support and strengthened Hapsburg power by reorganizing the bureaucracy and improving tax collection

• 1740, her biggest threat came when Fredrick II of Prussia seized the rich Hapsburg province of Silesia.

Maria Theresa

The Rise of Prussia

• 1600, the Hohenzollern family ruled scattered lands across north Germany.

• Hohenzollern kings set up an efficient central bureaucracy and reduced the independence of nobles.

• 1740, Prussia was strong enough to challenge its rival Austria

Frederick II

• Made sure his son was trained for the art of war.

• Frederick William I created one of the best armies in Europe.

Military Success

• Frederick II used the army to strengthen Prussia.

• Made his army useful after he became king.

Peter the Great

• Peter the Great was committed to a policy of westernization in Russia.

•forced the boyars, or landowning nobles, to serve the state.• imported western technology and culture. • imposed policies which caused the spread of serfdom.• brought all Russian institutions under his control.

Expansion under Peter

• Peter created the largest standing army in Europe and set out to extend Russian borders to the west and south.

• Peter signed a treaty with Qing China which recognized Russia’s right to lands north of Manchuria.

• Peter hired a navigator to explore what became known as the Bering Strait between Siberia and Alaska.

Catherine the Great

• Catherine the great was the longest ruling female leader of Russia