Unit 4

Madison McCorklePeriod 4

Prompt

• Analyze the extent to which Frederick the Great of Prussia and Joseph II of Austria advanced and did not advance Enlightenment ideals during their reigns.

Background• Frederick The Great- He ruled Prussia from 1740- 1786. He is a Calvinist. He built of his fathers, Frederick William, empire of military lifestyle. Though many people did not see that one coming because he always went against his father in his early years. He was a very artistic person and loved poetry as a boy. At eighteen he tried to run away from home but was caught and forced to watch as his father beheaded his company. Eventually his father and him ended their differences and at 28 he took the throne.

Background• Joseph II- He was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and King of the Habsburg from 1780 to 1790. He ruled with his mother Maria Theresa in the Habsburg lands. He became the only ruler of the Austrian Habsburg when his mother died. He introduced to his people administrative, legal, economic and ecclesiastical reforms. Historians call him the “Revolutionary Emperor.” He was a ruler of absolutism and enlightenment.

Frederick the Great and Enlightenment

• Frederick the Great made many changes in Prussia during his time of ruling.– He allowed his subjects to believe in what they wanted for religious and

philosophical issues– He built a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Berlin.– He was the type of person that wanted people to be able to speak for what they

thought was right or wrong.– He improved of schools and let the scholars to publish any of their works. – He widened Nobility to have more power

• His legal side of politics – he made trials with judges – He got rid of the torture chambers.– Improved the agriculture and industry of his country.

• He was a great Prussian King and one of the first monarchs to say “…only the first servant of the state.”

Joseph II and Enlightenment• Starting before Joseph II was in power Maria Theresa was and she change some

things and started reforming the state.– First, She limited the power of the Papacy's political influence.– Second, She made a new administrative reforms that would strengthen the

central bureaucracy, cleaned out some provincial differences and improved the tax system, taxing even the lands of nobles without exceptions.

– Thirdly, the government tried to improve the population, slowly reducing the power of the lords over the power they had with their serfs and their mostly free peasant serfs.

• When Joseph II came to power he took everything that his mother started and moved with that– He controlled and established the catholic church to make sure that they

would become better people because of it. – He allowed religious toleration and civil rights to the Protestants and Jews.– He even got rid of serfdom in 1781

Fredrick The Great and EnlightenmentCont…

• Things that Frederick did that was bad.– He did not let the serfs go– He never tried to change the social structure of

Prussia – Frederick did not listen to some thinkers like

Moses Mendelssohn, who told Jews be given freedom and civil rights.

– He opposed any general emancipation for Jews and Serfs

Joseph II and Enlightenment Cont…

• The following items were things that Joseph did to not help the Enlightenment– Because he abolished serfs this made the nobles mad

and it started to disturb the social scale– He made the Hungarian assembly have all of its

privileges taken away and it was not to come together any time soon.

– He made serfs free but didn’t let them get land or own property

– He pushed Catholicism on to the people of his land.– He was not friendly with any foreign policies.