Transformations of Europe

Religion, commerce, and warfare all helped transform Europe. Empires expanded, borders appeared, and countries found themselves forced to identify who they really were.

Expansion and Dynastic Change in Russia

Expanding rapidly through Siberia to the east, Muscovy (or Russia, later) eventually came to control 20 percent of the world’s land. Expansion also increased the population from 6 to 20 million. For Ivan III, expansion meant security from steppe nomads. Marrying the niece of the last Byzantine emperor also allowed him to claim Russian succession to the Orthodox Church, which had lost its base with the fall of Constantinople. Later monarchs claimed the title of tsar and continued to push armies or follow fur-traders through Siberia.

Succession problems prompted Russian elites to support the Romanovs as Russia’s new leaders. The Romanovs perfected a centralized system in which the tsar maintained absolute power over virtually everything and everyone, including the nobles. Legally bound to the land and their lords as serfs, peasants lived in primitive communal arrangements. Sufficient stability allowed Peter the Great to continue expansion eastward and westward to the Baltic Sea. He built a new capital—St. Petersburg—and signed a treaty with the Chinese.

Migrations of Slavs into Siberia soon shifted the balance between Russians and indigenous peoples. Serfs migrated to escape repressive lords. Heretics and other political prisoners were banished there. Limited transportation made the going very difficult. Thus, Siberia gained a reputation as both a land of opportunity and a land of imprisonment.

Economic and Political Fluctuations in Western Europe

In Europe, commercialization led to increasing wealth but also heightened the risk of destabilization. Political and religious rivalries did not help.

   Western European Economies:

Relying on silver exposed Europe to periods of boom and bust cycles that could be devastating. Nevertheless, trade generally aided economic expansion by raising a new merchant class, supporting new commercial cities, and leading to a growing population. Growth, however, was not even. Inflation and rising costs of defense hurt Spain. Venice lost trade to new networks and thus declined. The Dutch, however, prospered through shipping and financing trade, setting an example to others. England and France benefited from policies that protected local business while eliminating that of foreign competitors. Eventually, monopolistic commerce gave way to a broader diversity of trade, opening new markets and networks. In the countryside, breakthroughs in agriculture increased food production that could support larger urban populations. Agriculture became commercialized when landowners began producing for the market, thus leading to increased efficiency and productivity.

   The Ways of War:

Religious conflicts continued to rage in Europe. In Germany, Protestant and Catholic competition climaxed in the Thirty Years’ War, which killed some 8 million people by the war’s end in 1648. The Thirty Years’ War transformed warfare in Europe. Centralizing states meant bigger armies, professional soldiers, and increased use of firearms, all aimed at winning conclusive campaigns against the enemy. These and the added burden of supply lines required huge military budgets. As war became more expensive, only powerful and wealthy monarchs could win. Diplomacy developed as a way to avoid expensive campaigns and more Catholic/Protestant bloodletting. After the Thirty Years’ War, religious division gave way to territorial and commercial competition as the primary point of conflict.

   Dynastic Monarchies: France and England:

France employed an absolutist system. Society was represented by the Estates-General, an advisory body comprised of delegates speaking for the clergy, the nobles, and everyone else. The king, however, closed it. He ruled by divine right, and his grace and blessing were bestowed on those whom he favored. Patronage networks ultimately led to the king himself, giving him great power. Possessing all influence, the king dominated other groups who had no formal voice or representation of their interests. In practice, however, the French kings struggled to maintain their alleged "absolute" power. England developed differently because kings needed Parliament for money. Fierce religious struggles led the court to clamp down with a virtual military dictatorship, but James II’s intrigue to make England Catholic led to a revolution that deposed the king. Consensus was that the king’s power had to be balanced by Parliament. Thus England’s nobility and merchants continued to enjoy representation in Parliament. Opinions remained divided over which system was better. Thomas Hobbes supported absolutism while John Locke advocated natural rights and liberty (as Parliament represented). "Where did sovereignty ultimately rest—in the state or the people?" became a question of hot debate.

   Mercantilist Wars:

Another form of conflict arising in Europe was mercantilist war for control of colonies and sea lanes. These conflicts eventually produced the world’s first global wars. To protect their economic interests, European powers built huge navies. Restrictions opened the door to smuggling, which became endemic. Disputed borders led to bloody conflicts, as in the Caribbean or North America. Each war exceeded the former, to the point that wars could be fought in multiple regions all at the same time, as in the Seven Years’ War. That war led to the defeat of France and to British success, with France losing many of its colonies.