Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Western sev Episode four hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy nine. Storm on the Horizon. The mid eighteenth century
Speaker 1: was a world poised on the edge of conflagration. Beneath
Speaker 1: the veneer of enlightenment, of Rousseau and Voltaire, of optimism
Speaker 1: and empire building admission, there was a storm that was gathering,
Speaker 1: a storm that will erupt into the Seven Years' War,
Speaker 1: a global conflict at the time of unprecedented scale. But
Speaker 1: to understand the causes of that war, I want us
Speaker 1: to look back a little bit, a few decades earlier,
Speaker 1: to a time when great empires jockeyed for influence, ideologies
Speaker 1: were colliding, and the climate itself seemed to conspire against stability.
Speaker 1: This is the story of the world between seventeen twenty
Speaker 1: and seventeen fifty, a world in motion, with battle drums
Speaker 1: echoing from Persia to the Caribbean, and sermons thundering from
Speaker 1: New England, Pulpits to the palaces of Europe, all the
Speaker 1: way across the American colonies. These are the years that
Speaker 1: will lay the scaffolding for World War We begin our
Speaker 1: story in Russia again in seventeen twenty two. Czar Peter
Speaker 1: the Great Launch who have become known as the Russo
Speaker 1: Persian War, a swift and brutal campaign to seize Persian
Speaker 1: territory in the Caucaus Mountains and across the Caspian Sea.
Speaker 1: Persia from recent Afghan invasions and internal collapse, offered almost
Speaker 1: no resistance. Russian forces seized the critical cities of Bayerbant
Speaker 1: and Baku, and the Treaty of Constantinople in seventeen twenty
Speaker 1: four Russia and the Ottoman Empire essentially agreed to divide
Speaker 1: Persia between the two of them. Now, the war itself
Speaker 1: might seem a little peripheral to the great European rivalries
Speaker 1: of the era, but it was part of a bigger transformation.
Speaker 1: The Treaty of Constantinople really signaled the arrival of Russia
Speaker 1: as a diplomatic player, a major actor in the Eastern
Speaker 1: Mediterranean and the Islamic world beyond. More importantly, it drew
Speaker 1: the Ottomans and the Russians into a shared orbit of competition,
Speaker 1: one that would soon echo in Austrian and French concerns
Speaker 1: about bulk and hegemony. Russia's new imperial posture demanded domestic
Speaker 1: consolidation in the seventeen thirties and seventeen forties, under the
Speaker 1: reign of Empress Anna and Empress Elizabeth, Peter's reforms reached
Speaker 1: their crescendo. Serfdom expanded in law and brutality, but one
Speaker 1: significant deviation occurred in the region of Livonia and parts
Speaker 1: of Ukraine, where in a series of edicts in the
Speaker 1: seventeen forties, a partial manumission of certain state owned serfs,
Speaker 1: particularly those employed in mining in frontier military service, took place. Wow,
Speaker 1: this was huge. This is usually in history books called
Speaker 1: the freeing of the serfs. Now it's a lot more
Speaker 1: limited than that, but in true it was important. The
Speaker 1: limiting of serfs, though, was not a humanitarian gesture, it
Speaker 1: was a strategic one, an effort to stimulate economic productivity
Speaker 1: and military colonization. It also foreshadowed a broader imperial trend
Speaker 1: that the Empires of Europe, in their race for dominance,
Speaker 1: would begin experimenting with their domestic institutions, sometimes liberalizing, sometimes
Speaker 1: tightening control, all in the service though, of global expansion
Speaker 1: global warfare. So what we're seeing now is foreign needs
Speaker 1: dictating domestic concerns, and honestly, to a large extent, that
Speaker 1: is going to be the driving force behind European politics
Speaker 1: all the way through the Great War that will erupt
Speaker 1: in nineteen fourteen, and some would argue beyond certainly in
Speaker 1: my opinion, through the French Revolution, in the Napoleonic Wars
Speaker 1: to come. But regardless, in Russia, what we can say
Speaker 1: is the military state was expanding both in scope and ambition. Now. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: the natural world itself was turning hostile. Between seventeen twenty
Speaker 1: five and seventeen forty, Europe and North America endured what
Speaker 1: many climatologists regards the coldest decades of the Little Ice Age.
Speaker 1: Crop yields across France, England, the Holy Roman Empire fell
Speaker 1: dramatically in the seventeen thirties. In Sweden and Norway, glaciers
Speaker 1: advanced all the way into relatively save farmland. The Sene
Speaker 1: River froze in Paris in seventeen thirty nine. In Ireland,
Speaker 1: the famine of seventeen forty to seventeen forty one, triggered
Speaker 1: by brutal winters and summer floods, killed hundreds of thousands.
Speaker 1: And this is well before the Potato Famine. Cold Weather
Speaker 1: wasn't just a pure inconvenience. Then it destabilized economies, Its
Speaker 1: spurred peasant revolts. It hardened governments resolve to assert tighter
Speaker 1: controls over food prices and grain storage, and France in
Speaker 1: particular saw its rural unrest simmering. One Frenchman wrote in
Speaker 1: seventeen forty quotes the people grow more discontented than hungry,
Speaker 1: for they no longer believe that their misery is natural.
Speaker 1: In colonial New England, harsh winters and short growing seasons
Speaker 1: contributed to migration Inland, particularly amongst dissenting Protestant sects. This
Speaker 1: dispersal would feed directly into another movement, a spiritual rebellion
Speaker 1: already shaking the British Atlantic world. While kings were forging
Speaker 1: treaties and armies were shivering in snow, a different kind
Speaker 1: of fire caught hearts of men and women across the
Speaker 1: Protestant Atlantic. This is the first Great Awakening. A wave
Speaker 1: of evangelical revivals that began in the seventeen thirties tore
Speaker 1: through New England and spread into the Middle Colonies and beyond.
Speaker 1: Jonathan Edwards, in his famous seventeen forty one sermon, Sinners
Speaker 1: in the hands of an angry God thundered that quote,
Speaker 1: there is nothing that keeps wicked men, at any one
Speaker 1: moment out of hell but the mere pleasure of God.
Speaker 1: George Whitefield, a charismatic preacher from England, drew tens of
Speaker 1: thousands to open air revivals from Boston to Georgia. The
Speaker 1: crowd's wep, they shook, they fainted when Field wrote in
Speaker 1: seventeen forty, the world is in flames. Wherever I go,
Speaker 1: God is at work. Revival breaks out. The political ramifications
Speaker 1: of this religious fervor were profound. Colonists who had once
Speaker 1: submitted quietly to both church and crowns started to question
Speaker 1: their allegiance to both. Young Men, particularly those in the
Speaker 1: back country, started to defy their elders and reject hierarchical control.
Speaker 1: This spirit of dissent did not directly cause the war
Speaker 1: with France, but it did prime the Anglo American colonies
Speaker 1: for later resistance to British authority. Eight religious rivalry with
Speaker 1: Catholic France all the more urgent. Indeed, Protestant revivals in
Speaker 1: England and Germany took on a nationalist hue, identifying Catholic
Speaker 1: monarchs as enemies of God's word and framing global power
Speaker 1: struggle as spiritual warfare. In seventeen forty four, one English
Speaker 1: pamphlet cautioned, quote popery creeps where our armies falter. This
Speaker 1: was an age of conflict, no single conflict, though better
Speaker 1: exemplified the bizarre intersection of economics, imperial rivalry, and farce
Speaker 1: than the stupid war of Jenkins's ear. This Israel, by
Speaker 1: the way. In seventeen thirty one, a Spanish patrol boarded
Speaker 1: a British smuggling vessel in the Caribbean and allegedly, as
Speaker 1: a result of a scuffle, sliced off the ear of
Speaker 1: the captain of the ship, Robert Jenkins. So this guy,
Speaker 1: Robert Jenkins, throughout the seventeen thirties just kept showing up
Speaker 1: in British Parliament with in a jar his preserved ear.
Speaker 1: By seventeen thirty eight, it had gotten to be too much,
Speaker 1: and in the following year Parliament and Britain declared war
Speaker 1: on Spain. Yeah to an act revenge for some dude
Speaker 1: who was definitely smuggling his ear. Though it began as
Speaker 1: limited maritime skirmish in the Caribbean and along the Georgia
Speaker 1: Florida border, the war as wars do quickly escalated out
Speaker 1: of control. The British targeted Spanish ports in the Caribbean,
Speaker 1: the Spanish rated British plantations and encouraged slave revolts. In
Speaker 1: seventeen forty one, a massive British expedition against Cartagenia in
Speaker 1: modern day Columbia beautiful place. I've been there ended in disaster,
Speaker 1: with over nine thousand British troops dying of disease. More importantly,
Speaker 1: the War of Jenkins's Ear did not remain confined to
Speaker 1: the Atlantic. By seventeen forty two, Britain and Spain's European
Speaker 1: allies began sliding into a wider conflict, the War of
Speaker 1: Austrian Succession. Thus, a colonial ear severed by Spanish sailors
Speaker 1: helped spark apan European war, and by the way, it's
Speaker 1: not going to get any better. The war also underscored
Speaker 1: a growing truth Britain and France, along with their allies,
Speaker 1: could no longer fight a war in isolation. Colonial and
Speaker 1: European theaters were inseparable. It was only a matter of
Speaker 1: time before War in India, War in Canada, War in Silasia,
Speaker 1: and War on the Rhine would all be seen as
Speaker 1: fronts in one single global conflict, and that brings us
Speaker 1: to the War of Austrian Succession, also a dress rehearsal
Speaker 1: for the battles to come. When the Holy Roman Emperor
Speaker 1: Charles the sixth that died in seventeen forty, the fragile
Speaker 1: balance of power in Europe shattered. Despite the Pragmatic Sanction,
Speaker 1: which was Charles's painstaking diplomatic effort to ensure his daughter
Speaker 1: Marre Teresa could inherit Habsburg lands, Prussia, France, Bavaria and
Speaker 1: Saxony all challenged her claim because she was spiler alert
Speaker 1: a female. The result was the War of Austrian Succession.
Speaker 1: At its heart, this was a war about legitimacy, power
Speaker 1: and access to land. Prussia under Frederick the Second, later
Speaker 1: the Great, who I'm going to talk about in the
Speaker 1: next episode in great detail see is the rich province
Speaker 1: of Silatia, setting the stage for the Austrio Prussian rivalry
Speaker 1: that would come to dominate Central Europe really until the
Speaker 1: rise of Germany under Bismarck. France, eager to weeke in
Speaker 1: the Habsburgs, supported anti Habsburg claimants and launched campaigns in
Speaker 1: the Austrian Netherlands Britain, seeking to check France and protect
Speaker 1: Hanoverian interest, you know, sided with Maria Teresa. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: hope because she had a legitimate claim, but probably just
Speaker 1: to seek out their own interest. And so for eight
Speaker 1: years Europe fruitlessly fought back and forth. Battles ranged from
Speaker 1: deton g to fonten Roy. In India, British and French
Speaker 1: East India companies fought alongside local rival princes in a
Speaker 1: proxy war for dominance in North America. This played itself
Speaker 1: out too as King George's war with New Englanders, famously
Speaker 1: capturing the French fortress of Louisbourg in seventeen forty five.
Speaker 1: In the end, the Treaty of ike Stay Chappelle in
Speaker 1: seventeen forty eight, I definitely they didn't pronounce that right
Speaker 1: ended the war, but resolved absolutely nothing. Sialatia remained in
Speaker 1: Prussian hands, which was a humiliation for Austria. France regained
Speaker 1: louis Berg in exchange for his gains in the Austrian Netherlands,
Speaker 1: in raging New Englands, who had fought and died for
Speaker 1: it and ended up getting land in the Netherlands. Most importantly,
Speaker 1: the war exposed a new reality, but I hate to
Speaker 1: say it. It was a reality that Europeans didn't get yet.
Speaker 1: They were a little slow to study this. The reality
Speaker 1: was global conflict was here to stay. The major powers
Speaker 1: were no longer fighting for dynastic prestige. Now they were
Speaker 1: fighting for trade routes, for colonies, the spheres of influence
Speaker 1: that could cross oceans and cover multiple consonants. The cost
Speaker 1: of war sure had been staggering, but the peace in
Speaker 1: this case would prove more precarious. In the aftermath of
Speaker 1: the War of Austrian Succession, the traditional alliances of Europe
Speaker 1: began to dissolve and recombine. Austria, long allied with Britain,
Speaker 1: began drifting toward its old enemy France. Britain, increasingly wary
Speaker 1: of French naval ambitions, moved towards Prussia. The diplomatic realignment,
Speaker 1: known historically as the Diplomatic Revolution of the seventeen fifties.
Speaker 1: It was not merely the product of courtly negotiations. It
Speaker 1: reflected deep frustrations with the outcome of the previous war.
Speaker 1: Austria wanted revenge on Prussia. France was eager to counter
Speaker 1: British commercial power. Britain worried about renewed conflict in North
Speaker 1: America and India, sought a land ally in Central Europe
Speaker 1: to offset French pressure elsewhere. These shifting alliances would culminate
Speaker 1: in the Treaty of Versailles in seventeen fifty six between
Speaker 1: France and Austria and the Treaty of Westminster same year
Speaker 1: between Britain and Prussia. Honestly, within mere months of those
Speaker 1: treaties being signed, war would erupt. But it's important to
Speaker 1: point out how the seeds of that coming war have
Speaker 1: been sown decades earlier in Silasia, in the burning pulpits
Speaker 1: of New England, and in the jungles of Cartagenia. By
Speaker 1: the year seventeen fifty the world was a tinderbox. European
Speaker 1: armies were larger and better equipped. Frankly, probably okay, I'm
Speaker 1: going to be honest here, probably with if you think
Speaker 1: about supply chain. We haven't seen Europe this effectively mobilized.
Speaker 1: Since the Roman Empire and Mercantile Empires now spanned the globe,
Speaker 1: backed by fleets and fortified outposts. Colonists both in India
Speaker 1: and the Americas chafed under distant control and were armed
Speaker 1: with new ideologies of liberty, with a new religious zeal
Speaker 1: and a new national pride. The environment too had a
Speaker 1: role to plan all this. The Little Ice Age continued
Speaker 1: to strain agriculture and provoke famine in certain regions, environmental hardship,
Speaker 1: bread desperation, desperation bread revolt in Canada and New England.
Speaker 1: In Bengal and throughout the Rhineland, people saw signs of
Speaker 1: divine judgment or maybe opportunity. Most ominously, none of these
Speaker 1: old rivalries had been settled. The war over Silasia wasn't done.
Speaker 1: The War for North America had only been paused. The
Speaker 1: Anglo French competition for India was accelerating, and the world's
Speaker 1: great powers had begun to view their imperial rivalries not
Speaker 1: merely as foes on a chessboard, but now as existential threats.
Speaker 1: In seventeen fifty four, the war would begin again, first
Speaker 1: on the frontier of Pennsylvania, then then the jungles of Bengal,
Speaker 1: and then eventually across the plains of Saxony. The Seven
Speaker 1: Years War is going to last until seventeen sixty three,
Speaker 1: but its origins were deep and tangled, and we need
Speaker 1: to remember that now Next time before we jump into
Speaker 1: that war, I want to back up, and I do
Speaker 1: want to talk about Frederick the Great because it's important
Speaker 1: to recognize his contributions to European history and Western history
Speaker 1: as a whole, because the rise of Germany has a
Speaker 1: lot to do with the rise of Prussia, and he's
Speaker 1: going to play a major force in the events to come.
Speaker 1: So next time we want to talk about Frederick the Great,
Speaker 1: and then we're going to launch into the Seven Years War.
Speaker 1: Ha