History of Europe Eighteenth Century Europe 1700-1789 History of Europe Published Seventeenth Century Europe 1598-1700 Thomas Munck Eighteenth Century Europe 1700-1789 Je remy Black In preparation Early Medieval Europe 400-1000 Roger Collins Medieval Europe 1000-l250 Randall Rogers Sixteenth Century Europe 1500-1600 Richard Mackenney Nineteenth Century Europe 1789-19l4 Alan Sked Twentieth Century Europe 1789-19l4 Anthony Adamthwaite History of Europe Eighteenth Century Europe 1700-1789 J eremy Black Macmillan Education ISBN 978-0-333-37943-1 ISBN 978-1-349-20632-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-20632-2 ©Jeremy Black 1990 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1990 All rights reserved. For information, write: Scholarly and Reference Division, St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 First published in the United States of America in 1990 ISBN 978-0-312-04009-3 cloth ISBN 978-0-312-04010-9 paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Black, J eremy Eighteenth-century Europe, 1700-1789/ Jeremy Black. p. cm.-(History of Europe) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-312-04009-3.-ISBN 978-0-312-04010-9 (pbk.) I. Europe-History-18th century. I. Tide. 11. Series: History of Europe (SI. Martin's Press) D286.B54 1990 940.2' 53-dc20 89-10915 CIP To Tim Blanning and John Lough Contents List ofmaps x Chronology xi Rulers of the major states xv Preface xvii 1 Hostile Environment 1 Demography, disease and death 1 Calamities and conservatism 12 2 Economic framework 19 Agriculture 19 Industry 39 3 The Wheels of Commerce 52 Communications 52 Money, standards and credit 57 Trade 63 Achanging economy 79 4 Society 84 Women and families 84 The orders of sodety 96 Nobility 103 Peasantry 118 5 Towns 137 Growth or decline 138 Towns as centres of privilege and control 142 Town and country 147 Towns and sodal hierarchy 153 Towns and political strife 158 The urban environment 159 Poverty and sodal welfa re 161 vii viii Contenls 6 Faith and the Churches 168 A divided continent 169 Growth of toleration 180 De-christianisation? 183 Jansenism 190 The fate of the Jesuits 194 Church-state relations 196 The Christian mission and the churches 204 7 Enlightenment 208 8 Culture and the Arts 223 Patronage 223 Courts and aristocracies 224 Religion and the church 231 The middling orders: patronage by the public market 234 The populace: distinct and oppressed? 240 Changing styles 244 Cosmopolitanism and artistic influences 249 Language 254 9 Science and Medicine 261 10 International Relations 276 An overview 276 1700-1721 279 European diplomacy 1714-1740 287 European diplomacy 1740-1763 289 European diplomacy 1763-1793 294 11 Armies and Warfa re 303 Russia 305 Mid-century Prussia 307 Mid-century reform in Austria and Russia 309 After the Seven Years War 312 Reform in the French army 313 Continuing problems 314 Recruitment 315 Warfare and the militarised society 321 Naval warfa re 322 Gontents ix 12 Govemment and Administration 328 Public order, crime and law 331 Fiscal problems 340 Regions on the margins of authority 353 Govemment agencies 364 Winning consent: the process of govemment 369 Enlightened despotism 377 13 Ideology, Politics, Reform and the Coming of Revolution 382 Political thought 382 Politics 403 The coming of revolution 415 Epilogue 424 Notes 426 Select Bibliography 432 Index 446 List of Maps 1 Europe 1700 xviii 2 The Habsburg Empire xx 3 Italy 1713-48 xxii 4 France in 1789 xxiii x