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Metternich vs Bismarck, a compare and contrast

2007-05-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

Metternich and Bismarck were both remarkable politicians in Austria and Prussia respecitvely. Metternich coordinated the Congress of Vienna in negotiations with Talleyrand and Castlereagh. During the Vienna Congress, he brought European monarchies back to the pre-Napoleon times. Metternich was a conservative foreign minister who thought nationalism and liberalism would adversely affect Austria. Bismarck, on the other hand, was nationalistic and somewhat more liberal than Metternich. Bismarck unified Germany from its many independent states and did not believe in foreign colonies like the other European powers. Instead, he focused on Germany itself, claiming that European domination is enough for great power. He was a shrewd negotiator who had alliances with several major powers and he had great timing in wars against Austria and France. Further, he also began Europe's first variation of the welfare state, in an effort to combat any socialist and communist schemes.

Crimean War (1853-1856)

2007-05-09T18:11:00.000-07:00

Crimean War (1853-1856) started as a war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire.
Ottoman granted Catholic France rather than Orthodox Russia oversight of the Christian shrines in the Holy Land. Russia wanted to extend control over Modavia and Walachina.

The main reason, however, was Russia's desire for a warm water port. France and Britain opposes Russian expansion in the area, as they don't want Russia to succeed in getting a warm water port.

Austria and Prussia remain neutral. Russia soon loses at Sevastopol. Treaty of Paris marked Russia's surrender. The Concert of Europe from the earlier half of the 19th century shatters. After 1848, all European powers feared less about revolution.

The Old (French) Regime

2007-05-09T18:01:00.000-07:00

The Old (French) Regime was the time before the 1789 French Revolution. Four characteristics of the Old Regime include:

1. Aristocratic elites that inherited legal privileges. These people represented about one to five percent of the population, were influential in socioeconomic life and owned land. There were about 400 thousand of these people in France, seperated into two groups.

Nobles of the sword - military merit.
Nobles of the robe - purchased bureaucratic merit.

There were also distinctions between the Versailles nobles and the non-Versailles nobles, known as the provincial nobility or Hoberaux. The latter were less wealthy.

Nobles also didn't have to pay the taille/land tax and were not subject to the corvee/forced labor. The paid instead the "twentieth" income tax. In adddition, they collected feudal dues and had exclusive fishing and hunting privileges.

2. Established churches.

3. Urban labor force and guild associations.

4. Rural peasents with high taxes and feudal dues.

Further, drees code was tied to social class. Also, please keep in mind that privileges were not "individual," they were "community," (as a group).

Tycho Brahe

2007-05-09T17:58:00.000-07:00

Tycho Brahe was a Danish astronomer known for his discoveries. He built Europe's most modern astronomical lab at the time and collected data about stars and planets/ He undermined Ptolemaic view and did not fully accept Copernicus' theory. He thought that planets revolved around the sun and that the Earth was stationary.

No it's not!!! :)

Nicolaus Copernicus

2007-05-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

Nicolaus Copernicus was a Polish monk, mathmatician and astronomer. He believed in the heliocentric theory where the sun is the center of the universe and the earth moves in a circular orbit around the sun. His theory was described in his work On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres. Both Protestants and Catholics, as well as other scientists denounced his work.