Editing History of Europe (section)

===Age of absolutism===
{{further|Absolutism (European history)|International relations, 1648–1814}}
[[File:Mária Terézia koronázása a Szent Márton székesegyházban.jpg|thumb|Maria Theresa being crowned Queen of Hungary in the [[St. Martin's Cathedral, Bratislava|St. Martin's Cathedral]], Pressburg ([[Bratislava]])]]

The "absolute" rule of powerful monarchs such as [[Louis XIV]] (ruled France 1643–1715),<ref>John B. Wolf, ''Louis XIV'' (1968)</ref> [[Peter the Great]] (ruled Russia 1682–1725),<ref>Lindsey Hughes, ''Russia in the Age of Peter the Great'' (1998).</ref> [[Maria Theresa]] (ruled [[Habsburg lands]] 1740–1780) and [[Frederick the Great]] (ruled Prussia 1740–86),<ref>G.P. Gooch, ''Frederick the Great: The Ruler, the Writer, the Man'' (1947)</ref> produced powerful centralized states, with strong armies and powerful bureaucracies, all under the control of the king.<ref>Max Beloff, ''The age of absolutism, 1660–1815'' (1966).</ref>

Throughout the early part of this period, capitalism (through mercantilism) was replacing feudalism as the principal form of economic organisation, at least in the western half of Europe. The expanding colonial frontiers resulted in a [[Commercial Revolution]]. The period is noted for the rise of modern science and the application of its findings to technological improvements, which animated the Industrial Revolution after 1750.

The Reformation had profound effects on the unity of Europe. Not only were nations divided one from another by their religious orientation, but some states were torn apart internally by religious strife, avidly fostered by their external enemies. France suffered this fate in the 16th century in the series of conflicts known as the [[French Wars of Religion]], which ended in the triumph of the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon Dynasty]]. England settled down under [[Elizabeth I]] to a moderate [[Anglicanism]]. Much of modern-day Germany was made up of numerous small sovereign states under the theoretical framework of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], which was further divided along internally drawn sectarian lines. The [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] is notable in this time for its [[religious tolerance|religious indifference]] and general immunity to European religious strife.

====Thirty Years' War 1618–1648====
{{Main|Thirty Years' War}}
The [[Thirty Years' War]] was fought between 1618 and 1648, across Germany and neighbouring areas, and involved most of the major European powers except England and Russia,<ref>Peter H. Wilson, ''Europe's Tragedy: A History of the Thirty Years War'' (2009)</ref> involving Catholics versus Protestants for the most part. The major impact of the war was the devastation of entire regions scavenged bare by the foraging armies. Episodes of widespread famine and disease, and the breakup of family life, devastated the population of the German states and, to a lesser extent, the [[Low Countries]], the [[Crown of Bohemia]] and northern parts of Italy, while bankrupting many of the regional powers involved. Between one-fourth and one-third of the German population perished from direct military causes or from disease and starvation, as well as postponed births.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor=649855|title=The Economic and Social Consequences of the Thirty Years' War|journal=Past & Present|issue=39|pages=44–61|last1=Kamen|first1=Henry|year=1968|doi=10.1093/past/39.1.44}}</ref>
[[File:Europe map 1648.PNG|left|thumb|Europe after the [[Peace of Westphalia]] in 1648]]
After the [[Peace of Westphalia]], which ended the war in favour of nations deciding their own religious allegiance, [[Absolutism (European history)|absolutism]] became the norm of the continent, while parts of Europe experimented with constitutions foreshadowed by the [[English Civil War]] and particularly the [[Glorious Revolution]]. European military conflict did not cease, but had less disruptive effects on the lives of Europeans. In the advanced northwest, [[the Enlightenment]] gave a philosophical underpinning to the new outlook, and the continued spread of literacy, made possible by the [[printing press]], created new secular forces in thought.

From the Union of Krewo, central and eastern Europe was dominated by [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Kingdom of Poland]] and [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]. In the 16th and 17th centuries Central and Eastern Europe was an arena of conflict for domination of the continent between [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]], the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (involved in series of wars, like [[Khmelnytsky uprising]], [[Russo-Polish War (1654–67)|Russo-Polish War]], the [[Deluge (history)|Deluge]], etc.) and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. This period saw a gradual decline of these three powers which were eventually replaced by new enlightened absolutist monarchies: Russia, Prussia and Austria (the [[Habsburg monarchy]]). By the turn of the 19th century they had become new powers, having [[Partitions of Poland|divided Poland]] between themselves, with Sweden and Turkey having experienced substantial territorial losses to Russia and Austria respectively as well as pauperisation.

[[File:Vienna Battle 1683.jpg|thumb|right|The defeat of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks]] at the [[Battle of Vienna]] in 1683 marked the historic end of [[Ottoman wars in Europe|Ottoman expansion into Europe]].]]

====War of the Spanish Succession====
{{Main|War of the Spanish Succession}}
The [[War of the Spanish Succession]] (1701–1715) was a major war with France opposed by a coalition of England, the Netherlands, the Habsburg monarchy, and Prussia. [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough|Duke of Marlborough]] commanded the English and Dutch victory at the [[Battle of Blenheim]] in 1704. The main issue was whether France under King Louis XIV would take control of Spain's very extensive possessions and thereby become by far the dominant power, or be forced to share power with other major nations. After initial allied successes, the long war produced a military stalemate and ended with the [[Treaty of Utrecht]], which was based on a balance of power in Europe. Historian [[Russell Weigley]] argues that the many wars almost never accomplished more than they cost.<ref>Russell Weigley, ''The Age of Battles: The Quest for Decisive Warfare from Breitenfeld to Waterloo'' (1991).</ref> British historian [[G. M. Trevelyan]] argues:
:That Treaty [of Utrecht], which ushered in the stable and characteristic period of Eighteenth-Century civilization, marked the end of danger to Europe from the old French monarchy, and it marked a change of no less significance to the world at large – the maritime, commercial and financial supremacy of Great Britain.<ref>G.M. Trevelyan, ''A shortened history of England'' (1942) p. 363.</ref>

====Prussia====
{{Main|Kingdom of Prussia}}
[[Frederick the Great]], king of Prussia 1740–86, modernized the [[Prussian army]], introduced new tactical and strategic concepts, fought mostly successful wars ([[Silesian Wars]], Seven Years' War) and doubled the size of Prussia.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Paul M. Kennedy|title=Grand Strategies in War and Peace|url=https://archive.org/details/grandstrategiesi00paul|url-access=registration|year=1991|publisher=Yale UP|page=[https://archive.org/details/grandstrategiesi00paul/page/106 106]|isbn=978-0-300-05666-2}}</ref><ref>Dennis E. Showalter, ''The Wars of Frederick the Great'' (1996)</ref>

====Russia====
{{ Main|Territorial evolution of Russia}}
[[File:Russia 1533-1896.gif|thumb|upright=1.1|Russian expansion in Eurasia between 1533 and 1894]]

Russia fought numerous wars to achieve rapid expansion toward the east – i.e. [[Siberia]], [[Russian Far East|Far East]], south, to the Black Sea, and south-east and to central Asia. Russia boasted a [[Imperial Russian Army|large and powerful army]], a very large and complex internal bureaucracy, and a splendid court that rivaled Paris and London. However the government was living far beyond its means and seized [[Russian Orthodox Church|Church]] lands, leaving organized religion in a weak condition. Throughout the 18th century Russia remained "a poor, backward, overwhelmingly agricultural, and illiterate country."<ref>Nicholas Riasanovsky, ''A History of Russia'' (4th ed. 1984), pp. 192–194, 284</ref>