Parker and Smith defined the ‘General Crisis’ as a manifestation of unusual instability due to the confrontation between society and the state that spread across the 17th century that resulted with mass uprisings and social upheaval including the Naples uprising of 1647 and the Moscow revolt of 1648 as mentioned. This view provided is emphasised on economic and social issues as the cause of collapse for many civilisations even before the 17th century as seen in the case of the Pre-Classical civilisations of Eurasia in the second millennium. The argument placed forth is that overpopulation led to mass migration, death from lack of agricultural subsistence and revolutions in governments. Assumptions of the turmoil in Europe made by Parker and Smith is that the ‘General Crisis’ as cyclonic situation effected civilisations prior the 17th century and that the ‘Malthusian disasters’ was the fundamental cause that fuelled political discontent which culminated to popular revolts, aristocratic rebellions and constitutional challenges. Another claim made is that the General Crisis could perhaps be identified as the first ‘global economic crisis’ that affected countries on a wide-spread across a large geopolitical area. Although there were various commonalities found between crises recorded from the 17th century, Kamen provides an explanation for the collapse of social structures. From his perspective, the collapse of civilisations was spread by external factors more than internal conflicts as specific events deteriorated countries and their capacities to maintain order. In contrast, Parker and Smith argued that peasant revolts were a commonality during this period and they were directed against grievances of the policies and governmen... ... middle of paper ... ...ed at all. As a historical source the report is dependable as was also useful in providing a depiction of the condition in Europe in general during the General Crisis when comparing its strengths and weaknesses. Works Cited Kamen, Henry. In European Society, 1500-1700, Pg. 31-44, Pg. 234-37 & Pg. 253-57. London: Unwin Hyman / New York: Routledge, 1984. Merriman, John. A History of Modern Europe: from the Renaissance to the Age of Napoleon. 3rd. Edited by Steve Forman. Vol. I. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009. Parker, Geoffry, and Lesley M Smith. “Introduction.” In The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century, Pg. 1-23. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978. Utterström, Gustaf. “Climate Fluctuations and Population Problems.” In The Ends of the Earth: Perspective on Modern Environmental History, Pg. 60-62. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Spielvogal, Jackson J. "The Beginning of the Twentieth-Century Crisis:War and Revolution." Western Civulization since 1300. Eighth ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2006. 784-85. Print.
"Overview for Early Modern Europe." Global Events: Milestone Events Throughout History. Ed. Jennifer Stock. Vol. 4: Europe. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2013. Student Resources in Context. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, with the development of capitalism, the power of the
Throughout the seventeenth century, Europe was in a state of crisis. In many countries, violent revolts and riots were not out of the ordinary. In most of these cases of violence, human behaviors and actions of the controlling governments and royalty authorities were the underlying factors that set the stage for the chaotic state. However, in all of the instances of revolt and anarchy seen throughout Europe, religious behaviors and influences were the most prominent and contributing cause that sparked the most violence in the general crisis during the 1600’s.
By observing the recurring trends throughout history, an individual can conclude that the modern world has evolved through a series of revolutionary eras. Revolutions have occurred since the beginning of mankind and continue to progress into the future. Ranging from a sharp change in political organization or structure, to social divisions within society, all the way to forward-thinking innovations, revolutions have impacted the course of history in numerous ways. Although many revolutions are titled with a specific name to identify the precise location or particular group of people involved, such as the American Revolution or the French Revolution, there are many occurrences in which a revolution is simply identified with a categorization term. However, among all the revolutions that have occurred in known history, there is a specific revolutionary period that has aided in the progress of humanity in addition to establishing the early concepts that shape our modern world. Originating in Great Britain, the Industrial Revolution has transformed the lifestyles of people around the world. However, the progressive transformation introduced a series of outcomes contrary to the prior regime. The Industrial Revolution triggered the growth of Great Britain’s economy, reset the social class divisions, and led to the formation of political reformation.
...n Society In Medieval Europe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
"The Experiences of Life in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1650." Civilization in the West. Pearson Education, 1995-2010. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .
Between the years of 1540 and 1660 a lot happened that caused lack of support and confidence in the authority of Europe, religious strife, warfare, rebellion and crisis in the economy. The search for western civilizations to find peace and reassurance in their political and social structures was pertinent. The European countries began to turn to their government in hopes to regain power and safety. Intellectuals such as Thomas Hobbes became involved in the movement to gain the protection of the government in the lives of the people, he believed man is inherently evil and the people must surrender their liberties in order to save their lives.
Throughout France in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries majority of the population consisted of peasants who lived in rural areas across an estimated thirty thousand different villages. The lives of these peasants consisted of hard physical labour that usually took place on farms that they rented from a seigneur . “Life was a struggle to grow enough to feed families and meet obligations. Crop yields were relatively low, and the average villager did not own enough land to live comfortably on what it could produce” . This paper will cover peasant revolts in France during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as their suppressions. Two different kinds of revolts will be looked at, tax revolts and religious revolts. The two kinds of revolts will then be compared and analysed.
Barendse, R.J. “The Feudal Mutation: Military and Economic Transformations of the Ethnosphere in the Tenth to Thirteenth Centuries.” Journal of World History 14, no. 4 (2003): 503-529. EBSCOhost (accessed April 8, 2014).
Kreis, Steven. “Europe and the Superior Being: Napoleon.” The History Guide: Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History. 13 May. 2004. 6 Dec. 2004.
Michael Pierre, Martha Prosper. The Human Story: Europe in the Middle Ages. New Jersey: Silver Burdett Press Inc., 1988.
Most contemporary historians define the European early modern period from around the beginning of the sixteenth century, up until the commencements of the French Revolution of 1789. The ambiguity inherent in this apparent catch-all period is problematic, and invokes much debate and disagreement among historians. For the purpose of expediency, this paper will have its modernizing genesis in the thoughts of Mitchell Greenberg writing in the Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies. Greenberg states there was a common modernizing compulsion right across Europe during this time period ‘…marked by both a gen...
In the sixteenth and seventeenth-century Europe many unitary states with extensive control over definite territories emerged and consequently replaced the fragmented system of feudal rule. Here civil society was understood as the sphere of absolute sovereignty or the state. At that time, political or civil society was not understood in terms of a politically constituted
Rice, Eugene E. and Anthony Grafton. The Foundations of Early Modern Europe, 1460-1559. 2nd. ed. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1994.