| Guiding Question
- Did the French Revolution modernize "Germany," or halt a period of
progress?
Q1 discussion
- Name 3-4 underlying developments in the 18th and early 19th centuries
that fundamentally transformed the nature of society in Europe; how
reflected in Riesbeck's 1783 "letter."
- 1.
2.
3.
4.
The German States and the American Revolution
- International politics: France against England; Prussia (and others)
pro-French
Seven Years War (1756-63) in Europe=French and Indian War in North America
- France sent troops in 1780 (Yorktown)
- German states that helped the colonies: Hesse-Kassel, Hamburg; what
about Prussia?
Prussian Baron F.W. von Steuben; Valley Forge, …
- Frederick II and the American colonies/United States
- pre-1783 vs. post-1783 [see image below, of dagger given to George
Washington: "For the greatest commander, from the oldest commander"]
- "Friendship and Commerce Treaty of 1785"
James Reeves, 1917: "Few international agreements have received the
praise accorded to the treaty entered into between the United States
and Prussia in 1785. It was acclaimed at the time as setting a new standard
of international conduct, realizing to the fullest extent the humanitarian
aspirations of the 18th century. To Benjamin Franklin and Frederick
the Great have been awarded the credit for this epoch-making document."
(1902 statue from WII, erected 1904)
The German States and the French Revolution
- most German states: adminstratively progressive, socially and economically
backward
- Timeline:
1789, July: Bastille
1791: First constitution
1792: overthrow of monarchy; April: war; Sept. "Cannonade of Valmy"
[image below]
1793, Aug: levée en masse
- Duke William Ferdinand of Brunswick (led Austrian+Prussian forces),
1792 manisfesto:
"if the Chateau of the Tuilleries is stormed or attacked, or if any
harm or abuse befalls His Majesty the King, the Queen and the entire
royal family, and if their life, safety and liberty are not immediately
assured … [the Allies] shall extract a vengeance that will live in memory
for ever by delivering the city of Paris to military execution and complete
destruction and the revolutionaries themselves, who are responsible
for these deeds, to their deserved death."
- 1795-1805: Napoleon's conquests
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