Пётр Вели́кий,96 EUROPE ON THE EVE OF GREAT CHANGES September 24, 1932 WE have tried to have a little peep into the minds of the men and women of the eighteenth century in Europe, especially in France. It has been just a glimpse revealing to us some new ideas growing and battling with the old. Having been behind the scenes, we shall now have a look at the actors on the public stage of Europe. In France old Louis XIV finally succeeded in dying in 1715. He had outlived several generations, and he was succeeded by his great-grandson, who became Louis XV. There was another long reign of fifty-nine years. Thus two successive kings of France, Louis XIV and XV, reigned for a total period of 131 years ! Surely this must be a world record. The two Manchu emperors in China, Kang Hi and Chien Lung, each reigned for over sixty years, but they did not follow each other, and there was a third reign in between. Apart from its extraordinary length, the reign of Louis XV was chiefly remarkable for its disgusting corruption and intrigue. The resources of the kingdom were used for the pleasures of the king. There was extravagance at Court based on graft. The men and women at Court who happened to please the king got free gifts of land and sinecure offices, which meant income without work. And the burden of all this fell more and more on the masses. Autocracy and incompetence and corruption went hand in hand, merrily forward. Is it surprising that before the century was over, they came to the end of their path and stepped into the abyss ? What does surprise us is that the path was such a long one and the fall came so late. Louis XV escaped the people's judgment and vengeance; it was his successor in 1774, Louis XVI, who had to face this. In spite of his incompetence and depravity, Louis XV had no doubts about his absolute authority in the State. He was everything, and no one could challenge his right to do anything he chose. Listen to what he said, addressing an assembly in Paris in 1766 : " C'est en ma personne sevl que reside l 'autorite souveraine. . . . O'est a moi sevl qu'appartient le pouvoir legislatif sans dependance et sans portage. L'ordre public tout enlier emane de moi ; j'en suis le guardien supreme. Mon. people n'est qu'un avec moi ; les droits et lea interest de la nation, dont on ose faire un corps separe" du monarque, sont nicessairement unis avec les miens et ne reposent qu'entre mes mains." Such was the ruler of France for the greater part of the eighteenth century. He seemed to dominate Europe for a while, but then he came into conflict with the ambitions of other kings and peoples, and had to acknowledge defeat. Some of the old rivals of France no longer played a dominant part on the European stage, but 341 others arose to take their place and challenge the French power. Proud Spain had fallen back both in Europe and elsewhere after her brief day of imperial glory. But she still held large colonies in America and the Philippine Islands. The Hapsburgs of Austria, who had so long monopolized the headship of the Empire and, through this, the leadership of Europe, were also no longer so prominent as they used to be. Austria was not the leading State of the Empire now; another, Prussia, had risen and become equally important. There were wars about the Austrian succession to the crown, and for a long period a woman, Maria Theresa, occupied it. The Treaty of Westphalia of 1648, you will remember, had made Prussia one of the important Powers of Europe. The House of Hohenzollern ruled there and challenged the supremacy of the other German dynasty—the House of Hapsburg in Austria. For forty-six years (1740-1786) Prussia was ruled by Frederick, who has been called, because of his military success, the Great. He was an absolute monarch, like the others in Europe, but he put on the pose of a philosopher and tried to be friends with Voltaire. He built up a strong army and was a successful general. He called himself a rationalist and is reported to have said that " everyone should be allowed to get to heaven in his own way ". From the seventeenth century onwards French culture was dominant in Europe. In the middle years of the eighteenth century this became even more marked, and Voltaire had a tremendous European reputation. Indeed, some people even call this century " the century of Voltaire ". French literature was read in all the Courts of Europe, even in backward St. Petersburg, and cultured and educated people preferred writing and speaking in French. Thus Frederick the Great of Prussia almost always wrote and spoke in French. He even tried writing French poetry, which he wanted Voltaire to correct and polish up for him. East of Prussia lay Russia, already growing into the giant of later years. We have seen, when we were considering Chinese history, how Russia spread across Siberia to the Pacific, and even crossed to Alaska. Towards the end of the seventeenth century Russia had a strong ruler, Peter the Great. Peter wanted to put an end to many of the old Mongolian associations and outlook that Russia had inherited. He wanted to " westernize " her, as they say. So he left his old capital, Moscow, which was full of the old traditions, and built himself a new city and a new capital. This was St. Petersburg, in the north, on the banks of the Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland. This city was quite unlike Moscow with its golden cupolas and domes; it was more like the great cities of western Europe. Petersburg became the symbol of " westernization ", and Russia began to play a greater part in European politics. Perhaps you know that Petersburg, the name, is no more. Twice in the course of the last twenty years it has changed its name. The first change was to Petrograd, and the second one, which now holds, to Leningrad. Peter the Great made many changes in Russia. I shall mention 342 one which will interest you. He put an end to the practice of the seclusion of women, called terem, which prevailed in Russia at the time. Peter had his eyes on India and knew the value of India in international politics. In his will he wrote: " Bear in mind that the commerce of India is the commerce of the world; and that he who can exclusively command it is dictator of Europe ". His last words were justified by the rapid growth in England's power after she gained dominion over India. The exploitation of India gave England prestige and wealth, and made her for several generations the leading Power of the world. Between Prussia and Austria, on the one side, and Russia, on the other, lay Poland. It was a backward country with a poor peasantry. There was little trade or industry and no great towns. It had a curious constitution with an elected king, and with the power in the hands of the feudal aristocrats. As the countries surrounding it became stronger, Poland became weaker. Prussia and Russia and Austria eyed it hungrily. And yet it was the King of Poland that had beaten back the last Turkish attack on Vienna in 1683. The Ottoman Turks were not aggressive again. They had exhausted their energy and the tide turned gradually. Henceforward they were on the defensive, and slowly the Turkish Empire in Europe began to shrink. But in the first half of the eighteenth century, the period we are considering, Turkey was a powerful country in the south-east of Europe, and her empire extended over the Balkans and across Hungary to Poland. Italy in the south was split up under different rulers and did not count for much in European politics. The Pope no longer played a commanding r61e, and the kings and princes, while treating him with deference, ignored him in political matters. Gradually a new system was arising in Europe, the system of great Powers. Strong centralized monarchies, as I told you, helped to develop the idea of a nation. People began to think of their countries in a peculiar way, which is common enough to-day, but was uncommon before this period. France, England or Britannia, Italia and other similar figures, begin to emerge. They seem to symbolize the nation. Later on, in the nineteenth century, these figures take definite shape in the minds of men and women and move their hearts strangely. They become the new goddesses at whose altar every patriot is supposed to worship, and in their name and on their behalf patriots fight and kill each other. You know how the idea of Bharat Mata —mother India—moves all of us, and how for this mythical and imaginary figure people gladly suffer and give their lives. So people in other countries felt also for their idea of their motherland. But all this was a later development. For the present I want to tell you that the eighteenth century saw this idea of nationality and patriotism take root. The French philosophers helped in this process, and the great French Revolution put the seal on this idea. These nations were the " Powers ". Kings came and went, but the nation continued. Of these Powers gradually some stood out 343 as more important than the others. Thus in the early eighteenth-century France, England, Austria, Prussia and Russia were definitely " Great Powers". Some others, like Spain, were in theory great, but they were declining. England was rapidly gaining in wealth and importance. Up to the time of Elizabeth she had not been an important country in the European sense, and much less so in the world sense. Her population was small; probably it did not exceed 6,000,000 at the time, which is far less than the population of London now. But with the Puritan revolution and the victory of Parliament over the king, England adapted herself to the new conditions and went ahead. So also did Holland, after the yoke of Spain had been shaken off. In the eighteenth century there was a scramble for colonies in America and Asia. Many European Powers took part in this, but the chief contest ultimately lay between two—England and France. England had got a great lead in the race, both in America and India. France, apart from being incompetently governed by Louis XV, was too much involved in European politics. From 1756 to 1763 war was waged between these two Powers, as well as several others, in Europe and Canada and India to decide as to who was to be master. This war is called the Seven Years' War. We saw a bit of it in India when France was defeated. In Canada also England won. In Europe, England followed a policy, for which she has become well known, of paying others to fight for her. Frederick the Great was her ally. The result of this Seven Years' War was very favourable to England. Both in India and Canada she had no European rival left. On the seas her naval supremacy was established. Thus England was in a position to establish and extend her empire and to become a world Power. Prussia also increased in importance. Europe was again exhausted by this fighting, and again there appeared to be comparative calm over the continent. But this calm did not prevent Prussia, Austria and Russia from swallowing up the kingdom of Poland. Poland was in no position to fight these Powers, and so these three wolves fell on her, and by partitioning her repeatedly, put an end to Poland as an independent country. There were three partitions—in 1772, 1793 and 1795. After the first of these, the Poles made a great effort to reform and strengthen their country. They established a parliament, and there was a revival of art and literature. But the autocratic monarchs surrounding Poland had tasted blood, and they were not to be baulked; besides, they had no love for parliaments. So, in spite of the patriotism of the Poles and the brave fight they put up under their great hero Kosciusko, Poland disappeared from the map of Europe in 1795. It disappeared then, but the Poles kept alive their patriotism and continued to dream of freedom, and 123 years later their dream was realized, when Poland reappeared as an independent country after the Great War. I have said that there was a measure of calm in Europe in the 344 second half of the eighteenth century. But this did not last long, and it was mostly on the surface. I have also told you of various happenings in this century. But the eighteenth century is really famous for three events—three revolutions—and everything else that happened in Europe during these 100 years fades into insignificance when put beside these three. All these three revolutions took place in the last quarter of the century. They were of three distinct types—political, industrial, and social. The political revolution took place in America. This was the revolt of the British colonies there, resulting in the formation of an independent republic, the United States of America, which was to become so powerful in our own time. The Industrial Revolution began in England and spread to other western European countries and then elsewhere. It was a peaceful revolution, but a far-reaching one, and it has influenced life all over the world more than anything in recorded history before. It meant the coming of steam and the big machine, and ultimately the innumerable offshoots of industrialism that we see around us. The social revolution was the great French Revolution, which not only put an end to monarchy in France, but also to innumerable privileges, and brought new classes to the front. We shall have to study all these three revolutions separately in some slight detail. We have seen that on the eve of these great changes monarchies were supreme in Europe. In England and Holland there were parliaments, but they were controlled by aristocrats and the rich. The laws were made for the rich, to protect their property and rights and privileges. Education also was only for the rich and privileged classes. Indeed, government itself was for these classes. One of the great problems of the time was the problem of the poor. Although conditions improved a little at the top, the misery of the poor remained, and indeed became more marked. Right through the eighteenth century the nations of Europe carried on a cruel and heartless slave trade. Slaves, as such, had ceased to exist in Europe, although the serfs or villeins, as the cultivators on the land were called, were little better than slaves. With the discovery of America, however, the old slave trade was revived in its most cruel form. The Spanish and Portuguese began it by capturing Negroes on the African coast and taking them to America to work on the land. The English took their full share in this abominable trade. It is difficult for you or for any of us to have any idea of the terrible sufferings of the Africans as they were hunted and caught like wild beasts and then chained together, and so transported to America. Vast numbers died before they could even reach their journey's end. Of all those who have suffered in this world, the Negroes have perhaps borne the heaviest burden. Slavery was formally abolished in the nineteenth century, England taking the lead. In the United States a civil war had to be fought to decide this question. The millions of Negroes in the United States of America to-day are the descendants of these slaves. I shall finish this letter on a pleasant note by telling you of the 345 great development of music in this century in Germany and Austria. As you know, Germans are the leaders in European music. Some of their great names appear even in the seventeenth century. As elsewhere, music in Europe was almost a part of religious ceremonial. Gradually this is separated, and music becomes an art by itself, apart from religion. Two great names stand out in the eighteenth century—Mozart and Beethoven. They were both infant prodigies, both composers of genius. Beethoven, perhaps the greatest musical composer of the West, became, strange to say, quite deaf, and so the wonderful music he created for others he could not hear himself. But his heart must have sung to him before he captured that music. Peter the Great was born in 1672 and he died in 1725. Peter was tsar of Russia from 1682 to 1725. His self-given title was Peter the Great http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_the