Changes

Beginning in 1800, a new leader had a dramatic effect on Europe:  Napoleon Bonaparte, known to the world as simply Napoleon.  He possessed a combination of military genius, unlimited ambition, leadership and a brilliant overall mind like Alexander the Great of the ancient Greek world.  Napoleon had an ambition and drive that were so great that the term “Napoleonic complex” is still used today to describe a power-hungry, diminutive person intent on taking over everything in sight.  But just as Alexander the Great could not capture India and the Mongols could not take Japan, Napoleon could not conquer Russia in the wintertime.  Over a century later, the German Adolf Hitler also failed in a similar attempt.  Once Napoleon failed, other nations in Europe began to rise in power.

Beginning in 1800, a new leader had a dramatic effect on Europe:  Napoleon Bonaparte, known to the world as simply Napoleon.  He possessed a combination of military genius, unlimited ambition, leadership and a brilliant overall mind like Alexander the Great of the ancient Greek world.  Napoleon had an ambition and drive that were so great that the term “Napoleonic complex” is still used today to describe a power-hungry, diminutive person intent on taking over everything in sight.  But just as Alexander the Great could not capture India and the Mongols could not take Japan, Napoleon could not conquer Russia in the wintertime.  Over a century later, the German Adolf Hitler also failed in a similar attempt.  Once Napoleon failed, other nations in Europe began to rise in power.

Some monarchs (kings or queens) avoided or delayed revolutions by becoming “enlightened despots” in order to conform to the Enlightenment ideas of good government.  These rulers attempted or pretended to put the well-being of the people and the state ahead of the monarchs’ own preferences.  Examples were Catherine the Great of Russia, Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia (the former name for Germany), and the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II of Austria.  Often these reforms included some freedom of religion and speech, as allowed by Joseph II and Frederick the Great.  Catherine the Great continued to modernize Russia as Peter the Great had done, but she also participated with Prussia and Austria in carving up Poland in the First, Second and Third Partitions (1772, 1793 and 1795) such that Poland did not exist again as a separate nation until after World War I.  Catherine the Great also gave increased power to the Russian nobles over the serfs in order to appease the nobles.

Some monarchs (kings or queens) avoided or delayed revolutions by becoming “enlightened despots” in order to conform to the Enlightenment ideas of good government.  These rulers attempted or pretended to put the well-being of the people and the state ahead of the monarchs’ own preferences.  Examples were Catherine the Great of Russia, Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia (the most powerful of the German states), and the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II of Austria.  Often these reforms included some freedom of religion and speech, as allowed by Joseph II and Frederick the Great.  Catherine the Great continued to modernize Russia as Peter the Great had done, but she also participated with Prussia and Austria in carving up Poland in the First, Second and Third Partitions (1772, 1793 and 1795) such that Poland did not exist again as a separate nation until after World War I.  Catherine the Great also gave increased power to the Russian nobles over the serfs in order to appease the nobles.

==Religious Conflict in England==

==Religious Conflict in England==