The West in the World, 4th Edition (Sherman)

Chapter 13: The Struggle for Survival and Sovereignty

Critical Thinking Questions

1. Describe how Western societies were organized in the seventeenth century.



2. What was rural life like in the seventeenth century?



3. How was family life arranged and what roles did family members play?



4. How did poverty, disease, and famine affect the lives of ordinary Europeans in this century?



5. What demands did strengthening central governments make on different social groups?



6. As their governments grew, what pressures and threats did European monarchs face as they tried to augment their authority?



7. What role did women play at court and in the struggle between monarchs and aristocrats?



8. How did royal absolutism differ from the authority of earlier monarchs?

9. How did Henry IV bring order and peace to France and enhance his own authority?



10. By what means did Cardinal Richelieu secure royal power in France and elevate France's position in Europe?



11. How did Louis XIV hope to raise his prestige as the king of France and enhance the glory of his court?



12. How did Louis XIV's policies reverse the accomplishments of Colbert? Be specific in your discussion of policies.



13. What did the wars of aggression yield for France and how did they affect the French position in Europe?

14. Socially, economically, and politically, how did the eastern part of Europe differ from the western?



15. What measures did Frederick William, the Great Elector, take to strengthen Brandenburg-Prussia, and what legacy did this leave the state?



16. Why were the lower classes in Russia discontented during the 1600s? How did they express that discontent?



17. How did Peter I's reforms further increase burdens upon the peasantry?



18. What measures did Peter the Great take to "westernize" and modernize Russia?



19. How did Polish nobles maintain their political power in relation to the monarch and other social groups?

20. Why did respect the respectability and authority of the nobility decline in England?



21. By what means did the nobility attempt to hold on to their privileged places?



22. What criticisms did Puritans make of the Church of England?



23. How did James I alienate the different religions within his realm?



24. How did the composition of the two sides fighting the civil war reflect divisions within English society?



25. What two different theories of government and the king's authority were represented by the Rump Parliament and Charles's supporters?



26. Explain Hobbes' ideas regarding the social contract.



27. How did the Glorious Revolution lead to a change in the English form of government?



28. How did Locke's view of the relationship between king and subject differ from that of Hobbes?



29. Why did the United Provinces develop a government marked by local sovereignty while other European governments were becoming more centralized?



30. How did religious and intellectual toleration in the Netherlands compare to that in other European countries?