AD 1650-1800 Early modern

Europe in the late 17th century AD was a patchwork of states with varying political systems. New scientific and philosophical ideas of the 18th-century ‘Enlightenment’, emphasising reason and liberty, spread from France through Europe, influencing rulers like Frederick the Great of Prussia (reigned 1740-86) and Catherine the Great of Russia (reigned 1762-96).

In western Europe, France became the greatest power under the autocratic rule of Louis XIV (reigned 1643-1715), but was defeated in dynastic wars in Europe and suffered financial crisis. The rising state of Brandenburg-Prussia began to rival the Austrian Hapsburg Empire. European conflict spread beyond the continent as France and Spain lost colonies in India and the Americas to Britain. The latter led Europe in agriculture and manufacturing, and prospered through expanding colonial trade.

The French Revolution of 1789, which overthrew the monarchy, was at first welcomed by many states, but soon French imperial armies under Napoleon Bonaparte began to overrun Europe. The Netherlands and Italy fell to Napoleon; Spain became a satellite of France; Austria and Prussia lost territory; and the politically divided Holy Roman Empire had collapsed by 1806.

In the east, Russia continued to expand, defeating the Ottomans (already in retreat from the Balkans) in the Crimea (1783), and crushing a nationalist revolt in Poland (1791-4).