3. The reign of Charles III and Charles IVIV

   - CHARLES III was son of Philiph V and Isabel of Farnesio. He was experienced in ruling a country, because he ruled the kingdom of Napoles for twenty five years. He married Maria Amalia of Saxony, who gave him thirteen sons. He never married again after the death of his wife.
   On domestic policy, he followed the enlightened despotism, with the motto “Everything for the people, nothing by the people”. He improved the position of the lower classes and encouraged academic and intellectual life, establishing the Natural Sciences Museum, which later became the Prado Museum.
   Italian ministers like the Marquis of Esquilache and Grimaldi failed in their reforms.
   Spanish ministers were the Counts of Aranda, Floridablanca and Campomanes, who increased the wealth of the country.
   They accused the Jesuits of secretly caused the Esquilache mutiny, and expelled them.

   - CHARLES IV. His rule was directed by Manuel Godoy, a good-looking man, who had the favour of queen Maria Luisa.
   On foreign policy, he was in favour of the French revolution. He fought England and lost his navy in the battle of Trafalgar.
   Napoleon intention was to occupy Portugal, and decided to sign with Spain the Treaty of Fontainebleau. The pact hid one of the biggest betrayals in history: the French emperor’s desire was to conquer the peninsula. The kings, terrified, abdicated in their son Ferdinand, proclaiming him king: Ferdinand VII.

    4. Write if the following facts are about Charles III or Charles IV:

     5. The European states: France, England and Austria

   - FRANCE. Louis XIV wars (See figure) ruined the Frech economy. His grand-grandson Louis XV, who was only five years old, succeeded him. The regent was Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, a spenthrift man.

   John Law wanted to fix the economy, but caused a major disaster. Louis XV thrust the government in the hands of cardinal Fleury (see picture) and, later, of the Marquise de Pompidour. Poor, starving people were angry due to the court’s insulting, scandalous luxury. Policies against religion ended with the expelling of the Jesuits.

   With the death of Louis XV the next king was Louis XVI, married with Maria Antonieta, who was a spendthrift, to the point that French people called her “Madame Deficit” and considered her the main cause of the ruined economy.

   - ENGLAND. During the XVIII century England enforced a parliamentary regime; carried out the industrial revolution and, thanks to its leadership on commercial and maritime affairs, it was the first of the European countries, forming a huge colonial empire.
   Along with the Parliament two new political parties arose: the tories or conservatives and the whigs or liberals.

   - AUSTRIA. At the beginning of the XVIII century the Empire still has its prestige and extense territories, but lacked of unity. Many different peoples lived on it– French, Italians, Hungarians, Germans, Czechs, etc.–, and all of them had their own languages and customs. The Empire was then like a huge body with clay feet. The Austrian monarchs were: Joseph I, Charles VI, Queen Maria Theresa and Joseph II.

   6. Write if the following facts are about France, England or Austria:

   - PRUSSIA. Frederick William I, also know as “The Soldier King”. He organized a powerful army, the best of Europe. Also, he repopulated the conquered territory with 322 villages.

   His successor, Frederick II (see figure) was a philosopher and a poet in his youth, but he later became a devoted of military life and discipline.

   - SWEDEN. Gustavus Adolphus transformed Sweden into a mighty empire. His daughter Christina Alexandra was adventurous and crazy, and conceded her crown to her cousin, Charles X, who enlarged and magnified Sweden. But the empire had no unity, because it was a mixture of regions and nacionalities. After Charles XII, the Sweden empire dissapeared.

    Russians, Germans and Danish recovered their lands and the Swedish hegemony finally ended.

   - POLAND. The kings’ authority was almost non-existent, because the real power was in the Nobles’ diet. Furthermore, the Liberum veto established a unanimity in their agreements. It was necessary only negative vote to avoid to reject and agreement. The situation was of anarchy.
   Russia pretended to annex Poland as an own province and made an agreement with Prussia and Austria to share the Polish territories. After a brief rebellion, the three countries shared out the region.

   - RUSSIA. The greatest monarchs were Peter I the Great and Catherine II the Great.
   Peter wanted to modernize Russia and transform it from a barbaric nation to a modern State. He traveled in disguise through Germany, the Netherlands, England and Austria to better know the progresses of the Western culture. He wanted to “open windows”, to find a way for a communication between Russia and the Baltic and Black seas, but he did not achieve it. Catherine was proclaimed tsarina by the Guard regiments and made some changes in light of the enlightened despotism. It increases its territories at the expenses of Poland and Turkey.

   8. Choose if the following statements are about Prussia, Sweden, Poland or Russia:

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®Arturo Ramo García.-Record of intellectual property of Teruel (Spain) No 141, of 29-IX-1999 Plaza Playa de Aro, 3, 1º DO 44002-TERUEL