a. What were the current crises and achievements of seventeenth-century European states?
The 17th century is known as the "Age of Crisis" because Europe suffered multiple crises in quick succession and almost collapsed. However, despite the crises Europe suffered, the nations of Europe were able to have achievements that benefitted them for the future.
The first crisis Europe experienced was when it fell into an economic crisis and was in desperate need of money. To increase its revenue, the governments of Europe began forcing the people to work more to produce more money. This led to another crisis as the peasants and people of the cities began rebelling against the government. The peasants were revolting against the government because they did not have much to live on and did not have much money. Most of them had to sell their produce and livestock to provide for their families. So, when their government started…show more content… People from all over Europe came together and worked to restore their countries. The European states first worked to restore their government and managed to succeed. This led to the achievements of the absolutist government of France and Spain and the constitutionalist governments of England and the Dutch Republic. These governments were much stronger than the politics before the Age of Crisis and allowed the states of Europe to focus more on rebuilding.
After the Thirty Years' War, the countries were worried about another outbreak of war and worked to rebuild their armies. This led to another achievement where the states of Europe managed to not only rebuild their armies but made them stronger than ever before. Another success of Europe was the rebuilding of their political system. All of these achievements led the states of Europe having a complete reform and were stronger than ever.
