Baroque and Enlightenment timeline (1683–1789)
After the second Ottoman siege of Vienna was broken in 1683 by the Polish king John III Sobieski, the Habsburgs won back Hungary, and in 1688 the Glorious Revolution in England let Parliament limit royal power. In the early 18th century the War of the Spanish Succession and the Great Northern War were fought at the same time; the Kingdom of Prussia and the Russian Empire rose as new powers, and Sweden's dominance ended.
From 1740, in the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War, Frederick II of Prussia and Maria Theresa of Austria fought over Silesia. Russia pushed to the Black Sea and annexed Crimea, and Poland–Lithuania suffered its first partition in 1772. As Enlightenment ideas spread, the French Revolution broke out in 1789.
Late 17th century (1683–1699)
The period in which the last great Ottoman offensive failed and Parliament changed the king in England.
| Year | Event | Region |
|---|---|---|
| 1683 | Second siege of Vienna Kara Mustafa's great Ottoman army besieged Vienna, but on 12 September the relief army led by John III Sobieski broke the siege at the Battle of the Kahlenberg. | Austria |
| Play this scene Scenario Winged hussars · What if…? What if the Ottomans had taken Vienna in 1683? · Person John III Sobieski | ||
| 1686 | Buda recaptured The Holy League army retook Buda after 145 years. | Hungary |
| 1688 | Glorious Revolution When William of Orange landed at Torbay, James II fled to France, and in 1689 Parliament gave the crown to William III and Mary II together with the Bill of Rights. | England |
| Play this scene Scenario The Wind at Torbay · What if…? What if the Glorious Revolution had failed? · Person John Churchill (Duke of Marlborough) | ||
| 1697 | Treaty of Ryswick The Nine Years' War ended; Louis XIV returned Lorraine and recognised William III as king of England. | Netherlands |
| 1699 | Treaty of Karlowitz The Ottomans ceded Hungary and Transylvania to the Habsburgs: the first peace in which the Ottomans gave up large territories. | Hungary |
First half of the 18th century (1700–1748)
The War of the Spanish Succession in the west, the Great Northern War in the north, and then the War of the Austrian Succession redrew the map of Europe.
| Year | Event | Region |
|---|---|---|
| 1700 | Great Northern War begins; Battle of Narva Eighteen-year-old King Charles XII of Sweden crushed a much larger Russian army at Narva. | Baltic |
| Play this scene Scenario Winged hussars · What if…? What if the Ottomans had taken Vienna in 1683? · Person John III Sobieski · Scenario The Wind at Torbay · What if…? What if the Glorious Revolution had failed? · Person John Churchill (Duke of Marlborough) | ||
| 1701 | Kingdom of Prussia founded Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg was crowned King Frederick I in Prussia at Königsberg. | Prussia |
| 1701 | War of the Spanish Succession begins When Charles II left his throne to Louis XIV's grandson Philip, Duke of Anjou, Austria, England and the Dutch Republic opposed it. | Western Europe |
| 1704 | Battle of Blenheim; capture of Gibraltar Marlborough and Prince Eugene destroyed the Franco-Bavarian army, and an Anglo-Dutch fleet took Gibraltar. | Bavaria · Iberia |
| 1707 | Acts of Union; Kingdom of Great Britain England and Scotland were joined under a single parliament. | Britain |
| 1709 | Battle of Poltava Peter the Great defeated Charles XII. Charles fled to Ottoman territory and Sweden's dominance ended. | Ukraine |
| Play this scene What if…? What if Charles XII had won the Battle of Poltava? | ||
| 1710 | Plague on the Baltic coast Plague spreading with the war killed tens of thousands in Stockholm, Copenhagen and elsewhere. | Northern Europe |
| 1712 | Capital moves to St Petersburg Peter the Great moved his court to the new city he had founded at the mouth of the Neva. | Russia |
| 1714 | Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt By the treaties of 1713–1714 Philip V kept Spain but renounced the French throne, and the Spanish Netherlands, Milan and Naples passed to Austria. | Western Europe |
| Play this scene What if…? What if France and Spain had been united under one Bourbon crown? | ||
| 1715 | Death of Louis XIV The “Sun King”, who had reigned 72 years, died and his five-year-old great-grandson Louis XV succeeded. The same year the Ottomans retook the Morea from Venice. | France |
| 1718 | Treaty of Passarowitz The Ottomans ceded Belgrade and the Banat to the Habsburgs. | Balkans |
| 1720 | Mississippi and South Sea bubbles burst The shares of John Law's Mississippi Company and of London's South Sea Company collapsed. The same year western Europe's last great plague landed at Marseille. | France · Britain |
| Play this scene Scenario Rue Quincampoix · What if…? What if John Law's System had survived 1720? · Person John Law | ||
| 1721 | Treaty of Nystad; Russian Empire proclaimed The Great Northern War ended with Russia gaining Livonia and Estonia, and Peter took the title “Emperor of All Russia”. | Baltic |
| 1735 | Don Carlos becomes king of Naples and Sicily The Spanish prince who had taken Naples during the War of the Polish Succession was crowned at Palermo. | Italy |
| 1737 | End of the Medici line The last grand duke, Gian Gastone, died, and Tuscany passed to Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine. | Tuscany |
| 1739 | Treaty of Belgrade The Habsburgs returned Belgrade and northern Serbia to the Ottomans. | Balkans |
| 1740 | War of the Austrian Succession begins When Maria Theresa inherited the Habsburg lands, Frederick II of Prussia invaded Silesia. | Central Europe |
| 1742 | Peace of Breslau Maria Theresa ceded most of Silesia to Prussia. | Silesia |
| 1745 | Jacobite rising Charles Edward Stuart raised a rebellion but was defeated at Culloden in 1746. | Scotland |
| 1748 | Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle The war ended with Maria Theresa keeping her throne and Prussia keeping Silesia. | Western Europe |
Second half of the 18th century (1751–1789)
The height of the Enlightenment, and the period of the Seven Years' War, Russia's push south and the partition of Poland.
| Year | Event | Region |
|---|---|---|
| 1751 | First volume of the Encyclopédie The flagship project of the Enlightenment, edited by Diderot and d'Alembert, began. | France |
| Play this scene Scenario Winged hussars · What if…? What if the Ottomans had taken Vienna in 1683? · Person John III Sobieski · Scenario The Wind at Torbay · What if…? What if the Glorious Revolution had failed? · Person John Churchill (Duke of Marlborough) · What if…? What if Charles XII had won the Battle of Poltava? · What if…? What if France and Spain had been united under one Bourbon crown? · Scenario Rue Quincampoix · What if…? What if John Law's System had survived 1720? · Person John Law | ||
| 1755 | Lisbon earthquake On 1 November an earthquake, tsunami and fire destroyed Lisbon, deeply shocking European thought. | Portugal |
| 1756 | Seven Years' War begins Frederick II invaded Saxony. Prussia and Britain faced the “Diplomatic Revolution” that allied Austria, France and Russia. | Europe · colonies |
| 1763 | Treaties of Hubertusburg and Paris Prussia kept Silesia, and Britain gained Canada and more from France. | Europe |
| 1766 | Lorraine annexed to France When the former Polish king Stanisław died, the Duchy of Lorraine was joined to France as agreed. | Lorraine |
| 1768 | Russo-Turkish War begins Catherine II's armies pushed down to the Danube and the Black Sea coast. | Black Sea |
| 1772 | First Partition of Poland Prussia, Austria and Russia divided about 30% of the territory of Poland–Lithuania between them. | Poland |
| 1774 | Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca The Crimean Khanate became independent of the Ottomans, and Russian merchant ships gained access to the Black Sea. | Black Sea |
| 1783 | Russia annexes Crimea Catherine II annexed the Crimean Khanate and founded a Black Sea Fleet base at Sevastopol. | Crimea |
| 1789 | Storming of the Bastille On 14 July the people of Paris stormed the Bastille and the French Revolution began. | France |
This era in the game
The “Age of the Sun King and the Baroque” in Crown & Plough begins around 1680, when Versailles was the centre of Europe. Born as a hussar, a Viennese baker, a Torbay fisherman or a broker in the Rue Quincampoix in Paris, you live through the wars, treaties and financial bubbles of this timeline.
Vienna in 1683, the Glorious Revolution, Poltava, the Spanish succession and John Law's System in 1720 are turning points whose outcomes can differ from reality.
Be born in the Age of the Sun King and the Baroque → Age of the Sun King and the Baroque guide
Frequently asked questions
When and why did the War of the Spanish Succession break out?
In 1701, when the childless King Charles II of Spain left his throne to Louis XIV's grandson Philip (Philip V), Austria, Britain and the Dutch Republic went to war to stop France and Spain being bound under one dynasty. It ended with the treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt in 1713–1714.
Which new powers rose in 18th-century Europe?
Prussia, which became a kingdom in 1701, and Russia, which proclaimed itself an empire in 1721 after winning the Great Northern War. Sweden, Poland–Lithuania and the Ottomans, by contrast, lost power in this century.
How many partitions of Poland were there?
Three. With the First Partition in 1772, the Second in 1793 and the Third in 1795, Poland–Lithuania disappeared from the map. The second and third are in the Age of Revolution timeline.
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