The General Crisis

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The General Crisis is the term used by some historians to describe the period of widespread conflict and instability that occurred from the early 17th century to the early 18th century. The term was coined by English historian Hugh Trevor-Roper in his 1959 article "The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century," published in Past and Present.

Current historians interested in the General Crisis include Geoffrey Parker, who has authored a book on the subject.

Contents 1 Conflicts and Wars 2 Demographic decline 3 Climate change 4 References

[edit] Conflicts and Wars

Notable conflicts and crises which occurred during this period include:

• The Thirty Years War in Germany (1618-48)
• The Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639-51), The Protectorate (1653-59), and the Glorious Revolution (1688) in Britain and Ireland
• The collapse of the Ming Dynasty and rise of the Qing Dynasty in China (1644-62)
• The Fronde in France (1643-68)
• The Franco-Dutch War (1672-78)
• Revolts against the Spanish crown in Naples, Portugal, and Catalonia
• The War of the Grand Alliance (1688-97)
• The climax of the Dutch Revolt and related conflicts (ends in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia)
• Numerous internal revolts in the Ottoman Empire (especially 1622)
• Continued war between the Ottomans and Safavid Persia which had started in 1509
• The Great Turkish War (1667-99)
• The disintegration of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Deluge
• The beginning of Sakoku in Japan and the Shimabara Uprising (1638)
• The Char Bouba War in Mauritania (1644-74)
• The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14)

[edit] Demographic decline

The General Crisis also saw dramatic population decline. For example, with the collapse of the Ming Dynasty the population of China fell by approximately 50 million between 1600 and 1644, a decrease of over 30%. Likewise, Germany's population was reduced by approximately 30% in the Thirty Years War^{[citation needed]}. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth also lost about a third of its population.

[edit] Climate change

The General Crisis overlaps fairly neatly with the so-called Little Ice Age which some authorities locate in the 17th century. Of particular interest is the overlap with the Maunder Minimum. A global phenomenon of this sort would go a long way towards explaining the seemingly universal state of warfare and decline in the mid 17th century.

[edit] References

• The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century by Geoffrey Parker
• "The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century" by Hugh Trevor-Roper in Past and Present, volume 16, 1959.