1. A "winner/loser" analysis is appropriate here. Which states were declining; which were emerging as prominent powers? Was France still an important military power?

2. Were eighteenth-century regimes modern states or composite monarchies?

3. What were the main features of enlightened government?

4. What is Scott's argument in this chapter?

5. What historical significance do the images in this chapter reveal? Consider especially those on pp. 327, 331, 338.