Response to Crises:Absolutism

Chapter 7 Section 3

France under Louis XIV The reign of Louis XIV has been

regarded as the best example of the

practice of absolutism (a system in

which a ruler holds total power) in the

seventeenth century; his court was

often imitated throughout Europe.

Both Louis XIII and Louis XIV came to

the throne at a very young age –

therefore the monarchy was preserved

by the authority of their royal

ministers, Richelieu and Mazarin.

Richelieu and MazarinCardinal Richelieu

Louis XIII’s minister

Strengthened the power of the

monarch

Took Huguenots’ political and

military rights because they were

seen as a threat

Had spies uncover plots by nobles

and then executed them

Mazarin

• Louis XIV’s minister

• Crushed a revolt led by the

nobility

• Result: the people realized

French stability lay in a strong

monarch.

Louis XIV comes to power…

Mazarin diesLouis XIV takes over the supreme powerBecomes known as the Sun King – “the light

of his people.”

Government and religion under Louis XIV

Louis XIV had a palace built at Versailles. The palace at Versailles served

three purposes:

1. Personal household to the king;

2. Chief offices of the state are located within; and

3. Subjects came to find favors for themselves.

Louis removed his biggest threat – the nobles and royal princes – by keeping them

out of politics and keeping them busy with court life. Louis did not share his

authority with anyone.

Louis was anti-Protestant. He revoked the Edict of Nantes, ordered all Huguenot

churches to be destroyed and their schools to be closed. What was the result?

200,000 Huguenots flee to England, the United Provinces, and the German states.

The Palace at Versailles

Economy and WarJean-Baptiste Colbert – Finance minister of

Louis XIV. He followed the ideas of mercantilism; granted subsidies to new industries; built roads and canals; raised tariffs on foreign goods. All of this made it possible for Louis to have the palace built, for maintenance of his court, and to wage wars.

War: Louis had a standing army of 400,000 men. Other European nations had to form coalitions to prevent him from dominating.

Louis’ legacy: He left France in debt and surrounded by enemies

Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Absolutism in Central and Eastern Europe After the Thirty Years War, Prussia and Austria

emerged as great European powers

Prussia: Fredrick William the Great Elector laid the

foundation for Prussia.

Prussia was a small territory – it had no natural

barriers for defense – therefore he built the

fourth largest standing army in Europe.

To maintain the army and his own power,

Fredrick William set up the General War

Commissariat which levied taxes for the growth

of the army and state

Eventually Fredrick William and his son are given

the title of King

The New Austrian Empire

Austria: The Hapsburgs had lost the Holy Roman Empire at the

end of the Thirty Years War, therefore they began building

their Austrian Empire in east and southeastern Europe.

The Austrian monarch never became centralized or absolute

because the state was composed of many national groups; each

area had its own lands and political life – nothing tied the

regions together except their idea of service to the Hapsburgs.

Russia under Peter the Great

In the 16th century – Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) was the first

Russian ruler to take the title of czar (the Russian word for

caesar). He expanded the territories and crushed the borders.

When Ivan died, a period of anarchy known as the Time of Troubles

followed. It ended when the national assembly chose Michael

Romanov as the new czar; the Romanovs rule Russia over 300

years.

Peter the Great: absolute monarch who claimed divine right. He

was responsible for modernizing Russia – visited Europe and

brought technology back to Russia.

Peter the Great Romanov Ivan the Terrible

Russia under Peter the Great

Military Changes –

Peter reorganizes the army and drafts peasants

for 25 years of enlistment

Built a standing army of 210,000 men

Credited with forming the first Russian navy

Russia under Peter the Great

Cultural changes:

Peter prepared the first book of Russian etiquette;

made nobles shave their beards unless they paid a tax to

keep it;

forced Russians to start dressing like Westerners;

held gatherings and forced men and women to dance and

talk.

Russia under Peter the Great

St. Petersburg:

Peter needed a port with accesses to Europe

He fights Sweden for territory on the Baltic Sea and wins

Began construction of St. Petersburg on the Baltic Sea in

Western style – hired European architects to design it. It

remains the Russian capital until 1918.