Absolutism - AP European History
Download
Report
Transcript Absolutism - AP European History
Absolutism
Absolutism
PhilosophyJean Bodin
First to provide basis for absolutist states
Believed absolutism could provide order and force people
to obey the government
Bishop Jacques Bossuet
Divine right of kings
King placed on throne by God and therefore owed his
authority to no man or group
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
Pessimistic view of man’s natural state (“solitary, poor,
nasty, brutish, and short”)
Did not favor “divine right”
Enlightened Despotism
Characteristics of Absolutism
Monarchs not subordinate to national
assemblies, parliaments, etc.
Nobility brought under the control of the
monarch
Bureaucracies composed of career officials who
were responsible directly to the king
Some gain control of the Church
Maintained large standing armies
Employed secret police to undermine enemies
Comparison of Methods
Comparing Medieval v. Absolutism
View of relationship between God and the King
The raising of finances
Changes in the bureaucracy
Changes in the military
Absolutism v. Modern Totalitarianism
Why does absolutism not qualify as a
totalitarian form of government?
In what ways to they share similar goals?
The Development of French
Absolutism
th
France in the 17 Century
Feudal Estates
First Estate: Clergy (1% of population)
Second Estate: Nobility (3-4% of population)
Third Estate: Bourgeoisie (Middle class)
Order of rank restored under Henry IV
Mostly agrarian 90%
Largest country in Europe (17 million)
Henry IV (Henry of Navarre)
Strengthened social and
government institutions:
parliaments, treasury,
universities, the Church
Edict of Nantes- some
recognition of Calvinism
Weakened the nobility
Nobility of the sword- not
allowed to influence the royal
council
Nobility of the robe- new
officials who had purchased
titles
Duke of Sully
Finance minister
Mercantilism- increased
the role of the state in
economy
Granted monopolies on salt
and gunpowder
Encouraged new industry
Only royal government could
operate mines
Reduced royal debt
Reformed the tax system
Oversaw transportation
Louis XIII
Henry IV assassinated, Marie
de’ Medici rules as regent
Regency is corrupt
Cardinal Richelieu
Politique
Intendant System- replaced local
officials with civil servants
responsible directly to the king
Increased taxation for military
Subdue the Protestants: Peace
of Alais
Thirty Years’ War
Richelieu and Louis XIII sought to weaken
the Habsburg Empire
France supports Gustavus Adolphus with
money during the “Swedish Phase”
“International Phase”
Treaty of Westphalia
France under Louis XIV
Louis XIV
“L’ etat, c’est moi”- “I am the state”
Becomes known as the Sun King because he
was the center of French power
Believer in Divine Right
Longest reign in European history (72 years)
Inherited the throne at age 5
France becomes undisputed major power
French culture dominates Europe
French becomes international language
France becomes center of literature and art until the 20th
century
The Fronde (mid-late 1640s)
Cardinal Mazarincontrols France while
Louis was a child
Some nobles revolted
when Louis was 5-11
Mazarin defeats them
because they are not
united
Louis never forgets and
humiliates them in order
to control them
Government Organization
Louis recruited ministers from the middle
class- keep the nobles out
Continued the intendant system
Checked the power of parliaments
Nobles feared resisting him after the failure of
the Fronde
Never called the Estates General
Control over the Peasantry
Some were able to keep only about 20%
of their income after paying taxes to
landlord, government, and Church tithes
Corvee- forced labor that required
peasants to work for a month out of the
year on roads and other public projects
Idle peasants conscripted into the army
Rebellious peasants executed or used as
slaves on ships
Versailles Palace
Becomes a grand testament to his power
Palace of Versailles Tour
2,000 acres of grounds
12 miles of roads
27 miles of trellises
200,000 trees
210,000 flowers planted every year
80 miles of rows of trees
55 acres surface area of the Grand Canal
12 miles of enclosing walls
50 fountains and 620 fountain nozzles
21 miles of water conduits
3,600 cubic meters per hour: water
consumed
26 acres of roof
51,210 square meters of floors
2,153 windows
700 rooms
67 staircases
6,000 paintings
1,500 drawings and 15,000 engravings
2,100 sculptures
5,000 items of furniture and objects d'art
150 varieties of apple and peach trees in
the Vegetable Garden
Religious Policies
Considered himself head of the French Church
Edict of Fountainbleau (1685)- revokes the Edict
of Nantes
Huguenots lost right to practice Calvinism
200,000 flee France for England, Holland, and the
Americas
Supports the Jesuits by cracking down on
Jansenists (Catholics who held some Calvinist
ideas)
Mercantilism
Jean Baptiste Colbert
Economic self-sufficiency for
France
Government supported
monopolies
Cracked down on guilds
Reduced local tolls that inhibit
trade
Organized French trading
companies for international
trade
Developed a merchant marine
By 1663- leading industrial
country
Textiles, mirrors, lace-making,
foundries for steel, firearms
Mercantilism
Weaknesses
Poor peasant conductions result in large
emigration out of France
Creation of a massive army and little navy
France will lose naval battles to England
Wars of later years end up reversing the gains
The Wars of Louis XIV
Overview
Wars were initially successful but
eventually became economically ruinous
France develops the first professional
modern army
First time one country can dominate
politics in Europe
A balance of power system emerged
Initial Wars
War of Devolution: (First Dutch War), 1667-1668
Louis XIV invades the Spanish Netherlands (Belgium)
without declaring war
Louis receives 12 towns but gave up the FrancheComte (Burgundy)
Second Dutch War, 1672-1678)
Invades the southern Netherlands as revenge for Dutch
opposition in the first war
Peace of Nijmegan
France takes the Franche-Comte and gains Alsace
War of the League of Augsburg, 1688-1697
Louis XIV invades the Netherlands again
in 1683
Opposed by the League of Augsburg
(HRE, Spain, Sweden, Bavaria, Saxony,
and Dutch Republic)
Balance of Power
William of Orange brings in England as well
War ends with the status quo
War of Spanish Succession, 1701-1713
Cause: the will of Charles II (Habsburg king)
gave all Spanish territories to the grandson of
Louis XIV
European powers fear the thrones of Spain and France
will unite to create a super power
Grand Alliance emerges (Engalnd, Dutch
Republic, HRE, Brandenburg, Portugal, Savoy)
Battle of Blenheim (1704
Turning Point- series of military defeats for France
England and Savoy’s army are victorious
Treaty of Utrecht, 1713
Most important between Treaty of Westphalia
(1648) and the Treaty of Paris (1763)
Maintains balance of power in Europe
Ends expansion by Louis XIV
Spanish possessions are partitioned
Britain gains the slave trade from Spain, Gibraltar and
Minorca
Spanish Netherlands (Belgium) given to Austria
Netherlands gain some land as a buffer from
France
Prohibits the uniting of the Bourbon thrones
Cost of Louis XIV’s Wars
Destroyed the French economy
20% of the French subjects died
Huge debt would be placed on the
shoulders of the Third Estate
French government was bankrupt
Leads to the French Revolution
“Absolutism” in Spain
The Golden Age of Spain
Ferdinand and Isabella begin centralizing
power
Charles V and Philip II lay the foundations
for absolutism
Center capital in Madrid
Escorial
Court life reinforces king’s power
Spanish Inquisition continue to persecute
those seen as heretics
th
Decline of the Spanish Economy (17 century)
Hurt by loss of middle class Jews and
Moors
Spanish trade with colonies fell 60%
English and Dutch competition
Treasury was bankrupt
National taxes hit peasantry hard
Price Revolution and inflation
Poor work ethic
Political and Military Decline
Spanish Armada
Poor leadership under three successive kings
Philip III, Philip IV, and Charles II
Defeat in the Thirty Years’ War
Treaty of the Pyrenees- end of Spain as a great
power
War with France
Lose territory to France (part of Spanish Netherlands
and territory in northern Spain)
War of Spanish Succession
Discussion questions
How did the theories of Bossuet and Hobbes
contribute to absolutism in France in the 17th
century?
Analyze the ways in which the absolutism of
Louis XIV impacted the: bureaucracy, nobility,
peasantry, economics, and religious issues
To what extent did the balance of power remain
intact in Europe between 1600 and 1715?
Analyze the way in which Spanish and French
absolutism developed.