Transcript Age of Absolutism - Mount Saint Joseph High School

The Age of
Absolutism
Absolutism
► Political
theory that
believed in the “Divine
Right of Kings”
(Monarchs received
their authority from
God).
► Bishop Bossuet
established this in
Politics Taken From the
Very Words of
Scripture.
Bishop Jacques Bossuet
Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715)
► Personal
rule began in
1661 with the death of
Cardinal Mazarin.
► "L'État, c'est moi" (the
state is me)
► Symbolized as the “Sun
King.” (Center of France;
rays of sun reflect off of
monarch onto subjects).
Châteaux de Versailles
► King’s
residence
and center of
government.
► Spent vast sums
of money on
expansion.
► Royal apartments
were at the
center of the
complex.
Court Life at Versailles
► King
severed dual functions: that of
courtier and that of administrator.
► Both functions were aimed at statebuilding.
► The Fronde had taught Louis to distrust
the nobility, so he appointed officials
from middle-class origin.
► He also continued the practice of selling
titles (“nobles of the robe” as opposed
to “nobles of the sword”).
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683)
► Served
as controller
of finances from
1662-1683.
► Supported
mercantilist
policies.
► Built roads and
canals.
► Credited for many of
Louis’ economic
successes and
failures.
Domestic Policies
► Louis
enacted absolutist ideas through
domination of the central bureaucracy which
had greater control of state finances, the
execution of laws and the use of armed force.
► Increased royal control over the local
parlements.
► Defended the policy of Gallicanism.
► Revoked the Edict of Nantes in in October
1685 and began persecuting Huguenots; over
200,000 fled France.
Wars & Expansion under Louis XIV
► Through
a series of
expensive wars Louis
slowly expanded
French territory.
► War of Devolution
(1667-68)
► The Dutch War
(1672-78)
► War of the League
of Augsburg (168897)
War of Spanish
Succession
► Childless
Hapsburg
Charles II names
Bourbon Philip of
Anjou as heir.
► England, Holland and
HRE oppose French
acquisition of Spain &
territories.
► Louis was defeated by
the British and
Austrians.
Treaty of Utrecht (1713)
•War ended with Treaty of
Utrecht (1713) and Treaty of
Baden and Rastatt (with
Hapsburgs in 1714)
•Philip of Anjou become
Philip V of Spain, but he nor
his successors could hold
French throne.
•Hapsburgs and British gained
territory, French lost New
World lands.
The End of an Era
► Louis
XIV was one of the great statebuilders of Europe
► Despite this, the peasants of France
suffered as they never had before or since.
This would bring government welfare as a
state function it the 18th century
► His absolutist policy solidified the place of
France as the dominant power in Europe.
Political Changes in Eastern Europe
► Three
aging empires: gave way to new
empires of Austria Prussia and Russia
► Holy Roman Empire: religious divisions and
war in 16th and 17th century
► Ottoman
Empire: could not maintain
possessions in E. Europe and Balkans
► Poland: liberum veto – voting in Polish
parliament had to be unanimous (= weak
gov’t)
The Austrian Hapsburgs
► Multinational
empire:
Austrian, Hungarian, &
Bohemian kingdoms
(later expansion into
Slavic lands)
► Cosmopolitan
aristocracy: serfdom
► Leopold I (16581705),: successfully
repelled Turks
► Turkish threat: relatively
religiously tolerant
empire
The Austrian Hapsburgs
► Charles
VI
 Pragmatic Sanction (1713) issued by Charles VI:
Habsburg territories indivisible; only Habsburgs could
rule (daughter Maria Theresa)
 War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748) – (King
George’s War – 1744-1748)
 Prussia, France, Bavaria & Spain vs. Austria and Russia
 Prussia tool Silesia from Austria; Prussia now most
powerful German state: “Great Power”
 Treaty of Aix-laChapelle (1748): legitimized Frederick
the Great’s conquest.
The Austrian Hapsburgs
► Maria
Theresa (r.
1740-1780): Wars of
1740s led to internal
consolidation
► Reduced
serfdom
(more
than
any
other e. European
ruler except her son
Joseph II)
The Austrian Hapsburgs
► Joseph
II (1765-1790) – greatest of the
Enlightened despots (“greatest good for
greatest number”)
 Abolished serfdom in 1781, freedom of press,
freedom of religion & civic rights, more equitable
justice system, made German official language (to
assimilate minorities), increased control over
Catholic education, expanded state schools, left
empire in economic and political turmoil: Leopold I
rescind many laws (e.g., serfdom)
Hohenzollerns in Prussia
► Frederick
William, The
Great Elector (r.1640-1688)
 Rule consolidated after 30
Years’ War: military force &
taxation
 Junkers: nobility sided with
king for stability; hereditary
serfdom in 1653
 Created most efficient army
in Europe
Hohenzollerns in Prussia
► Frederick
I (r. 1688-1713)
 (Elector Frederick III) “The
Ostentatious”
(16881713); 1st “King of Prussia”
 Allied with Habsburgs in
War of League of Augsburg
and
War
of
Spanish
Succession.
Hohenzollerns in Prussia
► Frederick
William I (r. 17131740) “The Soldiers’ King”
 Established Prussian
abolutism
 “Sparta of the North”:
Largely a military state – best
army in Europe
 Junkers became officers caste
in army in return for king’s
absolutism
Hohenzollerns in Prussia
► “Frederick
the
Great”
(Frederick II: 1740-1786) of
Prussia
 At war for first half of his reign
 Became a reformer during 2nd half of his
reign – ruler was the “first servant of
the state”
 Religious freedom, education in schools
and universities, codified laws, promoted
industry and agriculture, encouraged
immigration
 Social
structure
remained
heavily
stratified: serfdom; extended privileges
for the nobility, Junkers became heart of
military; difficult upward mobility for
middle class leadership
Peter the Great in Russia
► Romanov
Dynasty
(1613-1917)
 Michael Romanov
(1613-1645)
 Created Russian
empire across Asia to
the Pacific (largest
nation by 1689)
Peter the Great in Russia
► Peter
the Great (1682-1725)
 1698, put down revolt by strelski
(Moscow Guards)
 westernization (modernization):
mostly for military purposes
 state-regulated
monopolies
created; industrial serfdom
 Table of Ranks: educational
training for new civil service
(mostly of nobles)
Peter the Great in Russia
► St.
Petersburg begun in 1703 on Baltic; largest
city in Northern Europe by his death.
► “Winter Palace” sought to emulate Versailles.
► Great Northern War (1700-1721)
► Charles XII, 18-yr-old Swedish king
► Battle of Poltava, 1709: Peter defeated Sweden
► Treaty of Nystad (1721): Peter gained Baltic
states “window to the West”
Alternatives to Absolutism
► Sweden
 Nobles use the absence of the king during
warfare to reaffirm their power.
► United
Provinces
 Merchants and landowners in the Estates
General held the House of Orange in check.
► Poland
 King was elected by nobles, who continued to
hold the power.
Constitutionalism in Great Britain - The
Restoration (1660-1688)
► King Charles II (r. 1660-1685)
 Parliament in 1660 reelected according to old
franchise (gentry): Anglicans back in power
 Charles II “The Merry Monarch” (1660-1685):
Stuarts restored to the throne
 Declaration of Breda: Charles agreed to abide
by Parliament’s demands
 The Clarendon Code, 1661: Anglicans
excluded Dissenters (Puritans) from politics.
 Declaration of Indulgence, 1673: Charles II
granted free worship to Catholics.
The Restoration (1660-1688)
► Test
Act of 1673: all officeholders must take
communion in Anglican Church
 Was Anglican response to Declaration of Indulgence
► Habeas
Corpus Act (1679): no arbitrary arrest
and speedy trial
► Parliament was split and fragmented into two
political parties
 Tories: king’s supporters, nobles
 Whigs: middle-class and merchants; also high
aristocracy
The Restoration (1660-1688)
► King
James II (r. 16851688)
 sought to Catholicize
England in Declaration of
Liberty of Conscience.
 Second wife Mary (Catholic)
bears a son, fear of Catholic
succession
 He is forced to abdicate.
 Leads to rebellions in
Scotland and Ireland.
Glorious Revolution (1688)
► William
III (William of
Orange) and Mary
Stuart (daughter of James
II form first marriage):
Protestantism secured in
England
 Act of Toleration: granted
religious freedom (except to
Catholics, Jews, and
Unitarians
Bill of Rights (1689)
Act of Parliament (one of the bases of the “British
Constitution”) that includes:
► freedom from royal interference with the law
► freedom from taxation by royal prerogative, without
agreement by Parliament
► freedom to petition the King
► freedom from a peace-time standing army, without
agreement by Parliament
► freedom to elect members of Parliament without
interference from the Sovereign
► the freedom of speech in Parliament.
► freedom from cruel and unusual punishments, and
excessive bail.
Locke v. Hobbes
Hobbes: Leviathan
(1651): Justified strong
government. Life was "solitary,
poor, nasty, brutish, and short"
► John Locke: Two Treatises on
Government (1689): Right to
overthrow tyrannical rulers;
Social contract; philosophical
argument for supremacy of
Parliament.
► Thomas
Queen Anne & Act of Union
► Act
of Settlement (1701):
only Anglican could succeed
to the throne
► Queen Anne (1702-1714):
► Act of Union (1707) –
English and Scottish
Parliaments merged =
United Kingdom of Great
Britain
 Royal veto used for last time
 On her death the Elector of
Hanover, George I took the
throne.
The Jacobites
► Beginning
in the 1690s and through the 1740s,
revolts in Highland Scotland broke out in
support of Stuarts (James II, James Edward
Stuart (James III) and Bonnie Prince Charlie).
► These ended in 1745-46 with the Battle of
Culloden and the Highland Clearances.
Parliamentary Government
► Cabinet
System of
preparing laws for Parliament
developed during early 18th
century
► Party system (Whigs and
Tories) become prominent.
► Prime minister became leader
of cabinet and responsible to
majority party in the House of
Commons.
► Robert Walpole (17211742) became first prime
minister