Chapter 14Section 3

Response to Crisis: Absolutism

Objectives:

• Define Absolutism• Describe the absolute monarch• Explain the basis for absolute monarch’s

power in France and Eastern Europe

France under Louis XIV

• One response to the crises of the seventeenth century was to seek stability by increasing the monarchy’s power.

• The response is what historians refer to as absolutism, a system in which the ruler has total power.

• Absolutism also includes the divine right of kings.

• Absolute monarchs could – 1. Make Laws– 2. Levy taxes– 3. Administer Justice– 4. Control the state’s officials– 5. Determine foreign policy

• Best example: The reign of Louis XIV of France. His power and courts culture spread throughout Europe, and other courts imitated his.

Richelieu and Mazarin

• Louis XIII and Louis XIV were only boys when they came to power, so a royal minister held power for them, preserving the monarchy.

• Cardinal Richelieu, acting for Louis XIII, took power and military rights from the Huguenots, and set up spies so he could execute traitors.

• Louis XIV came to the throne in 1643 at the age of 4. Cardinal Mazarin took control of the government.

• During Mazarin’s rule, nobles rebelled against the throne, but their efforts were crushed.

• Many French people believed that their best chance for stability was with a monarch.

Richelieu

Mazarin

Louis Comes to Power

• Louis XIV took power in 1661 at the age of 23. He wanted to be the sole ruler of France.

• All were to report to him for orders or approval of orders.

• He fostered the myth of himself as the Sun King- the source of light for his people

Louis XIV

Government and Religion

• The royal court Louis established at Versailles served three purposes:– 1. King’s household– 2. Location of the chief offices of the state– 3. A place where the powerful could find favors

and offices for themselves.• From Versailles, Louis controlled the central

policy-making machinery of the government.

Versailles

• Louis deposed nobles and princes from the royal council and invited them to Versailles, where he hoped court life would distract them from politics.– Often worked.

• Government ministers were to obey his every wish.

• He ruled with absolute authority over foreign policy, the Church, and taxes.

• Louis had an anti-Huguenot policy, wanting them to convert to Catholicism.

• Destroyed Huguenot churches and closed schools.

• 200,000 Protestants fled France.

The Economy and War

• Mercantilist policies of Jean-Baptiste Colbert helped Louis with the money he needed for maintaining his court and pursuing wars.

• Louis developed a standing army of about 4,000 in hopes of having the Bourbon dynasty dominate Europe.

• To achieve this goal, he waged war between 1667 and 1713, causing many nations to form alliances against him.

• Added some lands to France and set up a dynasty on Spain’s throne.

Legacy of Louis XIV

• The Sun King died in a state of remorse in 1715, and France was debt-ridden and surrounded by enemies.

• Told his great-grandson “Soon you will be king of a great kingdom…try to remain at peace with your neighbors. I loved war too much. Do not follow me in that, or in overspending. Lighten your peoples burden as soon as possible, and do what I have had the misfortune not to do myself.”

Absolutism in Central and Eastern Europe

• After the Thirty Years’ War, Prussia and Austria emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries as great powers.

• Frederick William the Great Elector laid the basis for the Prussian state by building a standing army of 40,000 men.– Fourth largest in Europe.

The Emergence of Prussia

• Set up the General War Commissariat to oversee the army, which became a bureaucratic machine for the government.

• Many members were landed aristocracy known as Junkers, who also served in the army.

• Frederick William’s son became King Frederick I in 1701.

The New Austrian Empire

• The Austrian Hapsburgs had long been Holy Roman Emperors, and after the Thirty Years’ War, they created a new empire in eastern and southeastern Europe.

• Its core was in present-day Austria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.

• After the defeat of the Turks in 1687, Austria took control of Transylvania, Croatia, and Slavonia.

• The Austrian monarchy never was a centralized, absolute state.

• Made up of many national groups.• Empire was a set of territories, held together

by the Hapsburg emperor, who was archduke of Austria, king of Bohemia, and king of Hungary.

• Each area had its own laws and political life.

Russia under Peter the Great

• In the 16th century, Ivan IV became the first Russian ruler to take the title of czar, Russian for Caesar.

• Called Ivan the Terrible for his ruthlessness, he expanded Russia eastward and crushed the powers of the Russian boyars (nobility)

• The end of Ivan’s rule in 1598 was followed by a period of anarchy called the Time of Troubles.

• It ended when the national assembly chose Michael Romanov as czar in 1613. – The Romanov dynasty would last until 1917.

Ivan the Terrible

Peter the Great

• The most prominent member of the Romanov dynasty was Peter the Great.

• Absolutist, believed in the divine right of kings.• Became czar in 1689.• Made a trip to the West, and was determined

to Europeanize Russia through technology.• Died in 1725, Russia was an important state.

Military and Governmental Changes

• To create his army, Peter drafted peasants for 25 year stints.

• Formed a navy.• Divided Russia into provinces.• Wanted to create a “police state”, by which he

meant a well ordered community governed by law.

Cultural Changes

• Peter introduced Western customs and etiquette.

• In court, Russian beards had to be shaved and coats shortened.

• Peter insisted upper class women remove their veils.

• Held gathering for conversation and dancing, which mixed genders.

St. Petersburg

• Peter’s goal was to make Russia a great power, with an important part being a port with access to Europe through the Baltic Sea.– At this time, Sweden controlled the Baltic.

• Peter warred with Sweden, and he acquired the lands he needed.

• On the Baltic in 1703 he constructed a new city, St. Petersburg.

• It was the Russian capital until 1918.

Conclusion

• Top 3 on Section 3

Homework

• Page 447 1,2,4-6• Take Home Quiz