Transcript Response to Crisis - Spring Branch ISD

Absolutism
More Power = Absolutism
•One response to the crises of the
17th century was to seek more
stability by increasing the power
of the monarch. The result was
what historian call Absolutism
•Absolutism- Is a system in which a
ruler holds total power
•Was tied to the idea of the divine
right of kings
Absolutism
•The reign of Louis XIV has
long been regarded as the
best example of Absolutism
•France became the model for
the rest of Europe.
Cardinal Richelieu
•Louis XIII’s chief minister, who
strengthened the monarchy’s
power (he basically ruled while
Louis XIII was growing up)
•He took away the Huguenots
political and military rights
(preserved their religious rights)
•Set up a network of spies to
uncover plots by nobles. He then
crushed the conspiracies and
executed the conspirators
Cardinal Mazarin
•Louis XIV came to the throne in
1643 at the age of 4
•Due to the king’s age, Cardinal
Mazarin, the chief minister took
control of the government.
•Mazarin crushed a revolt led by
nobles
•Many French people concluded
that the best hope for stability in
the future lay with a strong
monarch
Louis comes to Power
•When Mazarin died in
1661, Louis XIV took over
supreme power
•At the age of 23, he stated
his desire to be a real king
and the sole ruler of
France
Sun King
•He also fostered the myth of himself as the Sun King
• “Up to this moment I have been pleased to entrust the
government of my affairs to the late Cardinal. It is now
time that I govern them myself. You [secretaries and
ministers of state] will assist me with your counsels
when I ask for them. I request and order you to seal no
orders expect by my command. I order you not to sign
anything not even a passport without my command; to
render account to me personally each day and to favor
no one.”
Versailles
•The royal court was
established at Versailles
and it served 3 purposes
•It was the personal
house-hold of the king
•The chief offices of the
state were located there
•The place where powerful
subjects came to find
favors and offices for
themselves
Danger to Louis
•The greatest danger to Louis’s
rule came from the very high
nobles and royal princes
•Louis removed them from the
royal council
•He also enticed them to come
to his court, where he could
keep them busy with court life
and out of politics
Anti-Protestant
•Louis had complete authority and shared his
power with no one
•He pursued an anti-Protestant policy aimed at
converting the Huguenots to Catholicism
•His policy caused as many as 200,000 Huguenots
to flee to England.
The economy and War
•The cost of building palaces,
maintaining his court, and
pursuing his wars made finances
a crucial issue for Louis XIV
•Louis waged 4 wars between 1667
and 1713)
•He was lucky to have JeanBaptiste Colbert as controllergeneral of finances
Colbert
•Colbert sought to increase France’s wealth by
following mercantilism (favorable balance of
trade)
•Granted subsidies to new industries
•Built roads and canals
•Raised tariffs on foreign goods
•Created a merchant marine to carry French Goods
Legacy of Louis XIV
•In 1715, the Sun king died. He left France with great
debts and surrounded by enemies
•On his deathbed he told his successor (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 people’s burden as soon as possible, and do
what I have had the misfortune not to do for myself.”
•Unfortunately his great-grandson was only 5 at the time
Absolutism in Central and
Eastern Europe
After the 30-years war, there were over 300 German states
Prussia and Austria emerged as two great powers
The Emergence of Prussia
•Frederick William the Great Elector
laid the foundation for the
Prussian state
•He created a large standing army
to defend the country
•To maintain the army he created
the General War Commissariat to
levy taxes to pay for the army
Frederick 1
•The Commissariat soon became the civil
government as well
•Many of its officials were members of the
Prussian aristocracy, or the Junkers, who also
served as offices in the army
•In 1701, Frederick William’s son Frederick
officially became King Frederick I
The New Austrian Empire
•The Austrian Hapsburgs
had been the emperors of
the Holy Roman Empire
•They had lost the German
empire but then created a
new empire in eastern
and southeastern Europe
•Austria, Czech Republic,
and Hungary
Hapsburg Emperor
•The Austrian monarchy never became highly
centralized, absolutist state, chiefly because it
was made up of so many different national
groups The Hapsburg emperor, who was the
archduke of Austria, king of Bohemia and king
of Hungary kept the states together
Ivan the Terrible
•A new Russian state emerged in the
15th century.
•In the 16th century Ivan IV became the
first ruler to take the title of czar, the
Russian world for Caesar (emperor)
•He was known as Ivan the terrible
because of his ruthless deeds
• among them stabbing his own son to
death in a heated argument.
Michael Romanov
•Ivan's death was followed
by a period of anarchy
called the time of troubles
•This period ended when
the national assembly
chose Michael Romanov as
the new czar in 1613
Peter the Great
•The Romanov dynasty lasted
until 1917
•One of the most famous
members of the Romanov
family was Peter the Great,
who became czar in 1689
•Peter was an absolutist
monarch, who claimed the
divine right to rule
Westernizing
•Peter wanted to westernize
Russia and he was
especially eager to borrow
European technology
•Modernization of Russia’s
military was crucial to
make Russia a great power.
Cultural Changes and a New Capital
•In an effort to westernize Russia, Peter ordered
the creation of an etiquette book to teach
western manners
•He insisted men shave their beards and shorten
their coats
•Upper class women could remove their
traditional face-covering veils and move out into
society
St. Petersburg
•He built a new city, St.
Petersburg, to become the
new capital. He wanted a
capital that would be close to
the Baltic Sea so he could
have easy access to Europe.
(he won the land after war
with Sweden)
Military and governmental Changes
•Peter created the first Russian
Navy and he reorganized the
army
•To impose the rule of the central
government more effectively,
peter divided Russia into
provinces
•He hoped to create a “police
state” a well ordered community
governed by law
Lead by fear
•Peter’s personality created an atmosphere of
fear instead of civic duty
•He wrote to one administrator, “according to
these orders act, act act. I won’t write more, but
you will pay with your head if you interpret
orders again”
7. What did Jean-Baptiste Colbert do to help the French Economy?
6. How did Louis ensure that the nobles would stay out of his way?
5. What was Versailles? List its 3 purposes
4. How did Louis XIV feel about taking control of the country?
3. Who was Cardinal Mazarin?
2. Who was Cardinal Richelieu?
1. What is absolutism?
Name____________________________
Absolutism
13. Who was Peter the Great?
12. How did Michael Romanov become czar?
11. Who was Ivan the Great?
10. Why was the Austrian Empire not very centralized and absolute?
9. Who was the first king of Prussia?
8. What was the legacy of Louis XIV?
16. What kind of leader was Peter the Great?
15. Why did Peter the Great move the Capital of Russia to St. Petersburg?
14. How did Peter try to westernize Russia?