Transcript The Age of Absolutism - APEH

The Age of Absolutism
A. The problem of political disintegration in 16-17th
Centuries.
France - Wars of Religion
England - the English Revolution
Holy Roman Empire (Germany and Austria) - 30 Years
War.
B. Causes of disintegration
Competition between the aristocracy and the monarchy this was often the mainspring behind the religious wars.
C. Ways of Uniting States
Two alternatives evolved:
Constitutionalism and Absolutism
Absolutism and
Constitutionalism.
Constitutionalism
– Does not require a written constitution
– Requires a set of rules about government which government respects
It also implies a balance in power between the government and its subjects
- this was provided in England by power of subjects in Parliament.
Absolutism
– Sovereignty - the power and right to rule, resides exclusively with the King
– The idea of the Divine Right of Kings became important
– Absolute Monarchs were limited in actual power and were not
"totalitarian".
– Very practical - Developed modern ways of government
State bureaucracies
Committee structures of government
Standing armies
Poland - A failed state
Poland - Nobles became too powerful.
Poland was a very large state in Eastern
Europe.
The "Noble Republic" - the nobles elected the
kings.
Any noble could veto any law in the parliament.
Consequences?
– Complete collapse of central government.
– The enserfment of the peasant population.
– The eventual disappearance of Poland from map of
Europe.
III. Spain - Absolutism Attempted
The dominant country of the late 16th century,
Based on military power and New World wealth
King Philip II (b. 1527-d.1598, ruled. 1556-1598)
– Marks of absolutism in his reign.
Centralizing control
Central source of authority
Attempted state control of the Church
Bureaucratic systems
The building of a new capital city and palace as the center of power
[in this case Madrid and the Escorial palace].
Use of council/committee system of government.
Spain declined after 1600: due to economy and bad
government.
Decline of the Spanish Empire
Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588
loss of middle class: Moriscos and Marranos ( Moors and Jews a century
earlier)
Inflation
Taxation
large number of privileged people who hated work
Religion overshadowed politics
Defeat in 30 Years’ War: politically and economically disastrous
1640 -Portugal reestablished independence.
Treaty of the Pyranees (1659): marked end of Spain as a Great Power
– loss of parts of Spanish Netherlands and territory in northern Spain to France
Population in 1660 had declined to 5.5 million from 7.5 million in 1550
Charles II (1665-1700): one of worst rulers in Hapsburg history
– No heir to throne resulted in War of Spanish Succession
Spain lost most possessions at Treaty of Utrecht (1713)
IV. France - Absolutism
Triumphant
France provided more of model for the rest of
Europe.
Importance as a country was based
– Wealth,
– Geographical centrality,
– Size of its population - France had largest population
in Europe (17 million): Accounted for 20% of pop
– Influential culture.
A. French Wars of Religion and
Henry IV
Results of the Reformation in France
– Catholic and Protestant nobles use religion to challenged central
government authority.
– Lax and inefficient rulers.
– Noble wars virtually destroyed the country
Henry VI (1598-1610), formerly King of Navarre. His
famous line was "Paris is worth a mass" [when he
converted to Catholicism so that could inherit the throne
of France].
Edict of Nantes 1598 quieted country. Allowed toleration
to the Huguenots.
B. Louis XIII (1610-43)
Government run by Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642)
Richelieu's Actions:
He broke power of nobility and made it clear there was only one law
- the King's.
– Estates General meets for last time in 1615.
Began administrative reform and centralized control over regions.
– Sent out Intendents.
He fought Habsburg Dynasty
– Made France a great power
– Fought for Protestants in Thirty Year's War)
Also opposed Huguenots
– Defiant of King's power and began the road to oppression
– Removed their right to fortified towns. Peace of Alais (1629)
– Began dictionary to standardize the French language
C. Louis XIV (Ruled 1643-1715)
Cardinal Mazarin (1602-1661) controlled
France while Louis XIV a child effective
ruler at first - continues policies of
Richelieu.
The Fronde 1649-52
– Aborted revolution directed against Mazarin
– revolt by nobles sick of absolute claims.
– Psychological effect on Louis XIV, determined
to be powerful
Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715) – the
“Sun King”
L’état, c’est moi (“the state is myself”)
Best model of absolutism in Europe
Louis comes to power in 1661.
Government under Louis XIV
It is often seen as one of the first
modern governments.
– System of councils -real ruling of the country
– Intendants - royal officials in provinces gives
central control of the entire country.
– Establishment of a standing army which
Louis used in a series of expensive wars.
Influence of Louis XIV's
Government and Style
– Versailles and Louis' government were
admired throughout Europe.
Versailles Palace: became a pleasure prison for
the French nobility
Copycat palaces were built all over Europe:
Vienna/Schonbrunn, St. Petersburg, Berlin.
– French became the language of many courts e.g. Russia (ref. Tolstoy: War and Peace).
Versailles
Schönbrunn Palace
Nymphenburg
Louis XIV and Religion
The Position of the Church as State within a State
-Divine Right was important in Louis' ideas.
-It is important to realize the power of the Church in
France. It was like a state within in a state
-largely independent of Rome
-tax free
-Church Courts had power over parts of life, for instance
marriage and wills.
-Louis supported the Church fervently.
1685 - Edict of Fountainbleau—revoked Edict of
Nantes, Repressed Jansenism (a kind of Calvinism
within Catholic Church) 1/4 mill Protestants left - (New
Rochelle)
Absolutism and Religion
Absolutism did not allow, in France, liberty
of conscience.
Affects French Enlightenment thinkers.
Anti-clericalism even from those who
support monarchy.
Louis XIV' successors tried to maintain the
same system.
Absolutist Fiscal Policy
Main problem was that nobles would not pay tax.
France remained under-taxed.
So other solutions were sought.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1693) – Finance minister.
Promoted mercantilism especially- “bullionism”
His goals was self-sufficiency for France;
Built roads & canals
Gov’t supported monopolies
Cracked down on guilds
Colbert's aim was to have a trade balance in France's favor
Established Mercantilism.
– It centralizes economy
– Close government control.
– Relieves the need for direct taxes.
– Expansion abroad - emphasis on exports and getting bullion into
the country.
– Trade is needed especially by absolutist governments as it
enables indirect taxes to be raised - which are necessary without
parliaments.
Worldwide Effects of Fiscal Policies
– Expansion of Mercantile empires in India, North America and
above all the West Indies. This was encouraged by
governments.
– Development of Slave trade.
By 1683, France leading industrial country:
– textiles,
– mirrors,
– lacemaking
– foundries for steel making and firearms
Weaknesses:
– Poor peasant conditions (esp. taxation) resulted in large
emigration
– Louis opted for army instead of navy; France later lost naval
wars w/ England
– War in later years nullified Colbert’s gains
Louis at war for 2/3 of his reign
Wars of Louis XIV:
Initially successful but eventually ruinous to France
–
Creation of modern army
William of Orange (later King William III of England) thwarted
Louis’ expansionism
–
War of Devolution (First Dutch War), 1667-68
Second Dutch War (1672-78) – Invasion of the Dutch
Rhineland
Peace of Nijmegan (1678-79): France took Franche-Comté
from Spain
League of Augsburg (formed in 1686): HRE, Spain, Sweden,
Bavaria, Saxony, Dutch Rep.
War of the League of Augsburg (1688-97) – ( King William’s
War): ended in status quo
William of Orange (now king of England) brought England in
against France.
War of Spanish Succession (1701-13) – (Queen Anne’s War)
– In the will of Charles II (Hapsburg king): all Spanish territories to
grandson of Louis XIV
Grand Alliance: England, Dutch Rep., HRE, Brandenburg, Portugal, Savoy
Battle of Blenheim (1704)
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–
Treaty of Utrecht (1713): Britain was biggest winner:
Gained asiento from Spain- to sell slaves to Spanish colonies
Gained Gibraltar and Minorca.
Partitioned Spanish possessions:
Belgium given to Austria
Louis’ grandson enthroned as King of Spain
Prevented unification of Bourbon dynasties.
Kings recognized in Sardinia (Savoy) and Prussia (Brandenburg)
Costs of Louis XIV’s wars:
– Destroyed French economy,
– Depopulation,
– Weakened Louis XIV.
Treaty of Utrecht Map
The Theoretical Elaboration of
Absolutism
Bishop Bousset (1627-1704)
Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Scripture, 1679.
He was tutor to Louis XV
– His basic justification was Divine Right: God makes a King
absolutely sovereign.
Jean Domat, (1625-1696), in Public Law, 1697
– Attempted to set Absolutism in context of law of nature and law
of God.
Thomas Hobbes, in Leviathan, 1651,
– Provided a more modern justification based on Nature.
Other justifications were offered by later writers.
-Voltaire praised Louis XIV as being an effective ruler.
Absolutism in Other States
Some of the Older States Faded
The Holy Roman Empire (the state which
nominally included Germany and
surrounding areas) faded.
So did Poland and the Ottoman Turkey.
Three new powers come to occupy central
Europe in the 18th century.
Austria
Absolutism without a nation-state.
Maria Theresa 1740War of the Austrian Succession
(1740–1748) involved almost all
the major European powers,
– Started with the pretext that Salic
“Frankish law” precluded female
inheritance.
– Maria Theresa inherited her fathers
Charles VI, Habsburg dominions in
1740, namely becoming Queen of
Hungary and Bohemia, Archduchess of
Austria, and Duchess of Parma,
Piacenza, and Guastalla.
– Concluded with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
of 1748.
– Maria Theresa survived sacrificing only the
territory of Silesia to Prussia.
– Sparked the beginning of German Dualism
between Prussia and Austria
– Start of German Nationalism
Prussia
Copied France
Prussia became an important
state under Frederick I (16881713).
Military emphasis:
– The upper class become the officers
in the army.
-300 other states in Germany
remain divided.
Frederick the Great of Prussia
(1740-1786)continued the trend.
Russia
Peter the Great
Catherine II the Great of Russia (b.1729r.1762-d.1796) German-born Tsarina, who
emulated absolutism, but gave over the
peasants to the nobility
Others
Italy
Remained divided with inefficient oldfashioned governments and some
republics.
Large population,
Politically insignificant.
X. Conclusion
Absolutism is the political actuality of the
Ancien Regime.
Development of Early Modern, not
medieval Europe.
Background to French Revolution and also
to the Enlightenment