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Western Europe:
Geography
 Both in England and France, most of population was
agrarian and were farmers
 Atlantic Ocean to the west allowed for easy trade
access with rest of world
Political
 France:
 Absolutism rulers began with Henry IV of Navarre,
the first of the the Bourbon Dynasty, followed by
Louis XIII
 Richelieu laid the foundation for absolutism with the
intendant system, politique, and weakening of the
nobility
“The Sun King”
 Louis XIV was the epitome of an absolute
ruler
 “L’etat c’est moi”
 Divine right to rule
 Louis XIV’s Wars
 War of Devolution (First Dutch War) 16671168
 Second Dutch War, 1672-1678
 War of League of Ausburg, 1688-1697
 War of Spanish Succession, 1701-1713
Economic
 Mercantilism
 Duke of Sully: laid foundation for mercantilism by
granting monopolies and reforming tax system
 Richelieu built upon Sully by increasing taxation to fund
the military  exploitation of peasantry
 Old system of selling offices
 Three estates: social order based on wealth and power
Religion
 Catholicism vs. Calvinism
 Edict of Nantes passed by Henry of Navarre
 Edict of Fountainbleu revokes it
 Divine Right
 Absolute rulers, most notably Louis XIV, believed they
had had God’s blessing to rule  absolute power
Social
 Traditional Feudal France
 Arranged in Three Estates
 First: Clergy, 1% of population
 Second: nobility, 3-4% of population
 Third: bourgeoisie (middle class), artisans, peasants
 Agriculture
 Primarily agrarian with 90% of population lived in
countryside
Intellectual
 Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
 Argues for a social contract
 Absolute sovereign
 Provided basis for reformed Parliament
 Second Treatise of Civil Government by John Locke
 People set up civil governments to protect life,
liberty, and property
 Government can be overthrown by the people if seen
as oppressive and tyrannical
Artistic
 French Baroque
 Overwhelming emotion, grandeur, and movement
 Sought to demonstrate power and influence
 Baroque was popular in France, Austria, Germany, and
Poland and would later spread to Protestant countries
like England and Netherlands
 French Architecture
 Elaborate buildings and ornate details to show the
power and wealth of the absolute ruler (Louis XIV)
Baroque Art
Technology
 The Printing Press
 Gutenberg’s Bible
 Mass printing  easier distribution
 Oil Painting
 Baroque Art
Political:
England
Monarchy vs. Parliament
 The Power Struggle
 England’s problem was who would have more power in
the government, the King or Parliament?
 Charles was defeated and was forced to summon
Parliament for support  Long Parliament
 They decided they would not give Charles an army and
they destroyed the English monarchy  Cromwell and
the New Model Army
Economic
 Mercantilism
 Like France, England used mercantilism as its main
source of economic power
 They used joint stock companies throughout their
colonies to exploit and make a profit from those
colonies
Religion
 Religious Issues
 Anglican vs. Calvinism/Puritanism, sparking English
Civil War between Royalists and Parliamentarians
 The monarchy wanted an absolute Anglican state but
were challenged by the people
 After the Glorious Revolution, “Nonconformists” had
the freedom to worship
Social
 England became an economic superpower with their
extensive trade  rise of merchants within society
 Cities such as London became crowded and
overpopulated  The Great Plague of London killing
over 100k
 England’s growth as an economic power created a shift
from living in the countryside to living in or close to
the city = easier control of the people by the
government
Central/Eastern Europe
 French Absolutism vs. Eastern Absolutism
 Eastern absolutism was based on a powerful nobility,
weak middle class, and an oppressed peasantry with
serfs
 In France, the nobility’s power was limited, the middle
class was somewhat strong, and the peasants were free
from serfdom
Why Serfdom?
 Kings were “first among equals” so they directly benefitted
from serfdom
 Constant warfare and political chaos allowed landowning
nobility to gain power at expense of monarch
 Peasants were weaker in the East so uprisings did not
succeed
 Weak Eastern kings could not establish policies limiting
nobility’s power
The Hapsburg Empire
(Austrian Empire)
 Lack of Unity
 Austrian Empire was multinational which included Germans,
Italians, Czechs, Hungarians, Serbs, Croats, Romanians
 No single administration or government existed as each
region had legal relationship to Holy Roman Emperor
 Important Rulers




Ferdinand II- took control of Bohemia
Ferdinand III- centralized government in old Austria
Leopold I- restricted Protestant worship
Charles VI- Pragmatic Sanction in 1713
Prussia
 Frederick William, The “Great Elector”
 Made Prussia powerful and laid foundation for future Germany
 Prussian militarism  most powerful army in Europe and rise of
Junkers
 Frederick I
 Fought in two wars against Louis XIV: War of League of
Augsburg and War of Spanish Succession
 Allied with Hapsburgs  “King of Prussia”
 Frederick William I
 Created a militarist society  Sparta of the North
 Doubled the size of army and Junkers’ power increased
Frederick the Great
 Most powerful and famous of the Prussian kings who
is considered to be an “Enlightened Despot” for his
incorporation of Enlightenment ideals into his reign
 Instituted number of reforms
 Increased territory at the expense of Austrian
Hapsburgs
Russia
 The Ivans
 Ivan III and Ivan the Terrible both ruled Russia with an
absolute rule and their military power
 Both limited power of the Boyars, the nobility, and
exerting their control on the oppressed serfs and
peasants
 After Ivan the Terrible’s death, Russia entered the period
known as the Time of Troubles
 Period of famine, power struggles, and war
Westernization
 Peter the Great
 After Peter’s travels to the West to study technology and
culture, he brought back his knowledge to Russia to
improve their country
 He imported a large number of Western technicians and
craftsmen to help with building of factories
 State-regulated monopolies were created which reflected
Western industrialization
 By the end of his reign, iron production in Russia
surpassed that of England
FRQ
 Louis XIV declared his goal was “one king. One lawy,
one faith.” Analyze the methods the king used to
achieve this objective and discuss to which he was
successful.
 In what ways and to what extent did absolutism affect
the power and the status of the European nobility in
the period of 1650-1750? Use examples from at least
TWO countries. (one eastern, one western country)
Thesis: King Louis XIV successfully achieved absolute power by strengthening the
influence of government institutions, distracting aristocrats from gaining power of their
own, and by ridding the nation of religious opposition.
1. Strengthening power of government
-intendants: officers hand-picked by Louis to enforce king's will by districts.
-getting rid of private armies
- strict control over institutions like banks and law enforcement
2. Distraction of aristocrats
-Palace of Versailles : "pleasure prison"
-nobles required to stay at palace for long periods throughout the year to keep an eye on
them
-kept them from secretly plotting to seize power
3. Revoking religious toleration
-Revocation of Edict of Nantes
- persecuted Huguenots
- 100,000 fled from France --> not good for economy ---> French Revolution.
Thesis: The class of nobles consisted the same members of society in both
the East and West during the age of absolutism, but their powers and
strength were very different from one another seen in the economy and
social influence.
France
-Weak nobility so monarch could have absolute power
-Absolute control gave the monarch control over the economy (monopolies,
joint stock companies)
-“nobility of the sword” not allowed to influence royal council
-“nobility of the robe” new nobles who purchased their titles from the
monarchy and became govt officials
Russia
-struggled for power with monarch but eventually power decreased due to
power exerted on peasants
-nobles forced to serve the tsar in order to keep their lands
-many were executed because they threatened the power of the tsar
-many granted exemptions from military service
-power too strong  created new nobility loyal to tsar