Absolutism - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Absolutism

SSWH14 The student will analyze the Age of Revolutions and Rebellions.

a. Examine absolutism through a comparison of the rules of Louis XIV, Tsar Peter the Great, and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

• A political system in which a ruler holds total power (p. 441)
• Tied to the divine right of kings
• Kings responsible to no one but God
• Absolute monarchs had tremendous powers such as to make laws, levy taxes, administer justice, control the state’s officials, and determine foreign policy

• Long regarded as the best example of the practice of absolutism in the 17th century
• Came to the throne in 1643 at the age of 4
• Took over supreme power at the age of 23 with the death of chief minister Cardinal Mazarin

• One of the keys to his power was his control of the central policy making of the government
• Royal court established at Versailles had three purposes
• Personal household of the king
• Chief offices of the state were located there
• Powerful subjects came to find favors & offices for themselves

• Government ministers EXPECTED to obey his every wish.
• Complete authority over foreign policy, the Church, and taxes
• In the provinces, the king had less power so he bribed important people to guarantee his policies were carried out
• Goal to make France the preeminent power in Europe & achieve military glory

He waged 4 wars between 1667 and 1713.

• One of most prominent members of the Romanov dynasty
• Became czar (or tsar) in 1689
• Absolutist monarch who claimed divine right to rule
• Visited the west and came back determined to westernize or Europeanize Russia
• Under Peter, Russia became a great military power
• By his death, Russia was an important European state

• Reorganize the army
• Form the first Russian navy
• Divided Russia into provinces
• Hoped to create a police state
• Hoped for civic duty from officials, but his fears prevented it

• Began to introduce Western customs, practices, & manners into Russia
• Beards were shaved and coats shortened to imitate the west
• Insisted Russian upper class women remove the veils that had traditionally covered their face and move out into society

• Object of reforms = Make Russia into a great state and military power
• To do this he needed a port with access to Europe
• A long and hard fought war with Sweden achieved this goal
• St. Petersburg- a port city on the Baltic Sea became the capital and would remain such until 1918

• Moved Japan’s capital to Edo, the later became Tokyo
• He required the daimyo to spend every other year at the capital so he could keep an eye on them.
• Reducing the power of the daimyo helped restore a centralized government.
• He established the Tokugawa Shogunate.
• The rule of law overcame rule by the sword.