World History
Absolutism
Journal
“Power corrupts, and
Absolute power corrupts
absolutely”
What does this mean when
applied to government?
Essential Question for
Unit
Evaluate how
absolutism
affected various
European states.
France under Louis XIV
Louis XIV was an absolute monarch
whose rule was admired and imitated
throughout Europe.
France under Louis XIV (cont.)
• Louis XIV is regarded as the best example
of absolutism in the seventeenth century.
• Louis XIV strengthened control of the
government and stabilized France politically,
economically, and socially.
• Prior to Louis XIV becoming king, Cardinals
Richelieu and Mazarin weakened Protestant
power and strengthened royal power.
France under Louis XIV (cont.)
• Louis ruled without the assistance of a royal
council, and had complete control of foreign
policy, the Church, and taxes.
• Jean-Baptiste Colbert helped to make
France more powerful economically by
improving trade, communications,
transportation, and by creating a merchant
marine.
• To maintain religious harmony, Louis
pursued an anti-Protestant policy aimed at
converting the Huguenots to Catholicism.
France under Louis XIV (cont.)
• To ensure that his Bourbon dynasty
dominated Europe, Louis developed a
standing army and waged four wars between
1667 and 1713.
• Louis left the legacy of an absolute ruler who
strengthened France.
• Louis’s political policies and lavish lifestyle
left France with great debts and surrounded
by enemies.
How did Louis XIV maintain religious
harmony in France?
A. He pursued an anti-Protestant
policy to convert Huguenots to
Catholicism.
B. He made Protestantism the
official state religion. A. A
C. He was tolerant of Catholics B. B
and Protestants. C.0%C 0%
0% 0%
D. He destroyed Catholic D. D
A
B
C
D
churches and schools.
Absolutism in Central and Eastern
Europe
Prussia and Austria emerged as great
European powers in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries.
Absolutism in Central and Eastern
Europe (cont.)
• Following the Thirty Years’ War, there were
more than three hundred independent
German states.
• Prussia and Austria rose to become
European powers.
• Frederick William the Great Elector laid
the foundation for Prussia by creating the
fourth-largest military force
in Europe.
Expansion of Prussia and Austria to 1720
Absolutism in Central and Eastern
Europe (cont.)
• Frederick William centralized power by
setting up the General War Commissariat to
levy taxes for the army and govern the state.
• The new Austrian Empire was established by
the Hapsburg family, who had previously
provided emperors for the Holy Roman
Empire.
Absolutism in Central and Eastern
Europe (cont.)
• The Hapsburgs created a new empire,
including present-day Austria, the Czech
Republic, and Hungary.
• The Austrian monarchy never became a
centralized, absolutist state, but remained a
collection of territories held together by the
Hapsburg emperor.
• Too many national groups kept Austria from
being highly centralized.
Why was the Austrian monarchy unable to
create a centralized government?
A. It was too weak after
the Thirty Years’ War.
B. It had to focus on
the Ottoman Turks. A. A
C. The nobles had too B. B
much power. 0% 0% 0% 0%
C. C
D. The empire was made up
A
B
C
D
of many different national groups. D. D
Peter The Great
Russia emerged as a great power
under Peter the Great.
Peter The Great (cont.)
• In sixteenth-century Russia, Ivan IV became
the first ruler to take the title of czar.
• Ivan expanded Russian territory and crushed
the power of the boyars. He became known
as “Ivan the Terrible.”
• Following the end of Ivan’s dynasty in 1598,
the national assembly selected Michael
Romanov as the new czar in 1613.
Expansion of Russia, 1505–1725
Peter The Great (cont.)
• In 1689 Peter the Great became czar. He
modernized the military and made Russia a
power in European affairs.
• Peter introduced Russians to the culture of
Western Europe, and built the new capital
city of St. Petersburg on the Baltic Sea to
“open a window to the West.”
• Part of the reforms were that the men were
to shave their beards like the men in
Western Europe.
Why did Peter the Great demand that
Russian men shave their beards?
A. He wanted to follow his
Orthodox faith.
B. He wanted people to know
he controlled their lives. A. A
C. He did not have a beard, and B. 0% B
0% 0% 0%
wanted his subjects to imitate him.
C. C
A
B
C
D
D. Men in Western Europe did
not have beards. D. D