Absolutism

Absolutism: Ultimate authority of the state in the hands of a monarch, who typically claimed divine right
Divine-Right Monarchy: The concept that God has given a monarch sovereign rule; only God can hold them accountable; popularized by Bishop Jacques Bossuet
Monarchs typically controlled the nobility, used mercantilist policies, and had large armies
A centralized bureaucracy supported the monarch

Absolutism in France

Cardinal Richelieu: Louis XIII's chief minister; controlled nobles and Huguenots
Intendants: Purchased government positions; went to the provinces to execute the central government's orders
Cardinal Richelieu increased the taille (tax) to pay for the Thirty Years' War, but France's debt continued to spiral
Cardinal Marazin: Dominated government before Louis XIV was old enough to rule
Marazin was unpopular with the nobles because of increased centralization of power
The Nobles of the Robe (service nobles), along with the Parlement of Paris, led the first Fronde, which ended in compromise
The second Fronde was led by Nobles of the Sword (hereditary nobles)

King Louis XIV

Believed in divine right and portrayed himself as the Sun King— the light of all France
Versailles: Louis XIV's large, ornate palace; the center of France's politics
The government was administered from Versailles, further centralizing it
Louis distracted the nobility with elaborate court rituals
He dominated his ministers and did not allow them to make decisions
Internal administration was more difficult and mostly done by bribery
Edict of Fontainebleau: Banned Huguenots from practicing in France; many fled, weakening the economy
Stephen Colbert: Louis XIV's minister of finance, adhered to mercantilist policies, especially via tariffs and internal improvements
Peasants were taxed the most
Louis required nobles to participate in rituals at Versailles to be considered "people of quality"
France invaded Spanish Netherlands, and Triple Alliance (Dutch, English, and Swedish) forced him to sue for peace
In the Dutch War, Louis invaded the United Provinces, but Brandenburg, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire forced him to stop
The League of Augsburg (England, Sweden, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and the United Provinces) were formed in response to Louis invading Alsace and Lorraine; the war was bitter and hurt France economically
The War of the Spanish Succession was intended to stop France and Spain from being jointly ruled by a Bourbon dynasty after King Philip of Spain ascended the throne
The Peace of Utrecht allowed the Spanish Bourbon dynasty to continue but affirmed that the Spanish and French thrones would remain separate
As a result, England became more powerful

Spain's Decline

Philip II went bankrupt at the end of the 16th century because of money spent on wars, and Philip III continued this pattern by spending excessive money on court
Philip III allowed the corrupt Duke of Lerma to run the country, worsening Spain's financial problems
Philip IV attempted to revive Spain by centralizing the monarchy, but the aristocracy was too large and powerful for significant success
The Thirty Years' War further ruined Spain financially

German States

The Peace of Westphalia left most of the Holy Roman Empire split into many sovereign states

Brandenburg-Prussia

Frederick William, the Great Elector: Hohenzollern; built a large army
The General War Commissariat began as a way to raise money for the army, but became a civil government agency as well
The Junkers (Prussian aristocracy) often served both in the Commissariat and in the army as officers
The nobles agreed to allow Frederick William to essentially control the provincial Estates-General in exchange for free reign with peasants, tax exemptions, and important positions
The nobles' agreement allowed serfdom to continue in Brandenburg-Prussia
Frederick III, Frederick William's son, became the King of Prussia thanks to his father's efforts

Austria

At the end of the Thirty Years' War, the Hapsburgs switched their focus to Austria
Leopold I moved the empire's possessions further East but was challenged by the Ottoman Empire
By the end of the War of Spanish Succession, Austria had acquired much of Southeastern Europe, including the Spanish Netherlands, and occupied much of Spanish Italy
Austria was not very centralized, it was mostly unified by regional aristocrats' responsibility to the House of Hapsburg

Italy

In the mid-1500s, Italy was given over to Spain
Only Florence, the Papal States, and Venice had any autonomy from the beginning of Philip II's reign to 1713
The Church's influence led to Italy being heavily controlled by Counter-Reformation orthodoxy
After the War of Spanish Succession, Austria became dominant in Italy

Russia

Ivan the Terrible (1544-1584) centralized the czar's power by taking away the Boyars' power
After Ivan's dynasty ended, the Time of Troubles (a succession crisis) did not end until the Zemsky Sobor elected Michael Romanov as czar
Russian society was dominated by the nobility, who held serfs because of an abundance of land and shortage of peasants
Peter the Great Westernized Russia, especially with technology
He created a large standing army and Russia's first navy
Peter's Senate was an ineffective ruling council, so he used "colleges" of administrators with specific functions
He intended to create a peaceful, well-controlled Russia where people worked hard out of civic duty, but he often used too much force
A ranking system allowed non-nobles to join the nobility based on merit, but Peter's successors did not continue this
He attempted to use mercantilism to raise money, but had to rely on taxing peasants
In 1772, Peter abolished the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church and replaced it with the Holy Synod, headed by the procurator who represented his interests
Peter culturally Westernized Russia; he shaved people's beards and shortened their coats himself
Women's social status benefitted from Peter's reforms
In an attempt to gain a Western port on the Baltic, Peter invaded Sweden, which began the Great Northern War (1701-1709)
The Peace of Nystadt gave Peter Estonia, Livonia, and Karelia
Saint Petersburg became Russia's new capital city and "window to the West"
Peter's Westernization only benefitted the upper classes and worsened conditions for everyone else

Northern States

Denmark and Sweden were both Lutheran, but had bitter territorial rivalries

Denmark

Due to Denmark's system of electing monarchs, Christian IV had difficulty centralizing the country; thus, he had little success expanding the country
This was worsened by Dutch territorial losses in the Thirty Years' War and Northern War with Sweden
In 1660, a bloodless revolution led to the creation of a centralized, hereditary monarchy, and a reduction in the nobility's power

Sweden

Sweden was relatively powerful in the Absolutist era, despite its relative poverty and powerful monarchy
Gustavus Adolphus (r. 1611-1632) formed a First Estate of nobles, which consisted of bureaucratic positions in the centralized government
This created a stable monarchy, but he was killed in battle during the Thirty Years' War, which led to a political crisis
His daughter Christina favored the monarchy over the other Estates of the parliament (the peasants, clergy, and burghers), which almost caused a peasant revolt
Christina converted to Catholicism and abdicated in 1654
Charles X taking the throne prevented a peasant revolt against Christina
Charles XI centralized Sweden
Charles XII, however, lost much of Sweden's land to Russia, and Sweden's power was vastly reduced as a result

The Ottoman Empire

After the Turks conquered Constantinople, they tried to conquer the entire Balkans, but were stopped by internal issues
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent captured Belgrade and Hungary, and expanded into the Southern Mediterranean
Despite religious differences and talks of another Crusade, the Ottoman Empire was treated as a European power
The Empire was mostly well-organized and administered, except for occasional governmental chaos
The military was powerful, especially because of Janissaries: Christian boys taken from their parents, converted to Islam, and trained
In 1683, the Ottoman Empire lost Hungary and ceased to be a threat to Europe

Limited Monarchies and Republics

Poland's Weak Monarchy

In 1539, the Polish and Lithuanian crowns merged under the Jagiello dynasty
Polish nobles elected the the king and limited his power
Polish peasants stayed in a state of serfdom
In 1572, the Jagiello dynasty ended, and kings were chosen from outside Poland to create new alliances
The Swedish Sigismund III (r. 1587-1631) failed to make Poland a vast empire and decentralized the state
The Sejm was the Polish assembly where landowners outnumbered and dominated townspeople and lawyers
Kings had to share power for taxation with the Sejm
In 1652, the liberum veto was enacted, so one dissenting vote stopped the entire Sejm meetings
Poland became a loose, noble-controlled and often invaded confederation

The Dutch Republic

The United Provinces’ rise to power was part of a shift of power from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic coast of Europe
The United Provinces of the Netherlands were officially recognized by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648
Each Dutch province had a stadholder who led the army and maintained order, usually part of the House of Orange, who began advocating for a centralized monarchy
The States General was a representative assembly from each province that favored a republican government against the Orangists
In 1672, William III of Orange came to power to centralize the Netherlands against France and England
He died in 1702 and left no heirs, so the republicans took control back
The Netherlands’ success was chiefly economic, so a decline began by 1715 because of the success of English shipping
In the late 1500s and early 1600s, Amsterdam’s population growth led to an “urban expansion plan“
Amsterdam’s population reached 200,000 by 1660, much of which included refugees from the Spanish Netherlands
Amsterdam was the commercial center of Europe, largely because of its many ships, and fluyts: shallow ships with large capacity, used to transport cereals, timber, and iron
City industries allowed Amsterdam to export manufactured goods with raw materials from the Dutch East and West India companies
Much profit came from the manufacture of war materials like guns
The Exchange Bank of Amsterdam and Amsterdam Stock Exchange contributed to its financial prowess
Wealthy, government-controlling Calvinists were initially austere, but became less so by the 1650s
Dutch homes were known for their cleanliness

England

Queen Elizabeth I had no heirs, so England was ruled by James VI of Scotland, an ineffective ruler who conflicted much with Parliament and believed in the divine right of kings
Parliament expected England to be ruled by king and Parliament together as a “balanced polity”
Parliament’s control of finances gave it power over James I
The Puritans pressured James I to replaces the episcopal (bishop-centered) system in the Church of England with a Presbyterian one
Puritans opposed the monarchical authority, and became more powerful as the gentry (which dominated the House of Commons) joined them
In 1628, during the rule of Charles I, Parliament passed the Petition of Right, which limited the king's powers; he could not receive tax revenues without it
From 1629 to 1640, Charles I did not summon Parliament to meet and found alternative ways to make revenue, such as ship money: a tax on coastal towns to pay for their defense
The use of ship money angered the merchants and landed gentry, because it was a tax without Parliament's consent
Charles I married a Catholic, sparking suspicion about his beliefs
Efforts by Charles and the Archbishop of Canterbury to add more tradition to the Anglican Church were seen as a return to Catholicism
When the king tried to force Presbyterian Scotland to accept the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, Scotland revolted, forcing him to call Parliament into session
The Long Parliament (1640-1660) limited the king's power by abolishing taxes placed without their consent and passing the Triennial Act, forcing Parliament to meet at least once every three years
Some Parliamentarians pushed for the abolition of bishops in the Anglican Church; the king tried to arrest them, triggering a civil war
Parliament was successful early in the English Civil War because the New Model Army (consisting of extreme Puritans called the Independents who felt they were doing God's will) was motivated and well-trained by Oliver Cromwell
The first phase of the war ended in 1646 when Cromwell's army captured King Charles I
The army split into a group that wanted to establish a Presbyterian state church and radical independents who wanted to negotiate with the king
Charles I fled and was helped by the Scots
In 1648, Cromwell began the process of recapturing Charles
Parliament was purged, creating the Rump Parliament consisting of 53 members of the House of Commons
The Rump Parliament charged Charles with treason and beheaded him n 1649
Cromwell declared England a republic/commonwealth in 1649
As the leader of the commonwealth, he had to crush a Catholic uprising in Ireland, then one in Scotland by Charles I's son
Cromwell faced opposition from the Levellers who called for aid for the poor, equality for women, universal male suffrage, religious toleration, and freedom of speech
In April 1653, Cromwell dispelled the Rump Parliament by force
Cromwell tried to put in place the Instrument of Government, a constitution that held him as Lord Protector in cooperation with Parliament, but dissolved England into military-ruled regions
Cromwell put a 10% land tax on former Royalists
After Cromwell's death in 1658, the monarchy was reinstated, with Charles II as the new king
After Charles II's restoration, the Revolution affected the balance of power with Parliament, but Charles II continued to push his own ideas
Parliament met in 1661 and passed laws forcing everyone to conform to the Anglican Church
In 1672, Charles passed the Declaration of Independence stopping anti-Catholic and Puritan laws; in response, Parliament passed the anti-Catholic Test Act of 1673, forbidding non-Anglicans from holding military and civil office
Charles's brother James was a Catholic, furthering anti-Catholic sentiment
Whigs wanted to exclude James, establish a Protestant king who tolerated Dissenters
Tories wanted to keep Charles and felt Parliament should not tamper with succession
To avoid the Whigs, Charles did not call Parliament and relied on French subsidies until his death in 1685
James II was strongly pro-Catholic and passed the Declaration of Indulgences (1687), stopping laws banning Catholics and Dissenters from office
Much conflict was avoided because James was old and his only children were his Protestant daughters Mary and Anne, until his son was born in 1688
James's daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange took over the throne bloodlessly, while James fled to France
William and Mary were confirmed as monarchs by the 1688 Revolution Settlement, which was reaffirmed by the Convention Parliament in 1689
The Constitution Parliament stated that James had breached the contract between the king and people and deemed the throne vacant, offering the position to William and Mary
The 1689 Bill of Rights affirmed Parliament's rights to make laws and taxes, stopped kings from raising standing armies without Parliament's consent, and allowed some rights of citizens
The Toleration Act of 1689 did not stop the persecution of Puritan Dissenters completely, but allowed them to worship freely
The Glorious Revolution ended the divine-right theory and established a constitutional monarchy with Parliament in power