AP European History Unit 3 Review: Absolutism and Constitutionalism

• Unit 3 covers two types of government: absolutism and constitutionalism.

• Focus on which states adopted which system and why.

• Previous themes: state centralization, the Reformation, and religious wars paved the way for these changes.

Absolutism

• Absolutism: all state power is consolidated under the monarch.

  • Pre-absolutism: power shared among monarchs, nobles, and the church.

• Factors for absolutism:

  • Weakened Catholic Church due to Protestantism; end of religious wars post-Peace of Westphalia.

  • Expanding merchant class sought stability from absolute monarchs.

  • Power shifted from nobility to the merchant class, increasing monarchs' power.

Louis XIV of France

• Louis XIV: prime example of an absolutist ruler.

  • Famously stated, "L'état, c'est moi" (I am the state).

• The Fronde: rebellion of nobles led to desire for a strong ruler.

Consolidation of Power

• Intendant System: Louis used bureaucratic agents to enforce policies.

• Palace of Versailles: relocated nobles for loyalty and distraction.

• Revocation of the Edict of Nantes: removed Huguenot protections, merging political and religious power.

• Military Expansion: financed by mercantilist policies; improved balance of trade but wars negated economic gains.

Peter the Great of Russia

• By 1682, Russia