absolutism essay Flashcards
general outline?
Louis XIV and the French model of absolutism
- successes (centralisation, control over nobility, military strength, cultural prestige)
- weaknesses (economics, religion, wars)
Britain as counterexample
- Glorious revolution and bill of rights
- legal constraints on the monarchy
- long term success and stability compared to Louis
Rise of enlightened absolutism
- context of the enlightenment
- Frederick the Great in Prussia
- Maria Theresa and Joseph II in Austria
Caveat
- background to the 1848 revolutions
- absolutism not long termed sustainable
- only systems willing to embed legal limits on power could adapt successfully to the pressures of modernity
Louis XIV’s centralisation
- building of Versailles
- movement of the court there
- system of intendants and regional parlements
Louis XIV’s control over nobility
- petit levee
- nobles of the sword and robe and who he put in position of power
- quashing fouquet when he got too powerful
- how this was particularly important after the frondes
Louis XIV’s military strength
- success in the war of devolution against the spanish
- success in the dutch war
- lightning warfare
- expansion of territory, various provinces
- gloire
Louis XIV’s cultural prestige
- championing of arts and sciences
- the gobelins
- his love of jewels, dancing, art, the gardens at Versailles
Louis XIV economic failures
Colbert initially successful
- infrastructure, canal des deux mers, the corvee, the first paved road, abolishing tolls, internal manufacturing
- too focused on mercantilism
Unable to be maintained
- dependent on military success
- later years without skill of Colbert and funds being eaten up by war unable to repay loans, extortionate interest rates
- Pelletier, Pontchartrain and other Colbert not as skilled
Louis XIV religious intolerance
Huguenots
- 1685 revocation of the edict of nantes
- brutal policies leading to mass emigration, many fought in upcoming wars in England
- never fully quashed them
Papacy
- Gallican articles of 1682 alienated them
- Leibniz ‘most christian turk’
Jansenists
- at Port Royal, never able to eradicate them
- Unigenitus papal bull ineffective
- made him look brutal and cruel, graves exhumed
Louis XIV military weakness
- nine years war and war of spanish succession saw nowhere near the same successes of the two earlier wars
- France’s hegemonic and hawkish position saw other European countries gang up against him
- strength of enemies like William of Orange and military leaders like Malborough
- less money to go into war because of economic situation
Glorious revolution and bill of rights
- William of Orange effectively asked to come in and take power from James II because of his weak power and basically being a Catholic
- Easy victory with no war/deaths really
- Bill of rights based on the theories of Locke, set limits on the power of the monarchy, established rights of parliament (parliamentary privilege) as well as a list of individual rights such as freedom from cruel and unusual punishment
- Now a central part of Britain’s uncodified constitution
- General construction of serious checks from parliament on the power of the monarchy such as levying taxes without approval of parliament is illegal
why is Britain useful as a counterexample?
shows that limits on royal power lead to more durable governance
context of the enlightenment
- Kant’s ideals
- The idea that reason should be the primary form of governance, not the arbitrary rule of monarchs, tradition, church etc.
- Particularly appeared in France after the death of Louis XIV
- Philosophes applied a scientific method of inquiry into rule
Frederick the Great in Prussia
1740-86
- Led Prussia to be a leading military power
- Territorial expansions that saw the partition of Poland in 1772
- Voltaire stayed at his court showing enlightenment ideals, strong military leader
- Enlightened reforms included reforming justice system, elementary education, abolishment of capital punishment, end of forced labour for peasant population and ease in religious toleration
Maria Theresa of Austria
1740-80
- Habsburg ruler, HRE Empress
- She improved the economy of the state, introduced a national education system, and contributed to important reforms in medicine
- Didn’t really share the same fascination with enlightenment ideals though
Joseph II of Austria
1765-90
inspired a complete reform of the legal system, ended censorship of the press and theater, and continued his mother’s reforms in education and medicine
caveat?
- But really absolutism of any kind wasn’t sustainable
- Foreshadow 1848 revolutions that were particularly strong in Prussia and Austria, the revolutions revealed the deeper structural weaknesses
- In contrast Britain, because of its constitutional monarchy, never faced a major revolution, some unrest but nowhere near the same scale
- This suggests that only systems willing to embed legal limits on power could adapt successfully to the pressures of modernity
- Britain was able to adapt to liberal reforms but the structure of absolutism was too rigid
