Chapter 2 - State-Building, Absolutism, and Constitutionalism in the Trans-Atlantic World Flashcards
Who was the regent that looked over the throne of Louis XIV while he was a child?
Cardinal Mazarin.
What French king was the paragon of absolutism?
King Louis XIV.
What is absolutism?
The King reigns without any Constitutional limitations and his will and edicts are law.
What phrase captures the spirit of absolutism?
I am the State.
What is the basis of absolutism?
The Divine Right of Kings
What was the Divine Right of Kings?
God installed the king on the throne and a King was responsible to God alone. God would judge a King for his actions.
What revolution did Louis XIV have to face at the beginning of his reign?
The Fronde.
Why did the Fronde occur?
Due to Mazarin’s oppressive taxation policies.
What was Louis XIV’s nickname?
Louis the “Sun King”
Where was most of Louis XIV’s power based?
His popularity.
How did Louis XIV transform the nobility?
1) Distributing Court Favors
2) Constructing the Palace of Versailles
3) Spent on Public Works
What were Court Favors?
Titles, Monetary and Land Grants, and Exemptions From Things.
What types of activities occurred at Versailles?
Parties, Balls and Court Life Focused on the King
What is the term used to describe public spending focused on showing the people the King cared about them?
Evergetism.
What god did Louis XIV associate himself with?
Apollo
What religious protection did Louis XIV rescind?
The Edict of Nantes.
What group did the Louis XIV especially persecute?
The Jansenists.
What process did Louis XIV complete for France?
The Conversion of France into a modern nation state.
What were the SEVEN important traits of the Modern Nation State?
1) A Strong Executive Initially
2) A Measure of Religious Cohesion (With the existence of minority religious groups is some cases.)
3) Uniform Ethnic and Cultural Character
4) A National bureaucracy based on Merit.
5) Mercantilism Was The Predominant Economic System
6) Big and Professional Armies (Standing Armies.)
7) Went to War over 1) Commercial Interests and 2) Ease of Victory for Western States over non-Western States.
What is the title given to French Bureaucrats?
Intendants
Define Mercantilism.
The economic system that maximizes exports and minimizes imports.
Who was France’s most successful king?
Louis XIV.
What state became the most powerful nation state in the early 1700s?
France.
What family was Tsar Alexi, ruler of Russia, part of?
The Romanov family.
What was the major reform enacted by Tsar Alexei in 1649?
The Codification of Social Structures.
What were the practical effects of the Codification of Social Structures?
1) Merged Slaves and Peasants into One Serf Class.
2) Cause Lots of Revolutions
Who were the landed Aristocracy in Russia?
1) The Small class of Russian Orthodox Priests.
2) The Nobility
What was the Russian assembly called and how strong was it?
The Assembly of the Land
What assembly replaced the Assembly of the Land?
The Russian Duma.
Who was the ultimate authority in Russia?
The Tsar.
What was the first successful Russian revolution?
The Bolshevik Revolution.
Toward what country did Alexei start Russian hostility towards?
Poland.
How did Alexei show his hostility to Poland?
By annexing parts of Poland.
Why was Poland weak enough to allow nations take parts of its territory?
It had suffered a Ukrainian revolution which weakened its political power to keep its empire in order.
Who was in contention for the English throne after Elizabeth I died heirless?
1) James VI King of Scotland
2) Mary Queen of Scots
Who succeeded Elizabeth I as King of England?
James VI who became James I.
What was the reign of James I called?
The Jacobean period.
What occurred in regards to culture during the Jacobean period?
A Cultural outpouring marked by Shakespeare and the King James Bible.
How did King James treat his Kingship?
He expounded on the divine right of Kings and regularly disheveled parliament.
Who inherited the throne after the death of James I?
Charles I.
What English philosophers changed the political landscape between James I and Charles I?
1) John Locke contemplating Natural Law.
What did Natural Law postulate?
That there may be a higher law the could limit the right of Kings.
How did Charles I respond when parliament disagreed with him?
He disbanded it for 11 years.
What was the religious trouble Puritans saw in England?
Papist plotters and Anglicans.
What religious group did Charles I suppress in Scotland?
Covenanters.
How did Charles I attempt to Anglicanize protestants?
By imposing the English Book of Common Prayer.
Was Charles I successful in his attempt Anglicanize the Scottish Covenanters?
No.
What English special appellate court was harsh to Puritans and Presbyterians?
The Star Court
What prompted Charles I to reconvene parliament?
A Need For Funding
What did parliament use the session to do?
1) Repeal Charles I’s powerful institutions
2) Establish the Mandatory Meeting of Parliament.