The Rise of Absolutism Absolutism: - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

The Rise of AbsolutismSlide2

Absolutism:

A political system in which a single ruler has unrestricted powerSlide3

SpainSlide4

King Charles V

1500-1558

Grandson of Ferdinand & Isabella

Also heir

to the Hapsburg family, who ruled over the Holy Roman Empire and the

Netherlands, so

he was King of Spain, King of the Netherlands, and the Holy Roman Emperor (or King of Germany)

all at the same time!Slide5

King

Charles V

Charles was staunchly Catholic and, in his role as Holy Roman Emperor, tried to suppress Martin Luther by issuing the Edict of Worms (and, thereby control his people’s religion)

In

1556, Charles

retired and became a monk, giving control

of the Holy Roman Empire to his brother and control of Spain, its colonies, and the Netherlands to his son Philip II

.Slide6

King Philip II

1556-1598

Made Spain the strongest power in Europe,

based mainly on the immense wealth Spain had due to its American colonies

Absolute Monarch

believed

that he ruled

by “divine right,” or through God’s authority

Sought to protect and strengthen the Catholic Church by outlawing

Protestantism in his lands and

reinstating

the Spanish InquisitionSlide7

Wars of Philip II

Faced rebellion

by Dutch Protestants in the Netherlands

(Dutch broke

free of Spanish rule in 1648, after 67 years of

fighting.)

Attempted

to invade and conquer England in 1588 and claim the throne of his late wife, the Catholic Mary I, from her Protestant sister ElizabethSlide8

The Spanish Armada

Invasion force which included 130 ships and 20,000 men

Despite its formidable size, the Armada was decisively defeated by a combination of bad weather and smaller, faster English ships

Philip had spent so much of Spain’s wealth on the Armada that its failure (coupled with inflation) ruined Spain’s economy and caused Spain to quickly go into decline as a world powerSlide9

FranceSlide10

King Louis XIV

1638 – 1715

Became king at age 5 and ruled for 72 years

Referred to himself as the “Sun King” – because the sun was believed to be the center of the universe by this time

Nearly bankrupted France by building himself a massive new palace at Versailles, which housed 10,000 peopleSlide11

King Louis XIV

Absolutist

Disbanded France’s legislature (Estates General)

Forced the upper nobility to live at Versailles as his perpetual guests so that he could control them

Built

a powerful, professional army of

300,000 men

R

evoked the Edict of Nantes, causing over 100,000Protestants and Jews to flee France

H

is personal motto was “I am the state.”Slide12

Holy Roman Empire (Germany)Slide13

Rise of Austria and Prussia

Holy

Roman Empire was fractured into hundreds of small rival states, each with its own prince; the princes elected the Holy Roman Emperor, thereby keeping the emperor pretty much powerless

In addition, Germany was home to both Catholics and Protestants, and they didn’t like each other very much

These two things added together resulted in the Thirty Years’ WarSlide14

The Thirty Years War

War started in 1618 in Bohemian city of Prague when a rebellion broke out after the king there tried to suppress Protestantism

Both sides sought allies outside of Bohemia, and pretty quickly most of Europe had taken one side or the other

The war was extremely violent; as

much

as 1/3 of central Europe’s population may have diedSlide15

The Peace of Westphalia

Ended Thirty Years War in 1648

France

ended up with more territory, the Holy Roman Empire broke apart into 360 separate states (but still had a figurehead Holy Roman Emperor), Switzerland and the Netherlands became independent states

Led to the rise of Hapsburg Austria in the south, who would grow into a major Catholic

power, and their rival, Hohenzollern

Prussia in the north, a Protestant powerSlide16

Austria’s Maria Theresa

1717 – 1780

Absolutist

Dictated reforms in everything from education to agriculture to the military

Allowed only Catholicism

Employed special “moral decency” police who expelled prostitutes, gamblers, and other undesirables from the state

Forced smallpox inoculation (like a vaccine, but runs the risk of death) on her citizens

Mother of 16 children, including Marie AntoinetteSlide17

Austria’s Joseph II

1741 – 1790

Son of Maria Theresa

Considered an “enlightened despot” – ruled absolutely, but most of his decisions benefitted his people

Allowed freedom of religion, even for Jews (angering Protestant citizens)

Abolished serfdom (angering nobility)

Built public hospitals

Abolished the death penalty

Made elementary education mandatory

Made German the official language (angering non-German citizens)

Patron of the arts: employed both Mozart and Beethoven

Not satisfied with his accomplishments; his epitaph reads: “Here lies Joseph II, who failed in all he undertook”Slide18

Prussia’s Frederick William I

1688 – 1740

Absolutist

Built Prussia into a military state

Made basic education mandatory

Forced the nobility (the Junkers) into serving as the officer-class for his army

Had his own son (and heir) court-martialed at 19Slide19

Prussia’s Frederick II

1712 – 1786

Son of Frederick William I

Another “enlightened despot”

Author of

Anti-Machiavel

(1740), which argued against Machiavelli’s idea that the ends justifies the means

Forcibly modernized Prussian government, agriculture and industry

Practiced religious tolerance, even of Jews, and advocated peace with the Muslims

Musician, artist, and Freemason, he spoke 9 languagesSlide20

RussiaSlide21

Peter the Great

Peter

became czar at age

10,

but did not assume control

until

age 17 in 1689

In 1697, he traveled to Western Europe to investigate stories of fantastic new technologies; he learned about new inventions, new forms of government; he hired many specialists to return to Russia with himIn order to force through his western ideas, which were opposed by many in Russia, Peter became an absolutistSlide22

Peter the Great

Absolutist

Peter wanted

nobles free to serve the state; this meant that

they

had to have a regular income,

so Peter added more serfs

Forced educational and economic reformsForced the

nobility to shave their beards and to adopt western fashionsHarshly put down anyone who opposed him, executed thousandsSlide23

Peter the Great

Expanded Russia’s borders

needed a warm water port

(Russia’s ports were

on the Arctic Ocean and

iced

in

during the winter)tried to seize Black Sea ports from Ottomans, but failedfought a war with Sweden and did manage to secure access to the Baltic Sea

on this new land, Peter built a new capital (called St. Petersburg),

a sort of Russian version of Versailles

Pushed Russia’s borders

as far east as Alaska (N. America)Slide24

Catherine the Great

1729 – 1796

Prussian princess who married Czar Peter III and ascended to the throne after his death

Another “enlightened despot”

Expanded Russian Empire

Brutally suppressed rebellions

Promoted education, even for women

Continued to modernize the government

Heavily censored the press

Promoted Orthodox Christianity, but tolerated Islam and JudaismSlide25

Absolutist Monarchs

Spain

: Charles V, Philip II

France

: Louis XIV

Austria

: Maria Theresa

Prussia: Frederick William I

Russia: Peter the Great