Absolutism
The “Sun King,” Ivan the Terrible,
and the 7ft tall Peter the Great
Side note: Czar and Tsar are the same
Empires and Absolutism
• How do empires develop? Why?
• What is absolutism? Is it ever necessary?
Versailles, where Louis
XIV was able to keep an
eye on potential
political opponents.
The Sun King 1638-1715
• Louis XIV: “I am the
state.”
• Divine right of kings: king
was God’s representative
on earth
• obedience to king =
obedience to God
• King could do no wrong
“I almost had to wait.”
Louis XIV Rule
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Centralized control
French became the language of diplomacy
Versailles: the center of French Political life
Revoked the Edict of Nantes (which gave rights to
Calvinists- protestants)
– Catholicism: only legal religion
– 200,000 Huguenots emigrated to England, Holland
and North America
• Fought four wars to stop Hapsburg dominance
in Europe– though, the tables turn!
Russian Absolutism
Russia Timeline
Early Modern Period: 1450-1750
• 1462: Much of Russia freed from Tatars by Ivan III (the Great)
• 1533-1584: Life of Ivan IV (the terrible)
• 1552-1556: Russian expansion in central Asia, western
Siberia
• 1604-1613: Time of Troubles
• 1613-1917: Romanov dynasty
• 1649: Law enacted making serfdom hereditary
• 1689-1725: Reign of Peter the Great
• 1700-1721: Wars with Sweden
• 1703: Founding of St. Petersburg
• 1762-1796: Reign of Catherine the Great
Impact of the Mongols?
Impact of the Mongols
• Cultural life disentegrated under Mongol rule
• Isolation did not help either…Russia seen as
“backward.”
• Missed out on Renaissance, and
cultural/technological exchanges with East
“Third Rome”
• Ivan the Great repulsed the
Mongols in 1462, and freed
Moscow region
• Centralized rule Absolutism
• Ivan married the niece of the
last Byzantine Emperor- giving
him power over Orthodox
churches
• Took the title Tsar, Caesar,
because Russia was to be the
third Rome…but as we know
sequels are never as good as
the original
• “Autocrat of all the Russias”
Ivan the Terrible
• Earned his nickname by killing the
Russian nobles (boyars) who he
suspected of conspiracy and
consolidated his power
• Employed “peasant adventurers,”
Cossacks, to capture and settle
new lands
• Rewarded loyal nobles with newly
acquired land
• Used secret police to terrorize
thousands
• Killed his oldest son and heir
Western Contact
• Ivan III launched diplomatic
missions to the leading Western
states
• Under Ivan IV, British merchants
established trade with Russia,
selling manufactured goods for
furs and other raw materials.
• Early tsars also imported Italian
artists and architects to design
church buildings and the
magnificent royal palace in the
Kremlin in Moscow
Time of Troubles
Ivan and his son Ivan, by Ilya Repin
The Romanov Dynasty Begins
• Nobles choose a member of
the Romanov family as Tsar
 Michael
• Romanov Tsars reestablished
internal order and drove the
invaders out, then began
again the expansionist
policies of the Muscovites
Russia is Westernized
• Peter I (The Great) stood nearly 7ft tall, but somehow
inconspicuously ventured to Europe to witness the bustle of the
West for himself. He even took a job as a carpenter for a short
while.
– Felt that the only hope for Russia was to copy European technology
and administrative techniques
– In 1698, launched ambitious political, economic, military and
educational reforms
– Established St. Petersburg as the capital, modeled on Amsterdam
and Venice (but a lot colder). Enlisted Italian and French to help
design his summer palace
– Banned beards (shaved them off of the nobles himself)
– Implored women to wear westernized clothes and styles
• …But did not change peasant practices… in fact, he enslaved more
peasants to the land—serfdom
Westernization…Well, kind of
Russia
West
Serf Labor, Peasants losing
power
Wage-labor (beginning), Peasants
gaining power
Boyars had very little power
Parliament making gains
Economic development to
support military
Worldwide export and import for
commercial profit
Westernization to strengthen
autocratic state
Culture influenced by trade
Expansion
• Fought The Great Northern War to gain
eastern rim of the Baltic
• Possibly the most important expansion
was to the Southwest towards the Black
Sea in order to gain a warm water port and
a link to the Mediterranean…
Death of Peter the Great 1724