Louis XIV vs.
Peter “the Great”
Who best exemplifies the ideal 17th c. European
absolute monarch?
VITAL STATS
King Louis XIV (1643-1715)
Nickname:
“Sun-King”
Dynasty:
Bourbon
Country: France
Height: 5’5”
Vice: Sex, sex &
more sex
Czar Peter II (1689-1725)
Nickname: “the
Great”
Dynasty: Romanov
Country: Russia
Height: 6’9”
Vice: Sex, alcohol &
torture
DOMESTIC
REFORMS
Louis XIV: Palace of Versailles
(1660-1688)
Largest secular structure in Europe (at time)
36,000 laborers (& 6,000 horses) forced
into labor to build palace
5,000 acres of gardens, lawns & woods
1,200 fountains & 700 rooms
6,000 paintings & 2,100 sculptures
Cost: 2.5 billion dollars (if built today)
Palace of Versailles (1668)
Pictures of Versailles (today)
Peter II: The City of St. Petersburg
Design based on the capitals of the Western
Europe
To finance the enormous costs, Peter taxed
wealthiest Russians
Forced serfs into labor to build the city (over
30,000 lost their lives
Ordered nobles & craftsmen to move to the city to
jumpstart population
By 1725, St. Petersburg boasted a population in
the thousands
Image of St. Petersburg:
Louis XIV: Distract the Nobles
Moved all high nobility, royal princes &
chief state offices to Versailles
Distracted nobles by keeping them involved
in court activities, etiquette & intrigue
Life at Versailles became court ceremony
with Louis at center of it all
Gained control over provincial gov’ts by
bribing local officials
Peter II: “Westernize” Russia
Wanted to create a “police state” (wellordered community governed in accordance
the law)
Created boards of administrators to handle
different functions of the state
Built schools & began a state-sponsored
newspaper
Introduced western customs, practices &
manners (i.e. “beard tax”)
Religious Policies
Louis XIV:“One King, One law, One faith”
Catholicism official state religion
Revoked Edict of Nantes (Edict of Fountainbleau –
1685)
200,000 Huguenots flee France
Peter the Great: State-controlled Church
Sought to gain of Russian Orthodox Church
Replaced patriarch w/ procurator loyal to the Tsar
ECONOMIC
POLICIES
Louis XIV: Economic Policy
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
controlled finances
Used mercantilist
policies to increase
wealth & power of
France
Louis depleted the
treasury on wars &
luxuries
Burden of heavy taxes
fell on peasants
Peter “the Great”: Economic Policy
Adopted mercantilist policies to
stimulate economic growth
Changed primary tax from land tax to
soul tax (each person in Russia had to
pay)
3/4ths of Russia’s total revenues spent
on the military
MILITARY
POLICIES &
WARS
Louis XIV’s Military Machine:
Secretary of War: Francois-Michel Le Tellier
Developed a professional army of 100,000 men in
peacetime & 400,000 in wartime
Wars of Louis XIV:
Invaded Spanish Netherlands & Franche-Comte
(1667)
Invaded Dutch United Provinces (1672)
War of the League of Augsburg (1689-1697)
War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713)
Peter “Westernizes” Russian
Military
Created standing army of 210,000 soldiers
Used peasant conscripts as soldiers &
nobility as officers
Created 1st Russian navy
Primary goal: Gaining a warm-water port
on the Baltic
Starts & wins Great Northern War (17011721) against Sweden, Poland & Denmark
LEGACY
Louis XIV’s Legacy:
Helped make France Europe’s political
&cultural during the 17th century
Monarchs all over Europe envied the court
at Versailles
Left France impoverished & surrounded by
enemies
Made emerging states (Brandenburg-Prussia
& Austria) more powerful
Increased England’s power & territory
Peter the Great’s Legacy:
Turned Russia into a great European state &
military power
His westernization of Russia only reached
the upper classes of Russian society
Added more burdens to the masses of
Russian people
Forceful way of implementing cultural
reforms made Russian people distrust the
West