ABSOLUTISM
What are the rights of a citizen?
What are the responsibilities of the
government?
How are they different?
ABSOLUTISM AND
ENLIGHTENMENT
European Government and Society
EUROPE IN THE 1600S
ABSOLUTISM IN EUROPE
A form of government in which:
• The leaders are monarchs (kings and queens)
• They have absolute or total control over the country.
• This may also be referred to as “totalitarian”
government or regime.
FRANCE
Louis XIV
Fought lots of wars.
• Wanted to expand French
territory.
No religious toleration
• Only Catholicism
• Revoked the Edict of
Nantes which gave Calvinist
Protestants (Huguenots)
rights.
FRANCE
Louis XIV
 Raised taxes on Peasants
 Made the Palaces of
Versailles the residence of
the Royal family
 Believed in the Divine
Right of Kings
RUSSIA
Peter the Great
Czar (Tsar)
Romanov family
Wanted to Westernize
Russia
• Travelled abroad to
learn about the latest
trades, techniques and
technology.
RUSSIA
Peter the Great
Secular
• Worldly; not as religious
• Took over Russian
Orthodox Church
Not democratic
• Didn’t free serfs (slaves)
• Didn’t make gov’t more
open.
PRUSSIA
The Hohenzollerns
Frederick I
• Created a New Gov’t.
• Created a New State w/
New Laws.
• More open than Russia.
PRUSSIA
Hohenzollern Castle
Society and Government
 Military is center of Prussian
Society
 Ruler has tremendous power
 Russia and France rely on local
officials for governing.
AUSTRIA
The Habsburgs
Maria Theresa
 Enemies with Prussia
 Her father passes the Pragmatic
 Eventually all of Europe is
Sanction allowing her to become
involved in conflict between the two ruler of the Austrian Empire.
countries.
• The Seven Years War
(originated in North America
as the French and Indian
War)
• Pragmatic sanction is an edict
that ensured that hereditary
(family) possessions could be
inherited by a daughter.
ENGLAND
Constitutional Monarchy
 King
• Head of the Church of
England
 Parliament
• Congress- lawmakers
*England is the first sort of
democratic country in
Europe