ABSOLUTE RULERS

A COMPARISONCHAPTER 21

PHILIP II (SPAIN)1556-1598

ECONOMY

• Extremely wealthy country• Wealth came from the colonies

Spain accumulated all over the world – primarily in the Americas

• Philip claimed 1/4 to 1/5 of the treasure brought to Spain by his ships

• Severe inflation - a severe decline in the value of money

• Growing population requiring more food and supplies to meet this growth

• Prices rose• Government borrowed heavily

from German and Italian bankers

POLITICAL

• Ruled as an absolute monarch• Suspicious of others; would not

allow anyone to help him govern• Deeply religious• Combined religion with government• United Spain and Portugal into one

nation• Avoided the religious difficulties and

strife so common in other European countries at that time

RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS

• Spanish Armada - 1588 –an attempt by Spain to invade and conquer England

• The Armada was an abyssmal failure• Rebellion in the Netherlands – 1566 –

at the time the Netherlands were a territory belonging to Spain

LOUIS XIV1642-1715

ECONOMY

• Expansion of manufacturing• High tariffs placed on goods from other

countries to protect French goods• Encouraged colonization for raw materials

and a market for manufactured goods• Caused many skilled workers to leave

France when the Edict of Nantes (guaranteed religious freedom) was repealed.

• Spent LOTS of $$$$ to build the Palace at Versailles

• By 1714, France faces massive debt

ECONOMY

• Increased taxes• Poor harvests

POLITICAL

• L’etat c’est moi!” (“I am the State.”)• Ruled as the model example of an

absolute monarch• The nobility was totally under the

control of Louis• Louis controlled where the nobles

lived, what they did, etc; nobles were required to live at Versailles

RELATIONS WITH OTHERS

• 1667 – invasion of the Spanish Netherlands in an attempt to expand France’s borders

• 1701-1714: War of Spanish Succession

• Other wars fought against GB, Austria, Portugal, the Dutch Republic, German and Italian States

Peter the Great1692-1725

ECONOMY

• MEDIEVAL• SERFDOM • Serf – worker bound to the land; could not

be sold away from the land• AGRICULTURAL• NO INDUSTRY

POLITICAL

• Czars ruled with absolute control

• Boyars – Russian landowning nobles – in constant conflict with the Czar

• Use of secret police to control the boyars and any other enemy of the Czar

RELATIONS WITH OTHERS

• 2 MAJOR WARS – • 1695 – WAR WITH THE OTTOMAN TURKS• 1700 – WAR WITH SWEDEN• ISOLATED FROM WESTERN EUROPE• FEW TRAVELERS TO RUSSIA (very

suspicious of non-Russians)• PETER TRAVELED EXTENSIVELY

INCOGNITO• DETERMINED TO MODERNIZE AND

WESTERNIZE RUSSIA

CHARLES I1625-1649

CHARLES IBY VAN DYCK (1636)

ECONOMY

• ALWAYS A NEED FOR $$$$

• HAD TO PETITION PARLIAMENT FOR $$

• HOW DOES THIS COMPARE W/US PRESIDENT AND THE NEED FOR $$?

• HOW DOES US PRESIDENT GET $$?

POLITICAL• CONSTANT STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE KING

AND PARLIAMENT• RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS• PURITANS WANT TO ABOLISH ALL CATHOLIC

PRACTICES FROM THE ENGLISH CHURCH• ENGLISH CIVIL WAR – 1642-1649• ROUNDHEADS V. CAVALIERS• PURITANS V. SUPPORTERS OF KING• KING IS TRIED AND FOUND GUILTY OF

TREASON • BEHEADED IN 1649 –MONARCHY ABOLISHED

RELATIONS WITH OTHERSRELATIONS WITH OTHERS

• FAIRLY PEACEFUL TIME INTERNATIONALLY

• CONFLICTS PURELY INTERNAL• FRANCE WILL SIDE WITH THE

KING AND HIS FAMILY AS THE WIFE OF CHARLES I IS A FRENCH PRINCESS.

• FRANCE GIVES SAFE HAVEN TO THE QUEEN AND HER CHILDREN.