Notes
Absolutism
Monarchs claimed total power, often by divine right.
- Louis XIV of France ("I am the state"): built Versailles to control the nobles, revoked the Edict of Nantes (1685), and fought costly wars. His minister Colbert promoted mercantilism.
- Peter the Great of Russia westernized the military and government, built St. Petersburg, and controlled the nobility (the Table of Ranks).
- Prussia built a powerful army under the Hohenzollerns; the Junkers (nobles) served as officers.
- Austria (Habsburgs) ruled a diverse empire; the Pragmatic Sanction let Maria Theresa inherit the throne.
Constitutionalism
- England: conflict between Parliament and the Stuart kings led to the English Civil War (1642–1651), Charles I's execution, and Oliver Cromwell's rule. After the monarchy's restoration, the Glorious Revolution (1688) brought William and Mary and the English Bill of Rights (1689), limiting royal power.
- The Dutch Republic was governed by wealthy merchants, tolerated religion, and became a center of trade and finance (the Bank of Amsterdam).
- Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan) argued for a strong ruler to prevent chaos; John Locke argued governments must protect natural rights and can be overthrown if they don't.
Economy and society
- Mercantilism, colonies, and the Atlantic trade. The Agricultural Revolution (enclosure, crop rotation, the seed drill) increased food supply.
- The cottage industry (putting-out system) produced goods at home before factories.
- The balance of power idea: states formed alliances to keep any one power from dominating (the War of the Spanish Succession).
Practice
Nobles at court couldn't build power at home.
Kings answered only to God.
He adopted Western technology and customs.
William and Mary accepted limits set by Parliament.
Life without government would be "nasty, brutish and short."
Amsterdam was a financial center.
States formed alliances against powerful rivals.
These raised food production.
Free response
Write your answer first, then open the scoring guide.
Free-response question
Answer (a), (b) and (c).
(a) Describe ONE way Louis XIV strengthened royal power in France.
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He built Versailles and required nobles to live at court, where he could watch them and keep them away from their local power bases.
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(b) Describe ONE way Parliament limited royal power in England in the 1600s.
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After the Glorious Revolution, the English Bill of Rights (1689) required Parliament's consent for taxes and laws.
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(c) Explain ONE way John Locke's ideas differed from Thomas Hobbes's.
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Locke said government must protect natural rights and people can overthrow a government that fails to, while Hobbes said people should give up rights to a strong ruler for security.
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