Chapter 5“European State Consolidation in the

Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries”

AP EUROPEAN HISTORYMR. RICK PURRINGTON

MARSHALL HIGH SCHOOL

Europe 1600

I. Sovereignty

A. A state is “sovereign” when it possesses control over:

1. its clearly defined boundaries

2. its instruments of justice (jurisdictions)

3. its use of force

B. Who possesses sovereignty over the boundary? The monarch? Rich, powerful nobles? A constitutional system?

II. Absolutism

A. Absolutist monarchs claim absolute sovereignty by divine right, they:

1. are “the alternative to anarchy”

2. eliminated competing jurisdictions

3. regulated religion

4. sought cooperation from nobility

5. managed armies

6. drummed up nationalism

7. not totalitarian b/c resources were limited

B. Absolutism in Fr – Capet-Bourbon Dynasty

1. Louis XIV “The Sun King”

a) 77 year rule = 1638-1715

b) “I am the state”

c) 1685 promoted Fr RCC, repressed the Hug’s

“one king, one law, one faith”

d) “obeyed God’s laws, ruled for the good of

the people”

e) built Versailles Palace – symbol of power

f) other absolutists copied the palace

g) the language of Fr spread in Eu

h) protected nobles but eliminated their power

i) secret police eliminated internal enemies

2. Stuart Kings of Eng

a) James I “I sit on God’s throne”

b) struggled b/t Ch of Eng and Catholicism

Louis XIV

Versailles Palace

III. Constitutionalism

A. A constitution:

1. limits gov’t by law

2. does not = democracy

B. The Decline of Absolutism in Eng (1603-1689)

1. Was there ever true absolutism in Eng? - Parliament existed since Magna Carta was signed in 1215

2. 1588-1603 - Elizabeth I = strength, compromise, stability

3. Stuart Kings = weakness

a)1603-25 James I

- Puritan problems: not Protestant enough?

- “cheer at my arse” - “kings sit on God’s throne”

b)1625-49 Charles I

- wanted war w/Spain to regain land lost in 30 Yrs War, Parl says

“no”

- dissolved Parl.

- made Anglican church more like RCC, tortured Puritans at “Star

Chamber”

- Eng civil war b/t Charles army and Parl

- Charles I is beheaded

c) 1645 Oliver Cromwell, Militaristic Puritan Republic = unpopular

d) 1660 Parliament restores monarchy for Charles II

Oliver Cromwell

4. 1689 “The Glorious Revolution” of Eng

a) bloodlessly destroyed the

“divine right of kings” in Eng

b) Philosopher John Locke’s ideas: - Nature must be ruled

by reasoned laws

- People submit to gov’t laws in exchange for protection of their life, liberty, and property

- People have the right to rebel against tyranny

c) Stuart kings now ruled only w/consent of parliament =

a constitutional monarchy

John Locke

IV. Absolutists in Eastern Eu

A. Different from Fr Absolutism

1. Fr – large middle class, no serfs

2. E Eu – powerful nobles, weak middle class, large and oppressed serfs

B. Ru’s Romanov Tsars

1. 1547-1584 -- Tsar Ivan IV “Ivan the Terrible”

a) used terror, torture, execution

b) blamed the boyars (nobles) for his mother & wife’s death, terrorized

them c) poisoned to death?

2. Time of Troubles followed = uncertainty

3. Streltsy (military leaders) grew more powerfulIvan IV

4. 1689-1725 Tsar Peter the Great

a) Ru in chaos – poor leadership, economy, technologically behind

b) needed warm water port

c) disguised, he toured W. Eu

d) Peter’s Reforms

- strengthened, modernized navy

- territorial expansion, war w/Ot,Sw

- emphasized learning science, math, modern tech

- required military service

- “westernized” Ru = dress, built city of St. Petersburg

- increased class divide

C. Au Habsburg Absolutism

1. Very Catholic

2. Ended alliance w/Sp after 30 yrs war

3. 1714 - Expanded diverse empire (map 192):

- Au Netherlands

- Au, Hungary, Bohemia

- Conflict w/ Ot Empire

D. Pr Hohenzollern Absolutism

1. 1640 Frederick William “the Great Elector”

a) served as Elector of Brandenburg

b) united Brandenburg, Pr, and other G kingdoms = Pr Empire (map 194)

2. 1713Frederick William I “the soldier’s king”

a) grew best army in Eu by heavily taxing all but the Junkers (nobility)

b) wanted soldiers over 6’ tall