Absolutism

The “Sun King,” Ivan the Terrible, and the 7ft tall Peter the Great

Side note: Czar and Tsar are the same

Empires and Absolutism• How do empires develop? Why?

• What is absolutism? Is it ever necessary?

Versailles, where Louis XIV was able to keep an eye on potential political opponents.

The Sun King 1638-1715

• Louis XIV: “I am the state.”

• Divine right of kings: king was God’s representative on earth• obedience to king =

obedience to God• King could do no wrong

“I almost had to wait.”

Louis XIV Rule

• Centralized control• French became the language of diplomacy• Versailles: the center of French Political life• Revoked the Edict of Nantes (which gave rights to

Calvinists- protestants)– Catholicism: only legal religion– 200,000 Huguenots emigrated to England, Holland

and North America

• Fought four wars to stop Hapsburg dominance in Europe– though, the tables turn!

Russian Absolutism

Russia TimelineEarly Modern Period: 1450-1750

• 1462: Much of Russia freed from Tatars by Ivan III (the Great)• 1533-1584: Life of Ivan IV (the terrible)• 1552-1556: Russian expansion in central Asia, western Siberia• 1604-1613: Time of Troubles• 1613-1917: Romanov dynasty• 1649: Law enacted making serfdom hereditary• 1689-1725: Reign of Peter the Great• 1700-1721: Wars with Sweden• 1703: Founding of St. Petersburg• 1762-1796: Reign of Catherine the Great

Impact of the Mongols?

Impact of the Mongols

• Cultural life disentegrated under Mongol rule • Isolation did not help either…Russia seen as

“backward.”• Missed out on Renaissance, and

cultural/technological exchanges with East

“Third Rome”

• Ivan the Great repulsed the Mongols in 1462, and freed Moscow region

• Centralized rule Absolutism• Ivan married the niece of the

last Byzantine Emperor- giving him power over Orthodox churches

• Took the title Tsar, Caesar, because Russia was to be the third Rome…but as we know sequels are never as good as the original

• “Autocrat of all the Russias”

Ivan the Terrible• Earned his nickname by killing the

Russian nobles (boyars) who he suspected of conspiracy and consolidated his power

• Employed “peasant adventurers,” Cossacks, to capture and settle new lands

• Rewarded loyal nobles with newly acquired land

• Used secret police to terrorize thousands

• Killed his oldest son and heir

Western Contact

• Ivan III launched diplomatic missions to the leading Western states

• Under Ivan IV, British merchants established trade with Russia, selling manufactured goods for furs and other raw materials.

• Early tsars also imported Italian artists and architects to design church buildings and the magnificent royal palace in the Kremlin in Moscow

Time of Troubles

Ivan and his son Ivan, by Ilya Repin

The Romanov Dynasty Begins

• Nobles choose a member of the Romanov family as Tsar Michael

• Romanov Tsars reestablished internal order and drove the invaders out, then began again the expansionist policies of the Muscovites

Russia is Westernized• Peter I (The Great) stood nearly 7ft tall, but somehow

inconspicuously ventured to Europe to witness the bustle of the West for himself. He even took a job as a carpenter for a short while.– Felt that the only hope for Russia was to copy European technology

and administrative techniques– In 1698, launched ambitious political, economic, military and

educational reforms– Established St. Petersburg as the capital, modeled on Amsterdam

and Venice (but a lot colder). Enlisted Italian and French to help design his summer palace

– Banned beards (shaved them off of the nobles himself)– Implored women to wear westernized clothes and styles

• …But did not change peasant practices… in fact, he enslaved more peasants to the land—serfdom

Westernization…Well, kind of

Russia WestSerf Labor, Peasants losing power

Wage-labor (beginning), Peasants gaining power

Boyars had very little power Parliament making gains

Economic development to support military

Worldwide export and import for commercial profit

Westernization to strengthen autocratic state

Culture influenced by trade

Expansion

• Fought The Great Northern War to gain eastern rim of the Baltic

• Possibly the most important expansion was to the Southwest towards the Black Sea in order to gain a warm water port and a link to the Mediterranean…

Death of Peter the Great 1724