louis xiv vs. peter “the great” who best exemplifies the ideal 17 th c. european absolute...
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King Louis XIV (1643-1715)
Nickname: “Sun-King”
Dynasty: Bourbon
Country: France
Height: 5’5”
Vice: Sex, sex & more sex
Czar Peter II (1689-1725)
Nickname: “the Great”
Dynasty: Romanov
Country: Russia
Height: 6’9”
Vice: Sex, alcohol & torture
Louis XIV: Palace of Versailles (1660-1688)
Largest secular structure in Europe (at time)
36,000 laborers (& 6,000 horses) forced into labor to build palace
5,000 acres of gardens, lawns & woods
1,200 fountains & 700 rooms
6,000 paintings & 2,100 sculptures
Cost: 2.5 billion dollars (if built today)
Peter II: The City of St. Petersburg
Design based on the capitals of the Western Europe
To finance the enormous costs, Peter taxed wealthiest Russians
Forced serfs into labor to build the city (over 30,000 lost their lives
Ordered nobles & craftsmen to move to the city to jumpstart population
By 1725, St. Petersburg boasted a population in the thousands
Louis XIV: Distract the Nobles
Moved all high nobility, royal princes & chief state offices to Versailles Distracted nobles by keeping them involved in court activities, etiquette & intrigueLife at Versailles became court ceremony with Louis at center of it allGained control over provincial gov’ts by bribing local officials
Peter II: “Westernize” Russia
Wanted to create a “police state” (well-ordered community governed in accordance the law)
Created boards of administrators to handle different functions of the state
Built schools & began a state-sponsored newspaper
Introduced western customs, practices & manners (i.e. “beard tax”)
Religious Policies
Louis XIV:“One King, One law, One faith”Catholicism official state religionRevoked Edict of Nantes (Edict of Fountainbleau –
1685)200,000 Huguenots flee France
Peter the Great: State-controlled ChurchSought to gain of Russian Orthodox ChurchReplaced patriarch w/ procurator loyal to the Tsar
Louis XIV: Economic Policy
Jean-Baptiste Colbert controlled finances
Used mercantilist policies to increase wealth & power of France
Louis depleted the treasury on wars & luxuries
Burden of heavy taxes fell on peasants
Peter “the Great”: Economic Policy
Adopted mercantilist policies to stimulate economic growthChanged primary tax from land tax to soul tax (each person in Russia had to pay)3/4ths of Russia’s total revenues spent on the military
Louis XIV’s Military Machine:Secretary of War: Francois-Michel Le TellierDeveloped a professional army of 100,000 men in peacetime & 400,000 in wartimeWars of Louis XIV:
Invaded Spanish Netherlands & Franche-Comte (1667)
Invaded Dutch United Provinces (1672)War of the League of Augsburg (1689-1697)War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713)
Peter “Westernizes” Russian Military
Created standing army of 210,000 soldiers
Used peasant conscripts as soldiers & nobility as officers
Created 1st Russian navy
Primary goal: Gaining a warm-water port on the Baltic
Starts & wins Great Northern War (1701-1721) against Sweden, Poland & Denmark
Louis XIV’s Legacy:
Helped make France Europe’s political &cultural during the 17th century
Monarchs all over Europe envied the court at Versailles
Left France impoverished & surrounded by enemies
Made emerging states (Brandenburg-Prussia & Austria) more powerful
Increased England’s power & territory
Peter the Great’s Legacy:
Turned Russia into a great European state & military power
His westernization of Russia only reached the upper classes of Russian society
Added more burdens to the masses of Russian people
Forceful way of implementing cultural reforms made Russian people distrust the West