• Age of Absolutism

1500-1795

• Scientific

Revolution 1500-

1800

• Enlightenment

Age of Absolutism

• Between 1520-1550, the conquistadors gave

Spain an empire and great wealth.

• At the same time Spain was swept into the

center of European Politics, when the Hapsburg

family inherited the Spanish Throne.

• Charles V inherited Spain from his Grandfather

Ferdinand and Austria and the Netherlands from

his other Grand parents.

• 1519 Charles elected Holy Roman Emperor.

• Ruling the Hapsburg lands proved to be

difficult.

• With the Protestant Reformation early in

his reign, Charles wanted to bring these

Princes back to the Catholic Church with

little success he accepted the Peace of

Augsburg in 1555.

• Charles gained respect from his people through

diplomacy and shrewd use of power.

• Yet he spent the riches of Spain to fund wars,

first with France ( for control of Italy) and also to

defend Austria against the Turks.

• By 1556 Charles is a broken man. He abdicates

his throne and divides the Kingdom between his

son and his brother and retires to a monastery

• Phillip II (Son)

Ruled in Spain

The Americas

The Netherlands

Italian cities of

Naples and Milan

Ruled from 1556-

1598

Absolute Monarch

• Ferdinand

(Brother)

Ruled Austria

Revolt in Netherlands

• The Netherlands were very prosperous and generally left alone by the Royals in Spain.

• In his attempt to centralize power led to bitter struggles between the Lutherans and Calvinist of the Netherlands and the Catholics of Spain.

• 1556 Phillip ordered officials to enforce laws against Protestants and the Dutch revolted.

• 1581 7 northern provinces declared their independence and became The Dutch Netherlands

The Mighty Armada

• Queen Elizabeth of England watched the revolt in the\Netherlands carefully.

• She believed that if Spain was successful in the Netherlands then England would be next.

• She allowed her “Sea Dogs” (pirates) to wage an undeclared war with Spain.

• Led by Sir Thomas Drake, the sea dogs looted mostly Spanish ships on the high seas.

• Phillip wanted him punished, Elizabeth Knighted him

• In 1588 infuriated by the English actions, Phillip

built a huge fleet of warships or Armada to

invade England.

• To defend England, Elizabeth depended on the

Sea Dogs.

• The smaller faster English ships badly mauled

the larger slower Spanish ships and forced them

to sail into the North sea where a storm

destroyed and scattered the remainder.

• Nicknamed “The Protestant wind” by the English this victory gave the English a new confidence and made their navy , the powerful in Europe.

• It is also the beginning of the end for Spanish domination in the world.

• By the end of the 16th century, Spain lost its position as a powerful European nation.

Loss of its Armada and Spain’s increased dependence on a decreasing gold and silver supply from the Americas. Reduced Spain to a secondary state.

The French Monarchy

• While the Spanish power came and went during the 16th century, France struggled with Civil War Catholic vs. Huguenots.

• In 1559, King Henry II of France died leaving 3 small sons to rule.

• None proved to be very good and their mother Catherine de Medici tried to keep peace between Catholic and Protestant.

• With a weak Royal family, powerful merchants and Noblemen plunged France into Civil War.

The French Wars of Religion 1562-1598

• Trouble between different religions raged off-

and-on for 36 years. Fanatics on both sides

committed savage acts.

• Aug. 24, 1572, the eve of St. Bartholomew’s

day, Catherine de Medici allowed Catholic

supporters to kill Protestant leaders who came to

Paris for a wedding.

• That night, Catholic mobs killed thousands of

Huguenots in the streets of Paris.

The French Wars of Religion 1562-1598

• As the slaughter moved outside Paris, Huguenots responded with their own mass murders.

• In 1589, Henry Navarre, a Huguenot, inherited the Throne as Henry IV. Because Paris was heavily Catholic, Henry converted to Catholicism.

• In 1598, Henry issued the Edict of Nantes to reassure Huguenots that their rights would be protected.

The Edict of Nantes

• The Edict gave the Huguenots the right to:

1. worship as they pleased.

2. establish churches.

3. equal rights.

4. Allows Protestant soldiers to defend

Huguenot towns.

Foundations of French Royal Power

Henry IV : restored order to France and revived Royal Authority.

Rebuilds Bureaucracy

Collects taxes to build a strong Army and restore French courts.

Assassinated in 1610, his 10 year old son Louis XIII inherits the throne.

King Louis XIII

Rules from 1610-1643.

Early on the Nobles tried to establish influence over the young King In 1614 they required the King to call the Estates General.

The Estates General could not agree, and in 1615 they went home

With the help of his Advisor Cardinal Richelieu, Louis was able to gain absolute control over his government

Richelieu reduced the

Power of the Huguenots by

destroying all private forts.

He outlawed dueling

He was Mercantilist, and

to stimulate the economy

he encouraged nobles to

engage in foreign

investments through

trading companies.

Louis XIV “The Sun King”As a child of 4 Louis XIV

becomes King in1643.

His Mother Anne of Austria

and Cardinal Mazarin, rule

in the boys name and

continue to centralize power

to the King.

1661 Louis ( 23 years old)

calls his ministers and

announces he will rule on

his own.

“L'etst, c’est moi”

• Louis would rule for 54 years with skill and power unmatched in Europe.

• Through the 1600’s France dominated Europe as the Spanish did in the 1500’s.

• Louis believed the Kings represented God’s power on earth

• His symbol was the sun, which suggested that since the earth was dependent on the sun for light, so to were the French dependent on the King for their wellbeing.

• Absolute Monarchy was summed up in the statement “L’etst, c’est moi” I am the state!

Louis XIV’s Government

• All French soldiers were to fight for the King and their loyalties were to the King.

• He appointed Royal Agents called Intendants to recruit soldiers, collect taxes, and administer policy.

• 1685 he cancelled the Treaty of Nantes and allowed the persecution of Huguenots, who began to flee to England and the Americas.

Versailles

Originally built as a hunting lodge for Louis XIII.

Louis XIV would transform the lodge into a spectacular new palace.

It would take 27 years to complete and would take in 20,000 acres.

Versailles became the center of French Culture.

Jean Baptiste Colbert

Louis XIV needed money

to maintain Versailles and

to pay for the new

programs for the

Government and Army.

He calls on Jean Baptiste

Colbert to help him.

Colbert is a Mercantilist

who is determined to use

the economy to

strengthen Royal power.

Colbert

1st he reformed

the tax process. By

using a strict

system of

accounting.

2nd he promotes a

mercantilist policy

of trade and

commerce.

Wars of Louis XIV

• Louis XIV had a dream of extending the borders of France.

• For 30 of Louis XIV 54 years reign France was at war.

• The bitterest struggle came during the War of Spanish Succession.

• In 1701, Louis XIV grandson inherits the Spanish throne, Louis tries to unite the two countries, Other western European countries form an alliance to stop unification.

• The war continued for 13 years, finally in 1713, The French were resigned to sign the Peace of Utrecht which guaranteed that France and Spain would not be united.

• Louis XIV’s wars would leave France deep in debt, a problem his successors would never solve.

Other German States

• The Germans lived in hundreds of small city-states.

• The idea was that these states were under the authority of the Holy Roman Emperor. In fact, the HRE had very little power over them.

• When the emperor died a group of German Kings elected a new HRE.

• From the 1400’s on, they elected a Hapsburg.

• Many Germans did not recognize the Hapsburgs right to rule them so there was constant problems between the German Kings and the HRE.

The Thirty years war. 1618-1648

Because of differences in Religion and a weak HRE Divisions deepened during the Reformation.

Both Catholics and Lutherans mistrusted the other

When the HRE tried to restore the Catholic Church in Bohemia, the Lutherans resisted and the crisis exploded into a general war involving all the German Princes.

The war lasted for thirty years.

Neither side could gain a lasting victory.

Finally in 1648 the German Kings sent representatives to Westphalia to work out a peace treaty.

•

The Peace of Westphalia

• This was the first time in History that a war was settled by an international peace conference.

1. It ended the Hapsburg dream of a strong centralized HRE.

2. Guaranteed the independence of 300 small German city-states.

3. It recognized Calvinist, Lutherans, and Catholics equally.

Rise of Prussia

• The German Prince that gained the most

from the Peace of Westphalia was

Frederick William of Brandenburg. His

family name was Hohenzollern.

• During the Reformation, they became

Lutherans and in 1618 he inherited

Prussia, a large city-state in the north

eastern part of Europe.

The Hohenzollerns

• During the 1700’s, The Hohenzollerns transformed Prussia into a major European power.

• King Frederick William increased the size of the Army to 80,000 men.

• Recruited an Officer Corp from the Junker Class.

• Set up Military universities to train them.

• Frederick William believed in absolute obedience and discipline. Always wore a military uniform and cared nothing for luxury.

Frederick William II “The Great”

1740 Frederick William

died and his son became

Frederick William II.

Unlike his father

Frederick William II liked

to read and listen to

music.

Like his father he proved

to be an able ruler. He

ruled Prussia with an iron

fist and soon was known

as Frederick “The Great”

Europe's BALANCE OF POWER• By the mid 1700’s Prussia

and Austria rivaled France in Military and Political power in Europe. Like France, Both established strong centralized central governments.

• Two other powerful countries in Europe were Britain and Russia.

• Competition between these countries led to rivalries, rivalries led to wars, Wars led to dangerous alliances.

7 Years War 1754-1763

• Because of conflicting interest and growing competition between France and Britain in their overseas possessions a war with worldwide consequences occurred.

• In the Americas it was known as The French andIndian War, because Indians took the side of the French.

• In India, and elsewhere it was called the Seven years war.

• In the end, France lost its American possessions.

Early Timetable of The

Russians

400’s Slavs of Central Europe move north and east into Russia.

860 Rurik, a Viking chief, est. first Russian state w/ capital at Kiev.

• Kiev will become the historical capital for the Russian people.

988 Prince Vladimir adopts orthodox Christianity. Makes it the official religion of the Russian people.

• 1240 Mongol army, led by Genghis Khan, conquered Kievian state. Moved the capital to Moscow.

• 1462 = Ivan “The Great” begins 43 year rule. He is considered the founder of unified Russia. Announces independence from Mongols. Considering himself heir to Rome and Constantinople, he takes the title of Czar.

• 1533-1584 Ivan “The Terrible” became absolute ruler. Created Feudal system.

The Romanovs

1613 Michael Romanov is elected Czar in Russia. Brings Boyars ( noblemen) under control. Enacts strict laws to stop peasants and serfs from running away. Began expansion to the east with treaties with both the Chinese and the Mongols.

1682_ Peter I “ The Great” becomes Czar and expands to the west. Builds a Russian Navy, reforms Govt. Builds St. Petersburg, the cultural capital of the Russians.

Acquires warm water port on the Baltic.

Catherine “The Great”

• 1762 - Czar Peter III dies

and his Wife Catherine

becomes Czarina…

Catherine “ The Great”

• She rules for 34 years as

an Enlightened Monarch

and adds land from

Poland and Austria to

Russia.

• Opens warm water port

on the Black sea.