Essay on The Most Effective Absolute Rulers

Louis XIV, Peter the Great, and Tokugawa Ieyasu all considered their own power and strengthened their states in many different ways but their actions were all similar. They united their states, introduced reforms and assessed their power and the effect that they could have on others. Although their techniques were different, the ways these monarchs ruled their states show great similarities.

     In addition to his strengths, Louis XIV had weaknesses. After Colbert died, Louis made one mistake that undid all of his work. He revoked Edict of Nantes who protected the religious freedom of the Huguenots. Instead of being imprisoned, more than 200,000 Huguenots fled from France. The country lost many of its skilled workers and business leaders. Louis XIV also fought many costly wars that caused his people great suffering. Many of the wars left France on the brink of bankruptcy.

It is often debated whether or not the reign of King Louis XIV had a positive or negative effect on France. Although there were improvements during his reign in transportation, culture, and national defense, there were far more negative aspects. He depleted the national treasury with his liberal spending on personal luxuries and massive monuments. His extreme fear of the loss of power led to poor decision making, which caused the court to be of lower quality. King Louis XIV’s disastrous rule brought about a series of effects that influenced the French Revolution in the following century.

According to the text book, an absolute monarch is a king or queen who has unlimited power and seeks to control all aspects of society (McDougall little, 1045). In more simple terms, it is a ruler who can do just about anything without having to get permission from anyone, or having to worry about the repercussions. This was a trend that started in the 1600’s by European leaders who were rich, and didn’t

There has been many type of monarchies all throughout Europe's history that each had their own ideas of a good social structure. Usually, the lowest class is treated poorly by the higher classes. The monarchs would make certain actions to fulfill his needs or those of the higher classes even if it causes the lower classes to suffer. Political rule during the 18th century denied the people of some if not most of their natural human rights. This would lead to enlightened thinkers challenging the traditional rule of monarchy.

In the latter half of the 1600 's, monarchial systems of both England and France were changing. Three royal figure throughout history who all tried to establish a role of absolutism in their societies all of them had varying factors with the greatest success from least to greatest being Charles I, Louis XIV, and Peter the Great. Absolutism is a form of government where a king or queen rules with unrestricted powers. They are often followed in heredity by passing on the leadership through bloodlines. All over the world these bloodlines still exist except, that most of them only remain as a symbolic figure or a person of fame. A couple of monarchs that still rule are Brunei, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland, the emirates comprising the UAE, and Vatican City.

Thesis: Rulers during the period from 1450 to 1750 viewed themselves ruling with God’s name and have great power and diverse methods to rule their lands, and they are expected to do everything for their people and have great diplomatic policies.

Frederick II or Frederick the Great was a monarch of Prussia that reigned from 1740 to 1786. Another monarch which reigned during Frederick the Great’s reign was Maria Theresa, of the Hapsburg family, who reigned from 1740 to 1780 over Austria. She came into power because her father, Charles VI, created a document called the Pragmatic Sanction. The Pragmatic Sanction is a document that other monarchs signed to allow Maria Theresa to inherit the Hapsburg land. However after Charles died, not all the countries agreed with the Pragmatic Sanction. This lead to conflict between Prussia and Austria. Because of this conflict, historians debate which ruler was more effective and powerful. Frederick the Great is a more effective and powerful ruler because he won several wars against Austria, he had a stronger alliance with Russia, improved Prussia’s domestic affairs, and succeeded in foreign affairs.

Louis XIV was a very generous spender. He put in large amounts of money to finance the royal court, and operated as a supporter of the arts, funding literary and cultural figures. He also kept his army in mind by building military complex known as the Hôtel des Invalides to give a home for officers and soldiers who had served him loyally in the army. The Hôtel des Invalides established new treatments frequently and set a new standard for the rather barbarous hospice treatment styles of the period. To support a Machiavellian tactic, Louis XIV didn?t have any mercenaries or auxiliaries, he controlled his own army, and was a self-sufficient ruler that didn?t rely on the help of others in battle.

The royal government is dominant and ruling over its own aristocrats and all of the other authorities. Basically, in absolutism, there are no other powers that can hold more ground than the monarchy itself. There are many absolute monarchs that are present in our society and even to this day, However, I firmly believe that Peter the Great is the epitome of the various absolute monarchs who ruled from 1682 - 1725. Prior to Peter the Great, Russia was disorganized and did not hold a major influence or power globally. Peter the Great used methods

An absolute monarch is a ruler by divine right who has control over every portion of his kingdom. The most famous absolute monarch, Louis XIV, had the longest reign of any of the French kings. Louis achieved this as a result of his reformed laws, foreign policy, a smart economic advisor, and his decision to deny power to the nobility. Although some of these ideas could be viewed as having a negative impacting on France, overall Louis XIV's absolute government was beneficial to the development of his country.

Frederick William the Great Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia is the most absolute monarch. Frederick William’s achievements/successes make other monarchs such as Elizabeth Tudor seem weak and powerless. Therefore, it gave him the name as the Great Elector. With increasing the power and importance by expanding the military and encouraging religious toleration, he still had an abundance of successes. After his reign from 1640 – 1688, his son carried on his succession.

During the late 17th and early 18th century, many European nations such as France and Russia were absolute monarchies. Even countries such as England had kings who at least attempted to implement absolutism. Indeed the concept of absolutism, where the monarch is the unquestionably highest authority and absolute ruler of every element in the realm, is certainly appealing to any sovereign. However, this unrestricted power was abused, and by the end of the 18th century, absolutism was gone. Absolutism failed because the monarchs' mistreatment of the population caused the people to revolt against their rule and policies. There are many factors which caused this discontent. For one, there was a great loss of human lives. Louis XIV of France

After being ruled by a prime minister for so long, France needed some changes. That is exactly what Louis the XIV would bring to France. In an age of separation, Louis wanted to start a unification process. He started this by giving himself sole power and also only having one religion for the country. The king is always the center of attention good or bad. Louis was prepared to take the good with the bad, and handled it well. He emphasized the king as the center of attention. While some see him as egotistical and greedy, Louis was one king who knew how to make improvements.

Richelieu was important for French history as he strengthened the French monarchy through the unification of France, lessening of nobles’ power and boosting economic growth. Richelieu unified France by making French the national language of France. The unification of France made it easier for Louis XIII to achieve an Absolutist government. Richelieu minimised the nobles’ power, which in turn increased the monarch’s power. Richelieu also managed the economic activities of France. These strengthened the French monarchy significantly.