Peter The Great Absolutism And Its Impact On Western Europe

What is an absolute monarchy ? An absolute monarchy is a form of government in which a ruler has absolute , unrestricted power over his people .The absolute monarch of a country is head of state and government , they are not limited by any kind of constitution or law . Absolutism is mostly passed by heredity but there are some few exceptions. During the 1500 and 1600s western europe was pretty much completely ruled by different absolute monarchs .these monarchs could chose the style of their rule , whether they wanted to be a ruler of respect and trust or fear and anguish . the 16th and 17th century in europe proved to be a time of prosperity even through the absolutism ,shown by Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan ,Bishop Jacques and the acts
Peter the Great was the absolute monarch of Russia from 1682 to 1725. His goal was to turn Russia into a better country by “modernizing” it or becoming more westernized (European ).In General Alexander Gordon’s History of Peter The Great , he states ‘He was at little or no expense about his person and by living like a private gentleman than a prince he saved wholly that great expense which other monarchs..support their courts”. This statement shows the character of Alexander and how he saved money because he knew there were more important things than living super fancy .According to Doc. 6 Alexander the Great “... had a great regard for learning and was at much pains to introduce it into the country .” This is an example of how he brought prosperity to Europe by trying his hardest to introduce learning to his country and make a more educated modern place . Another way Peter brought prosperity as an absolute monarch is talked about in document 8 , by Michael Gibson (Excerpt from Peter the Great). Its says “..Russia was in an insignificant state . he made it into a great power feared by all . At his accession Russia had no armed forces ...when he died,there was professional army of 210,000 men . He created a navy out of nothing
However I cannot deny that some absolute monarchs did create a sense of tyranny at their time as the absolute monarch in Western Europe . Like I said each king or queen has the choice on how they wanted to rule and not all of them choice the positive ways I have talked about . For example King James I . In document 2 or the ideas expressed by the king himself , he says “monarchy is the supreme thing upon earth ; for kings are not only God’s lieutenants on earth , and sit upon God’s throne , but even by God himself are called God’s.” he uses this statement to put himself and other monarchs equal to God ,so he doesn't have to follow the church , and has more power than the church .I am not saying he was bad leader of his country i just see him as more of a tyrant than a positive absolute monarch