Political Developments in Europe 1450 1750 1st World Wars (ex. 7 Years War) Rise of Nation-States New forms of monarchy Absolute Monarchies Parliamentary Governments What is divine right? Divine right Monarch get their right to rule from God; therefore, this right cannot be taken away…
The 17th and 18th centuries were a period filled with nation building and expansion across the globe as extensive, and often overseas, holdings became an indicator of a strong and wealthy country in this politically competitive era. However, the extent of a ruler's control was not their only concern. Many monarchs throughout Europe took great initiative to consolidate and increase their power, building absolute monarchies in which they held absolute power. The pursuit of political absolutism frequently stemmed from past conflict involving the various monarchs and included practices such as increasing the authority and control over the nobility, building standing armies, and independently collecting funds, the manner of which were similar between many rulers. An increase in the subjugation and control of nobles is most evident in the reigns of Louis XIV of France as well as…
Through the many letters sent by John and Abigail Adams, the film's portrayal of their correspondence seems to be accurate and similar to the actual letters. In both the film and the letters, Abigail Adams seems to be more of a self-sufficient and self-reliant homemaker than anticipated. As for John Adams, he seems to express his feelings toward Abigail more in the film than in the letters. Gender issues are apparent in both the film and the letters.…
The greatest leaders in the world are brought to this earth as normal people but with the right mindset, those normal people become the men who allow us to have our every day rights through hard labor, incompletable success and with carrying the highest valor. The novel really catches the reader’s attention once the setting switches over to the American surface, where you meet the personalities of George Washington, Henry Knox and Nathanael Greene. McCullough offers a comprehensive look at the challenges that faced George Washington and his ‘ragtag army’. Washington is brought into the novel outside of Boston following the Battle of Bunker Hill, where he has just been appointed to the Cont. Army.…
2005 (#3): Using examples from at least two different states, analyze the key features of the “new monarchies” and the factors responsible for their rise in the period 1450 to 1550.…
Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries saw a development of many strong and powerful monarchs. Most of these monarchs were dynamic rulers whose success was due to their attention to all aspects of rule, in particular, economics, society, and foreign policy. Two monarchs who show their strengths and weaknesses in these categories are Elizabeth I of England and Catherine the Great of Russia. Though similar in some methods of their rule, Catherine and Elizabeth held very different foreign policies. These differences are what shaped their unique legacies.…
During the 16th and 17th century Europe, political views on the government varied in Europe. After the Catholic Church’s downfall, absolute monarchs dominated Europe. An analysis of the documents clearly shows that mostly kings favored absolutism and have superiority over their people. On the other hand, some viewed absolutism as a power that made people inferior to the government.…
In the early modern era, several monarchs, by weakening the feudal nobles and allying themselves with the emerging commercial classes, began to consolidate power. Kings and queens tried to bring all of the people they ruled over and all the territories they ruled over into one, unified body (beforehand, even villages would not have anything to do with each other). This however, was a difficult process and sometimes required violence, as well as taking a long time. This birth of a nation-state also lead to the first signs of nationalism, due to monarchs encouraging their subjects to feel loyalty towards the newly established nations.…
As Europe left the Medieval Era and entered the Renaissance, its political system was undergoing a huge overhaul. All political power was practically destroyed by the Huns and the beginnings of Western Countries being divided into countries began. “Europe was ruled by a new aristocracy: the noble” (41). Men would gain a following and then make a claim to land, the bigger the following the more land was received. These land claims were bound together to create the Modern countries of Western Countries, which many hold the same boundaries today, such as England, France, and Spain. Most of these men thanked the divine power and would do whatever the church would tell them to. “By A.D. 1500 most of these sovereign dynasties were in place” (55). These countries were all united under a single man with absolute power in government known as a Monarchy (124). Most Monarchs would have total control over people's lives and in turn their people would serve them first and their religious leaders second. Hence more power was transferred to these rulers as the church was lost power. When new religions started up in Germany (Lutheranism), England (Anglican), and…
3. By the fifteenth century, which of the following nations had developed into a strong national monarchy with a centralized bureaucracy and a professional army?…
An important characteristic of “new monarchs” of the late 15th and 16th centuries was their strong sense of royal authority and national purpose.…
The three absolute monarchs that are being compared are Philip II of Spain, Queen Elizabeth I of England, and Louis XIV of France. There are many things that are similar and many that are different in their rules. It is valuable to find parallels in their rules and compare mistakes and successes made every one of these monarchs in the three most important areas of government. The three areas of rule that are being specifically looked at are their foreign policy, their religious policy, and the economic concerns and decisions of their respective rules. Each one of these areas are intertwined and effect each other largely so looking for similarities is imperative for learning.…
Even with the accomplishments of previous kings like William the Conqueror and Henry II, England’s later kings like Poor John could not live up to the strength of his predecessors. On the other hand, France was the complete opposite, their kings only became stronger as the lineage went on. All of England’s and France’s shared methods gained each kingdom more power and so did the different methods. But there was one category which France took advantage of that England did not even consider. This category was gaining the support of the people. Tactics like ending serfdom, and creating a standing army forced France’s people to love the king and sustained their absolute monarchy, but power-hungry English kings mostly focused on themselves which resulted in the increase in power for themselves but the resentment of the people. The final straw was the weakness of John, England’s people took advantage of their own king’s weakness and completely shifted the way that their government had worked by creating Parliament, which resulted in England’s limited monarchy. In the end, it didn’t come down to which king used more different methods to gain power or used similar methods more effectively, it came down to who was better at keeping their people happy and France…
The idea of a single person holding dominion over all others to form an independent state is the driving force in state consolidation in 17th century Europe. Political development in this concept led to different methods of operating a government two prominent models being absolutism and constitutionalism. The first one centers on a strong centralized monarchy and the dominating royal power and the latter is based on a limited monarchy where the ruler is confined to the law and parliament. Theoretically, England planned to follow the constitutional model but the Stuart monarchs thought otherwise of this and conflicted with the Parliament throughout the century. This conflict centers on the evolution of England to becoming a world power.…
In a rule using suppression, backed up by the claim to divine authority, an absolute monarchy embodies the omnipotent government reign. Such power was given solely to the head of the state without any constituted restraints. During the Reformation up to the seventeenth century, Europe’s social system started to have conflict as to whether absolute power should be appointed to the king. The king’s subjects, mostly nobles, supported their kings right to absolute power because they got the benefit of political leadership roles and were also given royal protection. The common-folk and the servants were against it because absolutism abused the power in ruling over the peasants as the king, which tended to be restricting.…