During
Louis XIVs reign in France, he defined what it means to be an absolute monarch.
While on the throne, Louis XIV a lot of the European countries with four wars!
Louis XIV came into power at the age of four after his father Louis XII died. Louis
XIV saw an ideal world through the arts. While in power he had theaters and
high-class artwork and sculpting all over the city of Paris. But the main thing
he took advantage of was the power of warfare and his ability to conquer land.
Louis XIV fought the Spanish-Netherlands war to gain land back from his Spanish
wife’s brother Charles II, he then went to the United Providences of the
Netherlands and fought the Angelo-Dutch war, his goal in this war was to break
all connection with Dutch trade. He also fought to conquer land on the
Franco-German border and provinces on the northern border of Italy. This is simply all Louis XIV wanted, land and power. After winning many battles he began to kind of do whatever he wanted. He was always pretty confident in himself and his decision making... When coming in to power, he chose the sun as his emblem because he thought he was infallible. There were 11 civil wars fought in France while he was in power. This shows how careless he was in the safety of his people. All of Louis XIV success made other European countries see France as a threat. Many wars started to arise with France with many different countries. France and Louis XIV had the dominant army and won most of the land but due to all of the expenses of war, France was now in major debt. This caused the people of France to turn against Louis XIV and this led to the downfall of his rule.
Phillip II
Philip II was also an absolute leader, he abused his power mostly in the form of government in being the only one who had any input on decision making. The only other people he had involved with government were people to assist him like the secretaries of state. Philip worked with his son Antonio Perez. But they were not on the same page after all... Perez wanted the Prince of Eboli's suggestion for a government which was a federal system of government which gave states their own customs and allowed them to have some say in decision making. Philip II than thought the people would agree with this idea whereas he did not. Therefore he had Perez arrested so he wouldn't appose a threat to him. The only other form of power that even kind of held a threat to Phillip II was the council of state. Phillip II often did not attend these meeting because he knew he was the one who had the most authority. But he sometimes went to these council of state meetings to gather new ideas from different people. This actually turned out to be Philips greatness weakness, to try and take advice from other people. Phillips ideas of ruling himself would've worked if he did not listen to other peoples ideas. He had complete control but he let it slip away from him from changing his actions.
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan was known to be a very gruesome leader that rarely anyone liked due to his blood thirsty tactics. He came onto the throne when he was only fifteen after his father died. He was one of 3 children but one of his brother had already died at a young age and so his father declared that once he died, Ivan would be his successor. The reason Ivan got the nickname "Ivan the Terrible" was because of how destructive and abusive he was. This was due to the fact that he had a very rough childhood. Ivan lived in poverty during his child and saw things everyday like murders and beatings. Ivan did not like seeing these things so he took his anger out on ripping feathers off birds and cutting them open. Like Louis XIV Ivan loved having more land. Sometimes when Ivan's Russian army even approached a smaller, weaker army, they would surrender with out even having to fight. One of Ivans famous battles was when he conquered Kazan and Astrakhan. After conquering these 2 large landmasses, Ivan officially got his famous nickname. The nickname that people started to give him was "Gronzy" which means "the terrible" it also means "dread" but historians say that the most accurate translation is "the awesome". Conquering these 2 regions gained over 1,000,000 square kilometers to Russias already massive landmass. This made the people of Russia extremely satisfied and started liking Ivan. This made it easier for Ivan to get money for war supplies due to the generosity of the people to help pay extra. Ivan also opened up trading/foreign policies to many countries which brought a wide variety of people into his country. When his wife died Ivan started banging his head against the floor and destroying his house. Ivan fled Russia but then returned shortly showing signs of abuse and stress on his body. Ivan then witnessed the Oprichniki coming into a church during mass and beating and killing members of the church. This made Ivan extremely angry and slaughtered 60,000 people of Novgorod. According to adademic.mu.edu he did things like tie them to sleds and run them into the freezing river. This is when Ivans problems started to kick in and his downfall affected his rule. He did things like attack his daughter, kill his son, and attack and kill many of his close friends. These actions show that he had the power to do whatever he wanted and was unstoppable. The only thing that stopped him were his aggressive and stupid actions.
Akbar
Akbar the Great took over the throne in India at the young age of 14. He succeeded his father Humayun which only led for a couple months before dying. Bairam Khan ruled most of Northern India at this point but Akbar was able to dismiss him and take full control. Akbar was known to be a great military general, according to bio.com he was able to conquer to Afghanistan in the North, Sindh in the West, Bengal in the East, and the Godavari Rver in the South. Akbar was a smart man and created a central government which pleased his people so they would trust and believe in his future decisions. He also didnt discriminate people by their religion or beliefs and allowed anyone to join his empire. He was known for pleasing his people and trying to make an ideal life for them. He wasnt very selfish like most absolute monarchs were... his goals were to please his people. Since he gained so much land, many people werent Muslim so he thought it was unfair that they were being taxed and abolished the taxes on non Muslims. And he didnt force the Hindu people to convert to Islam because he thought that people should not be forced into a religion. The loyalty that he had and the trust he generated from his people allowed him to gain a lot of power. The trust from the people granted his decision making not to be questioned.
Charles I
Charles I took the throne at the age of 25. The people thought Charles would lead them to a parliament type government but Charles did not want to convert. Charles fought off parliament for 11 years and ended up in a civil war. Charles showed poor managing skills when trying to assort the country and eliminate religious problems between the Cavaliers (supporters of monarchy) and the Roundheads (supporters of parliament). The Cavaliers were mostly in the North and West of the country while the Roundheads were usually in the South and East. The Roundheads were bound to win with more land mass and more people and they did defeat the Cavaliers in 1645. A year later, Charles surrendered to Scotland and allowed parliament to come in rule. Charles failed at trying to run the country himself due to his instability and poor decision making as he lost his power over a civil war in his own country.
Being an Absolute Monarch
All of these leaders were thirsty for land and power in their countries. Most of them had access to a lot of power but just abused it by trying to go to far with their selfish decision making. Akbar the Great was the only successful which he was defeated by the Hemu and Sur army which knocked him out of his rule. If these leaders would have been more conservative and not tried to go overboard by trying to conquer so much land or take advantage of their people it is possible that their would be many absolute rulers today. But an empire or nation can not stand with out trust and belief from its people.
Works Cited:
"Phillip II and Government." Phillip II and Government. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan was known to be a very gruesome leader that rarely anyone liked due to his blood thirsty tactics. He came onto the throne when he was only fifteen after his father died. He was one of 3 children but one of his brother had already died at a young age and so his father declared that once he died, Ivan would be his successor. The reason Ivan got the nickname "Ivan the Terrible" was because of how destructive and abusive he was. This was due to the fact that he had a very rough childhood. Ivan lived in poverty during his child and saw things everyday like murders and beatings. Ivan did not like seeing these things so he took his anger out on ripping feathers off birds and cutting them open. Like Louis XIV Ivan loved having more land. Sometimes when Ivan's Russian army even approached a smaller, weaker army, they would surrender with out even having to fight. One of Ivans famous battles was when he conquered Kazan and Astrakhan. After conquering these 2 large landmasses, Ivan officially got his famous nickname. The nickname that people started to give him was "Gronzy" which means "the terrible" it also means "dread" but historians say that the most accurate translation is "the awesome". Conquering these 2 regions gained over 1,000,000 square kilometers to Russias already massive landmass. This made the people of Russia extremely satisfied and started liking Ivan. This made it easier for Ivan to get money for war supplies due to the generosity of the people to help pay extra. Ivan also opened up trading/foreign policies to many countries which brought a wide variety of people into his country. When his wife died Ivan started banging his head against the floor and destroying his house. Ivan fled Russia but then returned shortly showing signs of abuse and stress on his body. Ivan then witnessed the Oprichniki coming into a church during mass and beating and killing members of the church. This made Ivan extremely angry and slaughtered 60,000 people of Novgorod. According to adademic.mu.edu he did things like tie them to sleds and run them into the freezing river. This is when Ivans problems started to kick in and his downfall affected his rule. He did things like attack his daughter, kill his son, and attack and kill many of his close friends. These actions show that he had the power to do whatever he wanted and was unstoppable. The only thing that stopped him were his aggressive and stupid actions.
Akbar
Akbar the Great took over the throne in India at the young age of 14. He succeeded his father Humayun which only led for a couple months before dying. Bairam Khan ruled most of Northern India at this point but Akbar was able to dismiss him and take full control. Akbar was known to be a great military general, according to bio.com he was able to conquer to Afghanistan in the North, Sindh in the West, Bengal in the East, and the Godavari Rver in the South. Akbar was a smart man and created a central government which pleased his people so they would trust and believe in his future decisions. He also didnt discriminate people by their religion or beliefs and allowed anyone to join his empire. He was known for pleasing his people and trying to make an ideal life for them. He wasnt very selfish like most absolute monarchs were... his goals were to please his people. Since he gained so much land, many people werent Muslim so he thought it was unfair that they were being taxed and abolished the taxes on non Muslims. And he didnt force the Hindu people to convert to Islam because he thought that people should not be forced into a religion. The loyalty that he had and the trust he generated from his people allowed him to gain a lot of power. The trust from the people granted his decision making not to be questioned.
Charles I
Charles I took the throne at the age of 25. The people thought Charles would lead them to a parliament type government but Charles did not want to convert. Charles fought off parliament for 11 years and ended up in a civil war. Charles showed poor managing skills when trying to assort the country and eliminate religious problems between the Cavaliers (supporters of monarchy) and the Roundheads (supporters of parliament). The Cavaliers were mostly in the North and West of the country while the Roundheads were usually in the South and East. The Roundheads were bound to win with more land mass and more people and they did defeat the Cavaliers in 1645. A year later, Charles surrendered to Scotland and allowed parliament to come in rule. Charles failed at trying to run the country himself due to his instability and poor decision making as he lost his power over a civil war in his own country.
Being an Absolute Monarch
All of these leaders were thirsty for land and power in their countries. Most of them had access to a lot of power but just abused it by trying to go to far with their selfish decision making. Akbar the Great was the only successful which he was defeated by the Hemu and Sur army which knocked him out of his rule. If these leaders would have been more conservative and not tried to go overboard by trying to conquer so much land or take advantage of their people it is possible that their would be many absolute rulers today. But an empire or nation can not stand with out trust and belief from its people.
Works Cited:
"Phillip II and Government." Phillip II and Government. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/PhillipII_government.htm
"Phillip II and Government." Phillip II and Government. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Phillip_II_the_man.htm
"Absolute Terror- Ivan the Terrible." Susan Haarman, n.d. Web.
http://academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/ivan-terrible.htm
"Akbar the Great." Bio. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.
http://www.biography.com/people/akbar-the-great-9178163#awesm=~oEljqHsNsnU8QF
"Charles I." Brittania. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon47.html>.
"Louis XIV." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://www.history.com/topics/louis-xiv>.
"Phillip II and Government." Phillip II and Government. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Phillip_II_the_man.htm
"Absolute Terror- Ivan the Terrible." Susan Haarman, n.d. Web.
http://academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/ivan-terrible.htm
"Akbar the Great." Bio. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.
http://www.biography.com/people/akbar-the-great-9178163#awesm=~oEljqHsNsnU8QF
"Charles I." Brittania. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon47.html>.
"Louis XIV." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://www.history.com/topics/louis-xiv>.
No comments:
Post a Comment