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Absolute monarchy vs constitutional monarchy essay
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Throughout the history of France and England, the monarchy ruled supreme for centuries. Each monarchy encased its own individual characteristics, but it also shared several specific traits. The monarchy varied from king to king, but in general both countries were ran the same way with each passing king. In the end, it will be clear to see that though they have both have their differences. Maybe their countries were more alike than we thought.
The largest difference between the two monarchies, is at the base of it. In France, each king chose to rule with an absolute monarchy. This in short means that the king had absolute power, and that he could not be questioned by anyone or any authority he had appointed. He was allowed to do what ever he pleased, to levy taxes, pass laws, and had direct control of all his subjects within his state. On the other hand, England went with a constitutional monarchy. Although this did not always play out, England's original ruling was to eliminate the destruction
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In France, the people were oppressed, violated, and disregarded. They were no longer citizens of the state of France, they were simply subjects to the crown. Their absolute monarchy transitioned to that of a tyranny. Sadly, when Parliament lost power in England this exact incident occurred. As discussed previously, Parliament longed for a constitutional monarchy to avoid disaster. But exactly like France, the constitutional monarchy transitioned to an absolute monarchy, and then from that formed a tyranny. Starting at James I and ending at James II, the English monarchy was not what they had long desired for it to be. Many were tyrant rather than kings, and several even dismissed Parliament in order to escape the possibility of them being question and maybe even removed. Obviously, these two countries are more alike than would appear at first
During the 16th and 17th centuries a new type of ruling emerged as a result of unorganized government called royal absolutism. This type of government was seen in many European countries including France and Russia where King Louis XIV and Peter the Great ruled respectively. Both had ways of ruling that were similar to each other and different to each other. Politically, economically and socially both Louis XIV and Peter the Great were similar to and different from how they ruled and what their reign resulted.
France and England both worked with the middle class, and they both centralized power, yet France gained an absolute monarchy, while England didn’t. What was the difference between their growing of royal power? In addition to centralizing power and working with the middle class, they got rid of the nobles and they both had kings who refined the countries. However, when England got rid of the nobles, they didn’t gain any royal power, and their kings didn’t benefit their search for royal power. Unlike England, French absolutism succeeded due to its ability find their way around the nobles and powerful and determined kings.
A Comparison of the Characteristics of the Absolutist Rule of Charles I of England and Louis XIV of France
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 like to be told what to do. These conflicts arose with the States-General in France, or Parliament in England who had substantial control. The first countries to have absolute rulers were the traditionally strong countries, such as England, Spain, and of course Louis XIV’s France.
When the King of England began to infringe on the colonists’ liberties, leaders inspired by the enlightenment grouped together to defend the rights of the American colonies. As Thomas Jefferson writes in the Declaration of Independence, “History of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States” (Jefferson 778). The citizens of France, inspired by the enlightenment, desired a government run by the people. Marquis de Lafayette wrote, “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights; social distinctions may be based only upon general usefulness” (de Lafayette 783).
The American and the French revolutions had many similarities and differences. One similarity being is that they both wanted to escape the rule of their King. Second, they both started by an uprising of people against unfair taxation by the monarchy. The French peasants were not represented by the Parliament. It was mainly composed of middle and upper class people. Now, the American colonists were not represented in England because of their lack of presence. Both wanted to set up a Republic, which provided liberty and justice to all classes of citizens. Just like France, the American colonists were composed up mainly middle and lower class citizens. The American Revolution started out by not wanting bloodshed and violence. France started out with violence and bloodshed. (American Revolution)
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.
Louis XIV (the fourteenth) was an absolute monarch. He was often called "the Sun King," and ruled over France. He devoted himself to helping France achieve economic, political, and cultural prominence. Many historians believe the phrase "absolute power corrupts absolutely" mirrors Louis' reign. Louis XIV revoked the Edict on Nantes, changing the economy of France in one motion. By creating the city of Versailles and being a major patron of the arts, Louis was very influential on French culture. He made France go almost bankrupt from his costly wars and failures. Louis was very corrupt in his power, and it shown in all he did to change France; he got what he wanted, when he wanted it.
In addition to this, the cost of running a government in general had gone up and the country needed more money. Because the king didn't have as much power to tax as he pleases, the government could make a firm and accurate taxation of the people. In France, the price of government had also gone up.
... reign as follows; “The princes and nobility were oppressed, the parlements had no more power, it was obligatory to receive and register all edicts, whatever they were, since the King was so powerful and so absolute”, it can be seen from the aspects of Louis XIV’s reign discussed above that it would be too simple, and indeed almost too short-sighted to say that his monarchy was completely absolute. Of course Louis reigned with great power (as can be seen from his extensive control over his courtiers and political system), but there can be no doubt that there were certain facets of society and events which prevented this power from being completely absolute, such as the aforementioned incident with the pope. Therefore, I have reached the conclusion that with all things taken into account, despite his great power and influence Louis XIV was not an absolute monarch.
John Locke expressed that “All mankind…being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions” Locke’s view, which also was the idea of Enlightenment ideals, enlightened both American people and French people fought for their freedoms from absolute monarchs, and sought ways to firm their equality and natural right to life, liberty, and property during the eighteenth century. American revolution began as a conflict between thirteen colonies in the North America and the British Empire, and ended as the creation of the United State of America. French revolution was unleashed by the risk of France’s old regime and ended in 1799 when Napoleon staged a coup and seized power. Both American Revolution and French Revolution began with the same goals, which was the creation of a new government, but these were achieved in different ways: the American Revolution was a revolt that affirming the independence of the American to against Britain, while the French Revolution was civic wars among the people who turning France into a constitutional monarchy. In this paper, I will argue though the strategy of two revolutions might have been different, the outcome of their successful revolutions led to the creation of their Declarations, which defined the future of their government. A close look of their similarities and differences shows what led to their creation.
Louis XIV exemplified absolutism, and his ruling set the example for other monarchs throughout Europe. The aims for absolute monarchy was to provide ‘stability, prosperity, and order’ for your territories (458). The way Louis XIV set forth to accomplish this was to claim complete sovereignty to make laws, sanction justice, declare wars, and implement taxes on its subjects. This was all done without the approval of any government or Parliament, as monarchs were to govern ‘by divine right, just as fathers ruled their households’ (458). In Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet’s Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture, he described that absolution was one of the four characteristics imperative to royal authority, “Without this absolute authority, he can do neither good nor suppress evil; his power must be such that no one can hope to escape him” (460). This was epitomized when Louis XIV sought to control the legal system as well as the funding of the financial resources through a centralized bureaucracy for the monarchy. The church was also brought under control, and Louis sought to do away with all other religions by revoking the Edict of Nantes. Political power was given to noblemen, who were seen as ...
These two revolutions occurred relatively at same period, but were almost complete mirror reflections of one another. The patriots of the revolution in America did not really even wanted a revolution, but had no choice, which made it peaceful aside from the war. The revolutionists in France seemed almost bloodthirsty and were very quick to kill someone for any injustice. The groups of revolutionists were too radical in that they were not willing to compromise. Compromise makes the difference between a peaceful state and a reign of terror.
The inflated opinion the French monarchy had about themselves and other nobles lent itself to how they contributed to and handled the economic downturn in France for centuries prior to the French Revolution. Forming the foundation of many of France’s financial issues, the monarchial system granted royals and the nobles who surrounded them the ability to feel as if they are intended to be superior to the rest of France, a mentality that would last until the French Revolution began. With this monarchial system, each king of France from 1610 to 1789 would contribute in both positive and negative ways, depending greatly on the Chief Ministers they appointed. [ADD]
middle of paper ... ... Soon after, the National Assembly created a liberal parliamentary system and rebelled against Monarch rule by passing the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. The National Assembly made governmental reforms forcing a Constitutional Monarchy in France. The Constitutional Monarchy was represented by electorates.