Peter The Great Absolutism

Absolutism was at its most popular in the 17th century. Monarchs Louis XIV who ruled France from 1643 to 1715, and Peter the Great who ruled Russia from 1682 to 1725 both secured absolute power in their kingdom. Peter the Great, however, managed to accomplish more during his reign than Louis XIV with politics and military. Peter was able to tax his nobles but still keep their loyalty and also change how his army was run by using Prussian organization and discipline.

First, both Louis and Peter had noble uprisings early in their reigns, but they handled them and got somewhat on the good side with their nobles. Peter the Great created a Service Nobility, and demanded all nobles, or boyars as they are called in Russia, serve in the civil service

or in the military. This allowed Peter to keep track of all of his nobles and also keep them busy. In 1722 Peter issued the Table of Ranks, which recognized service in the military, in the civil service, and at the imperial court as the basis of a noble’s position in society. Peter also taxed his nobles a lot, including a beard tax; despite this, the nobles still stayed loyal to Peter. Also, Peter was able to break the economic monopoly of the nobles, which Louis XIV did not manage to do. On the other hand, Louis XIV used his new grand palace at Versailles as a way to keep track of his own nobles. In Versailles, everyone had a different rank and depending on their rank nobles could do different tasks such as handing the King his clothing to sitting with him during meals. This made competition amongst the nobles because each noble wanted to be invited to Versailles and be close to the king. This constant competition kept them from collaboratively conspiring against the king. Louis XIV also appointed bourgeoisie to high positions in his administration. He did this because all the nobles who originally had duties as royal representatives were giving up those duties and moving to Versailles. The new bourgeoisie appointees were generally more educated and their title were revocable and not hereditary, so it was a good switch for Louis in the long run. Both monarchs were able to take control over their nobles, but Peter did a better job of it. Russian nobles were loyal to Peter and French nobles were only on the king’s side because of greed and vanity.
Secondly, an army is useful for an absolute monarch, as it draws attention away from internal problems and creates a sense of security and patriotism. After Peter’s tour around Europe he learned to use Prussian organization and discipline for the Russian army. King Louis XIV introduced his army to artillery, improved the chain of command, and increased the size of his army from 25,000 men to 250,000 and sometimes it even reached 400,000 men. Despite this, a majority of Louis XIV’s reign was spent at war which were unsuccessful and put France into an overwhelming amount of debt. Louis and Peter were both successful in creating armies, but Peter was more successful with winning his wars.
Lastly, both Louis and Peter failed to address the long term economic and social problems of their nations, a crucial thing to do as an absolute monarch as it keeps them in good terms with their people.

During Peter the Great’s reign a major problem in Russia was serfdom. Serfs were peasants that were forced to work on a noble’s land and were basically slaves. Serfdom was a major organization in Russia up until 1723 when Peter converted the household slaves into house serfs. Unfortunately, conversion to serf status and the later ban of the sale of serfs without land did not stop the trade in household slaves, it simply changed its name. Peter the Great was generally well liked by his nobles, even though he taxed them for absurd things like beards, beehives or corners in a house. The fact that the nobles still sided with Peter on everything after being taxed for ridiculous things showed their loyalty. However, Louis XIV had economic difficulties. To help fix this he hired Jean-Baptiste Colbert who invented Mercantilism, an economic system where exports exceed imports to maximize profit and create a self-sufficient state--great for an absolute monarch. However Colbert did not address Louis’ real issue which was him not taxing the nobles. The nobles refused to pay taxes and also did not like Louis; they just couldn’t do anything about it. Since, Louis could not sufficiently tax his nobles instead he relied on the bourgeoisie and peasants to pay excessive taxes. As you can see,

both monarchs failed to get complete control over their people, which is essential for an absolute monarch to be successful.
In conclusion, Louis XIV of France and Peter the Great of Russia both secured absolute power by political reform and military conquest, but both ruler failed to concentrate on long term social problem in their kingdom. Considering these factors, Peter the Great ruled more successfully than Louis XIV. Although France had much more competition than Russia, as well as inherited problems from the previous ruler. Even so, Peter managed to take more control over his nobles and successfully organize his army which later helped him win numerous wars.