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Absolutism & Colonial Empires
In the 17th and 18th centuries many European monarchs gathered power into their own hands - Louis XIV in France, Peter the Great in Russia - with standing armies, tax officials and grand palaces. At the same time trading companies and colonies built empires on four continents, fed by plantation economies and the Atlantic slave trade.
The Sun King
THEME ONE
Louis XIV took personal control of government in 1661 and ruled for more than half a century. From 1682 he lived at Versailles, where the great nobles spent their days at court, watched by the king and away from their provinces. His minister Colbert built roads, canals, manufactures and a navy. Louis fought long wars for French borders, and the famous line "I am the state" is probably a later invention.
Many roads to power
THEME TWO
Prussia built its state around the army, and under Frederick the Great it became a great power. Peter the Great of Russia went to work in Dutch and English shipyards, founded St Petersburg in 1703 and forced Western ways on his nobles. England went the other way: after a civil war, the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Parliament's Bill of Rights limited the crown.
Companies and colonies
THEME THREE
The English East India Company (1600) and the Dutch VOC (1602) were private companies with the right to wage war and govern. The Dutch built their Asian trade from Batavia, today's Jakarta. In North America French, English and Dutch colonies grew. Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War (1756 – 1763) gave it Canada, and its company began to rule large parts of India after the battle of Plassey in 1757.
Plantations and the slave trade
THEME FOUR
Sugar, tobacco, coffee and later cotton were grown in the Americas on plantations worked by enslaved Africans. Between the 16th and the 19th century about 12.5 million Africans were forced onto ships across the Atlantic, and nearly 2 million died on the way. The trade peaked in the 18th century. It made fortunes in Europe and the Americas and caused lasting harm to Africa.
Periods
Crisis and strong states
1600 – 1660
The Thirty Years' War, the English Civil War, revolts in France and Spain - and the first trading companies in Asia.
The age of Louis XIV
1661 – 1715
France sets the model of court and state, England chooses parliamentary monarchy, and Peter the Great turns Russia towards Europe.
Enlightened rulers and world wars
1715 – 1800
Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great and Joseph II, wars fought on several continents at once, and the independence of the United States.
Key dates
- 1600The English East India Company is founded.
- 1661Louis XIV begins his personal rule.
- 1689The English Bill of Rights limits the power of the crown.
- 1703Peter the Great founds St Petersburg.
- 1763The Seven Years' War ends, and Britain wins Canada.
- 1776Thirteen American colonies declare their independence.
Questions and answers
What is absolutism?
A form of monarchy in which the ruler claims full power, answerable only to God, without having to share it with a parliament or the estates. In practice absolute monarchs still depended on nobles, officials and local customs, so many historians now see absolutism as an aim rather than a reality.
What was mercantilism?
The economic policy of the age: a state grows rich by exporting more than it imports and by piling up gold and silver. Governments supported home industries, protected them with tariffs and used colonies as sources of raw materials and as markets for their goods.