Ap Us History Exam Review the Conquistadors Most Effective Weapon Was
Even though we live in a world where kings and queens typically hold more symbolic power than actual political dominance, nosotros however seem to be a piffling obsessed with the monarchical organisation. Whether it'south the next royal hymeneals in Great Britain or Lewis Carroll'southward character The Queen of Hearts, screaming "off with her head!," nosotros still continue our eyes fixed on the happenings of those wearing crowns.
But if yous retrieve nosotros are a bit fascinated by royalty in today's day and historic period, wait until y'all hear near the Historic period of Absolutism. Monarchical dominion was all the rage during this era and you can bet your crown jewels that information technology is a time period that will show upwardly on the next AP® European History exam.
The Age of Authoritarianism did sweep through Europe like a political wildfire, so it can be a fleck tough keeping track of all the royal lineages out in that location. Can you differentiate between all eighteen King Louis' of French republic? If yous can't, that'due south ok. Nosotros've created this AP® European History Crash Course on the Age of Absolutism to provide you with the tips and tricks so you don't have to memorize every single monarch in all of European history. This AP® Euro review will go over the near of import details that characterized the Historic period of Absolutism and put them in relation to the AP® Euro exam itself.
What was the Age of Authoritarianism?
The Age of Authoritarianism was the period around the 17th and 18th centuries when Europe (kind of) was ruled past very powerful monarchs. Monarchs with absolute control. Thus, the Historic period of Absolutism.
Accented monarchs were rulers who held all the power in a state. Nether their rule there were no checks and balances on their power, and there were no other governing bodies they shared the power with. These monarchs besides ruled by divine correct or the conventionalities that their ability came from God. To oppose them was to oppose God.
Hopefully you noticed our "kind of"disclaimer next to the discussion Europe up there. We put that in there for 2 reasons. Start, despite its name the absolute monarchy system of political control was non necessarily as powerful as the proper name implies. The system was never uniform nor did it exist without struggle. Nosotros volition talk over these bug in further detail later in this AP® European History Crash Class, but for the purposes of the AP® Euro test always keep in listen that this was however a circuitous era of political control.
Second, the Age of Absolutism typically refers to Europe roughly around 1550 to 1800. But absolute monarchs have ruled outside of Europe and during different periods in human history. Just think of the Egyptian Pharaohs. They ruled with absolute command and nether the belief in a divine right. Again, chances are that the AP® European History exam will reference Europe, but the people at the CollegeBoard dearest information technology when you empathise the complexities backside the terms they are examining you on.
Who Ruled During the Age of Absolutism?
As we mentioned above, the Age of Absolutism occurred over a various cross-section of Europe during several hundred years. We likewise mentioned that there were quite a few monarchs that reigned during this era, including those that implement non-absolutist policies in order to create even more control.
Since we cannot cover every single aspect of this era, nosotros volition go over four unlike places of rule that stand for the Historic period of Absolutism in its entirety. These nations include Spain, England, France, and Prussia. By examining the histories of these iv monarchies, we can show the rise and fall of the Age of Absolutism.
England
The English monarchy was one of Europe'southward oldest and most complex systems of royal rule (and remains so to this solar day). Monarchical rule began on the island around the 12th century, well before the Age of Authoritarianism. But since the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215, the rule of the British monarchy was limited.
Always since the Magna Carta, royalty on the island engaged in a push and pull betwixt imperial authorization and civil rights. Queen Elizabeth I, for case, became an incredibly popular leader because she showed relative religious, social, and political tolerance. She besides turned to mercantilism, including the colonization of the New Globe, as a manner to retain political ability and control.
Her successor, James I, was a fleck different, nonetheless. James I, as many of the English kings after him, constantly fought with Parliament for more ability. It was no secret that he strongly supported absolute monarchy, especially the belief that his divine right permitted him to ignore Parliament in order to get things done. In then terminate, this kind of infighting betwixt the royal houses and Parliament led to a civil war (1642-1651), the result of which nearly cutting off all political ability from the English crown.
Spain
Spain saw a series of absolute monarchs. Some of the all-time examples of these were Philip Two, Philip III and Charles Iv of Spain, who ruled during Spain's heyday as the strongest naval empire coming out of Europe in the 16th and 17thursday centuries. Remember that Spanish monarchs were extremely Catholic, and and so, strongly believed that God gave them the divine right to rule.
Simply to put things into a fiddling bit of context, Philip Two was the rex who tried to invade England during the Reformation via the Spanish Armada because he wanted them to be Cosmic. But all three of these monarchs pushed for colonization and established Spain every bit a globe ability, using their version of absolute authority to not only dominion over the Castilian peoples but those they colonized every bit well.
They were able to rule with fe fists by extracting gold and other resources from the Americas, while implementing religious conversion through the conquistadors and the Inquisition system. But this ultimately wouldn't terminal too long, since their many wars (especially with England) proved costly and used up their gold supply. This decline occurred well into the 19th century when Napoleon invaded and forced the Castilian crown to abdicate.
France
Speaking of Napoleon, let's move onto France. The French monarchy has been remembered equally perchance one of the most influential regimes in the Age of Absolutism. This is partially because of the total opulence that French kings and queens lived in. They enjoyed lavish castles, improvident parties, and fine jewelry.
In other words, they lived the high life and in complete decadence. Henry Four started the whole French royalty experience off in the 16th century. He helped to put France on the map as a global and economical power largely due to the wealth the country gained due to the colonization of North America. These colonization efforts besides helped French monarchs from Henry Iv and onward to fund their rich tastes and pay for their powerful regime.
Male monarch Louis Xiv was perhaps the most opulent and memorable of the absolute monarchs in French history. He called himself the "Sun Male monarch" and famously said, "50'état, c'estmoi!" Or, "I am the land!" In other words, he wanted everyone to know that he ruled France with accented power. He made France the capital of luxury in Europe, from building the Palace of Versailles to keeping complete control of the feudal nobility. But his expensive habits also led to terrible economic crisis and poverty among his people.
The next two Louis kings kept up the French grandeur, until King Louis Xvi constitute himself in the middle of a revolution. The more the French people began enervating civil rights and privileges (congenital from Enlightenment ideals), the less the French monarchy became accented and eventually faded under the new French Commonwealth.
Prussia
French republic would not be the simply land hit by the Enlightenment, yet. Kickoff in the 17th and 18thursday centuries, monarchs throughout Europe were realizing the accented control was becoming more than difficult since their populations began request for their ain rights and privileges.
What is different about the absolute monarchs of Prussia and others similar it was that they reigned nether a new form of absolute monarchy—enlightened authoritarianism. These monarchs were influenced past the ideals of the Enlightenment, and so these monarchs better supported the arts, tended to be more supportive of religious toleration and were more decumbent to follow the laws.
And if the Enlightenment Absolutists had a leader, information technology would have been Frederick the Corking. He was the King of Prussia between 1740 and 1786, smack-dab in the middle of the Enlightenment movement in philosophy and science. He believed in modernizing the Prussian state by improving the lives of his subjects. Simply he likewise encouraged religious toleration more so than whatever monarch before him.
He would not be the only one either. Leaders like Catherine the Groovy, Joseph II of Austria, and Frederick VI of Denmark were all known for including the tenets of the Enlightenment in their monarchical rule. Despite these advances, though, these rulers were notwithstanding monarchs and what they said was still constabulary. So, ultimately, the absolute monarchs used Enlightenment ideas equally a way to further affirm their control and avoid the types of revolutions that were occurring in France and North America.
The Age of Absolutism and the AP® European History exam
The AP® European History test loves a topic similar the Historic period of Absolutism because it hits so many of the Learning Objectives laid out by the CollegeBoard. During your AP® Euro History review periods, y'all've probably started to notice that a major theme of the form itself has to do with States and Other Institutions of Power (Theme 4, to be exact). If you lot want to catch up on your AP® European History form Themes, go alee and take a quick expect at the AP® European History Course and Examination Guide from the CollegeBoard website.
This grade theme covers all sorts of political ability throughout European history, including the ways that the royalty during the Age of Authoritarianism justified their own power and authority, how they maintained control, and those challenges that arose against them.
Luckily for you, nosotros take covered all of these things in this AP® European History Crash Course on the Age of Absolutism. Simply just in case, let'due south take a quick await at an example from the AP® Euro exam itself and run into how the topic might pop up in future editions.
Permit's accept a look at an case from the AP® European History exam from the year 2004 :
"Analyze the shifts in the European balance of power in the flow between 1763 and 1848."
Granted, this was one of the Free-Response Questions from a few years ago, but y'all tin can easily meet how this question (or one similar to it could bear witness up on adjacent year's AP® Euro test as a Long-Essay Question. Either way, this is a perfect case of how the term Age of Absolutism might really pop up as topic on the AP® European History examination.
Like we discussed to a higher place, the era in question here comes right at the tail cease of the absolutist monarchy motion that was the central political platform in Europe. You already know that monarchs believed their rule to exist absolute, but others always found a way to challenge their potency. Events that occurred in places such as France, like those revolutionaries turning towards the values of the Enlightenment helped to spark a shift towards Enlightened Absolutism, but ultimately the monarchies would requite style entirely to republics and liberal politics.
No affair, how the topic comes up on your AP® Euro exam, merely recall everything we've covered in this AP® European History Crash Course on the Age of Absolutism and you're bound to dominate the examination like the best European despotic monarch!
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