Abosolutism

Absolutism was a method to solidify a state, as existed in France during the reign of Louis XIV. This imperial system's goal was to establish a nation state that had a monopoly over administration of justice and use of force. This nation state unified the state geographically and culturally, ruled by a strong national government, and had a powerful national military. There were four ways for an absolute monarch to solidify his power: build monarch power (which came from God), break down noble power, unify culture around the monarch, and develop a bureaucracy. Louis XIV established himself as an absolute monarch by uniting France through his palace at Versailles. He took the power away from the nobles by making them spend six months at Versailles, which was expensive and wasted the nobles money and served as away for the king to watch over all of the nobles. Louis created a bureaucracy made up of the bourgeoisie, or commoners. Two exceptions to an absolute monarchy in Europe were Great Britain the Dutch Republic because of their small nations.

http://www.students.sbc.edu/gregg09/Versailles%20images/Versailles%203.jpg Back to Units 7 & 8

Created by Hannah Hollon 2/10/09 Edited by Danielle Fishman 2/10/09 Edited by Rachel M 2/10/09