Louis XIV vs. Peter “the Great” Who best exemplifies the ideal 17th c. European

absolute monarch?

VITAL STATS

King Louis XIV (1643-1715)

Nickname: “Sun-King”

Dynasty: Bourbon

Country: France

Height: 5’5”

Vice: Sex, sex & more sex

Czar Peter II (1689-1725)

Nickname: “the Great”

Dynasty: Romanov

Country: Russia

Height: 6’9”

Vice: Sex, alcohol & torture

DOMESTIC REFORMS

Louis XIV: Palace of Versailles (1660-1688)

Largest secular structure in Europe (at time)

36,000 laborers (& 6,000 horses) forced into labor to build palace

5,000 acres of gardens, lawns & woods

1,200 fountains & 700 rooms

6,000 paintings & 2,100 sculptures

Cost: 2.5 billion dollars (if built today)

Palace of Versailles (1668)

Pictures of Versailles (today)

Peter II: The City of St. Petersburg

Design based on the capitals of the Western Europe

To finance the enormous costs, Peter taxed wealthiest Russians

Forced serfs into labor to build the city (over 30,000 lost their lives

Ordered nobles & craftsmen to move to the city to jumpstart population

By 1725, St. Petersburg boasted a population in the thousands

Image of St. Petersburg:

Louis XIV: Distract the Nobles

Moved all high nobility, royal princes & chief state offices to Versailles Distracted nobles by keeping them involved in court activities, etiquette & intrigueLife at Versailles became court ceremony with Louis at center of it allGained control over provincial gov’ts by bribing local officials

Peter II: “Westernize” Russia

Wanted to create a “police state” (well-ordered community governed in accordance the law)

Created boards of administrators to handle different functions of the state

Built schools & began a state-sponsored newspaper

Introduced western customs, practices & manners (i.e. “beard tax”)

Religious Policies

Louis XIV:“One King, One law, One faith”Catholicism official state religionRevoked Edict of Nantes (Edict of Fountainbleau –

1685)200,000 Huguenots flee France

Peter the Great: State-controlled ChurchSought to gain of Russian Orthodox ChurchReplaced patriarch w/ procurator loyal to the Tsar

ECONOMIC POLICIES

Louis XIV: Economic Policy

Jean-Baptiste Colbert controlled finances

Used mercantilist policies to increase wealth & power of France

Louis depleted the treasury on wars & luxuries

Burden of heavy taxes fell on peasants

Peter “the Great”: Economic Policy

Adopted mercantilist policies to stimulate economic growthChanged primary tax from land tax to soul tax (each person in Russia had to pay)3/4ths of Russia’s total revenues spent on the military

MILITARY POLICIES & WARS

Louis XIV’s Military Machine:Secretary of War: Francois-Michel Le TellierDeveloped a professional army of 100,000 men in peacetime & 400,000 in wartimeWars of Louis XIV:

Invaded Spanish Netherlands & Franche-Comte (1667)

Invaded Dutch United Provinces (1672)War of the League of Augsburg (1689-1697)War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713)

Peter “Westernizes” Russian Military

Created standing army of 210,000 soldiers

Used peasant conscripts as soldiers & nobility as officers

Created 1st Russian navy

Primary goal: Gaining a warm-water port on the Baltic

Starts & wins Great Northern War (1701-1721) against Sweden, Poland & Denmark

LEGACY

Louis XIV’s Legacy:

Helped make France Europe’s political &cultural during the 17th century

Monarchs all over Europe envied the court at Versailles

Left France impoverished & surrounded by enemies

Made emerging states (Brandenburg-Prussia & Austria) more powerful

Increased England’s power & territory

Peter the Great’s Legacy:

Turned Russia into a great European state & military power

His westernization of Russia only reached the upper classes of Russian society

Added more burdens to the masses of Russian people

Forceful way of implementing cultural reforms made Russian people distrust the West