Phillip II of Spain

Louis XIV of France

Peter the Great of Russia

Maria Theresa of Austria

Frederick the Great of Prussia

By 1600, some European kings had become absolute monarchs

Absolute monarchy is a government in which one

king should hold all the power within a country

Absolute monarchs controlled all aspects

of their nations, including taxes, religion, the

military, & the economy

The Rise of Absolute Monarchs Absolute monarchs believed in divine right, the idea that God created the monarchy

& kings answered only to God, not the people

Louis XIV of France

Examine the portrait of French king Louis XIV &

find 3 things in the painting that help show Louis as an

absolute monarch

Louis XIV By the time Louis XIV

came to power, France was an absolute monarchy

Louis XIV ruled France for 72 years & became the classic example of an absolute monarchy

Louis XIV believed that he was the government,

(“L’etat c’est moi”): He excluded nobles from gov’t decisions & hired bureaucrats to collect taxes & enforce laws

Louis XIV Louis XIV called himself the “Sun King” because

he felt that French power emanated from him

Louis XIV had a positive impact on France:

His economic advisors used overseas colonies

& mercantilism to generate new wealthHe encouraged

manufacturing to make France self-sufficient

With this wealth, Louis built a powerful army & transformed France into the most powerful

nation in Europe

Peter the GreatBy the time Peter the Great became czar in 1682,

Russia was a large empire

But Russia was not as advanced as Western

European nations

Russia before Peter the GreatRussia was isolated from Western Europe & knew very little about the new ideas of the Renaissance While European nations

grew wealthy from trade, made cultural advances, &

had strong economies…

Most Russians were feudal peasants working for nobles (called boyars)

…Russia had no advanced industry, no overseas

colonies, & an economy of small-scale farmers

Czar Peter the Great wanted to modernize & “Westernize” Russia to catch up with Europe

In disguise, Peter toured Europe to learn new ways

to modernize Russia

While in Europe, Peter learned new ideas about shipbuilding, manufacturing, gov’t organization,

city planning, music, & fashion

When he returned from Europe, Peter

imposed new reforms

to Westernize Russia:

Adopted European fashions by banning beards for men

& veils for women Adopted a European calendar

Improved farming

techniques Used mercantilism as an economic policy

Created iron & lumber factories

Modernized the army &

navyMade himself head of the Orthodox Church

(like Henry VIII in England)

Peter expanded Russia’s borders & built a new “European-style” Russian capital at St. Petersburg

From 1300 to 1700, three “gunpowder empires” dominated parts of Europe, Africa, & Asia

The Ottoman Empire

The Safavid Empire The Mughal

Empire

These empires were unique but shared some similarities:

All 3 empires were able to conquer neighboring people because they formed strong

armies using rifles & artillery

These empires were unique but shared some similarities:

All 3 empires blended their culture with neighboring

societies to create a high point of Islamic culture

The Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman army included 30,000 elite soldiers called janissaries who were slaves that

were trained to be loyal to the government

Suleyman’s greatest accomplishment was creating a stable gov’t for his empire

He was known as “Suleyman the Lawgiver”

because he created a law code that governed

criminal & civil issues

He created a simplified & fair tax system to raise money for his empire

He granted freedom of worship to Christians &

Jews living in the empire

The Safavid Empire

The Safavids were Turks living in Persia who built a powerful

gunpowder army & created an empire in modern-day Iran

Unlike the Ottomans who were Sunni Muslims, the Safavids believed in Shi’a Islam & strictly

converted the people they conquered

Safavid rulers were called shahs, using the Persian

title for king

The greatest ruler of the Safavid Empire was Shah Abbas who came to power in 1587

Abbas borrowed ideas from outside groups to improve

the Safavid Empire

He modeled Ottoman janissaries, used merit to employ gov’t workers, &

introduced religious toleration which helped

Safavids trade with European Christians

Art flourished, especially carpets that blended

Persian & European designs

The Decline of the Safavid EmpireLike the Ottomans, Shah Abbas blinded

or killed his most capable sons in

order to keep power

As a result, weak leaders led to a

rapid decline of the Safavid Empire

While the Ottoman Empire lasted until 1922, the Safavid

Empire fell in 1747

The Mughals were Muslims who descended from Turks, Afghans, & Mongols living in central Asia

Like the Ottomans & Safavids, the Mughals built a powerful army with guns & cannons

In 1494, Babur became king of the Mughals,

expanded the army, & began invasions into

India to create his empire

Akbar was the greatest of all the Mughal rulers

He held religious discussions with Hindu & Muslim scholars

He ended the tax that non-Muslims were required

to pay & created a fair & affordable tax system

Akbar’s greatest achievement was cultural blending &

religious toleration

Because he was Muslim ruling in a largely Hindu

region, Akbar allowed non-Muslims to worship freely

He married many wives, among them

were Muslim, Hindu, & Christian women

The best example of Akbar’s tolerance was his creation of a new religion called the Divine Faith

The Divine Faith was an example of syncretism

because it blended ideas from Islam, Hinduism,

Christianity, & Zoroastrianism

Akbar hoped the Divine Faith would end conflicts between

Muslims & Hindus

But, the Divine Faith never attracted many Muslim or

Hindu converts…When Akbar died, so did the Divine Faith

The Decline of the Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire grew weak

by 1700 as kings spent too much money on palaces & war

In addition, the large population of Hindus

in India began to revolt against their

Muslim rulers

Great Britain took advantage of this weakness,

conquered India, & removed the last Mughal

emperor from power in 1858

■ Text Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)In 1644, northern invaders from Manchuria

conquered China & created the second foreign dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing Dynasty

During this era of Manchu rule, China grew to its largest size by claiming Taiwan, central Asia, Mongolia, & Tibet

■ Text Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)Kangxi was the first emperor to tour

China & visit peasant villages

Kangxi & later Manchu rulers returned China to isolationism by restoring strict adherence to the “Middle Kingdom”

■ Text Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)But, Qing China faced 2 important challenges

that would threaten China’s future strength The introduction of new American crops like corn & sweet potatoes led to a dramatic increase in the

Chinese population

The sharp rise in the number of Chinese peasants would

lead to competition for land & peasant uprisings

■ Text Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)But, Qing China faced 2 important challenges

that would threaten China’s future strength

European missionaries & merchants arrived in Asia eager to gain access into China

■ Text

Japanese FeudalismIn 1192, the first

shogun was named by the emperor

The emperor remained in place,

but the shogun held real power & ruled

as military dictators

Shoguns’ power varied over time, but the pattern of

gov’t controlled by a shogun lasted

until 1867

Tokugawa Shogunate For more than 250 years,

Tokugawa’s successors ruled Japan as shoguns

During this time, Japan benefited from peace;

The economy boomed & became more commercial

Japanese Isolationism Tokugawa shoguns

decided to exclude foreign

merchants & missionaries

By 1639, Japan adopted a

“closed country policy” &

ended almost all foreign contacts

Nagasaki Bay

Japan

Deshima

Dutch Ships

Japanese isolation remained in place for over 200 years

until the 1850s

During this era of isolation, Japan had profitable trade,

became self-sufficient, limited foreign ideas, & reduced Europe’s ability to colonize Japan

One Japanese port at Deshima in Nagasaki Bay remained open but

only to Dutch & Chinese merchants