Eastern Vs Western Absolutism Essay

Absolutism was a political theory created by the following individuals; Jean Bodin, Thomas Hobbes (somewhat), and Bishop Bossuet. The era of absolutism was a time, 16th to 18th centuries, when monarchs ruled with all power to themselves in most countries, especially in France. Absolutism was favored among monarchs because it gave them complete power over their country and did not have to answer to anyone but themselves. Western absolutist France and eastern countries were similar by focusing on military aspects such as spending money to build large and powerful armies to win wars and gain land, and using increased taxation on lower classes to gain money, as well as monarchs ruling as the sovereign of that state. Eastern and western absolutism …show more content…
Those differences focus on the power of the nobility and the serfdom still existent in the eastern countries. In France, the power of the nobility was limited by the monarch. Louis XIV built the Versailles Palace as a distraction for the noble so they would not interfere with Louis’s political affairs. This differed greatly in eastern Europe. In Prussia, the Junkers, the nobility, formed the backbone of the Prussian military officer unit. They had power and a strong influence in political affairs.The monarch and nobles were basically equal in power which is why it was hard for the monarch to rule absolutely the way Louis XIV. In France, the peasants were free from serfdom and although they were still heavily taxed, hey did not have to worry about serfdom as it was nearly abolished. In eastern countries, however, serfdom was still prominent in society. The main reason for that was because the nobles benefitted from taxing them and eastern lords had more political power. Since the nobles had more power and influence, the monarchs needed them to help run the country and the nobles used that to their advantage and wished for serfdom so they could get more money which is why serfdom was still prevalent in the eastern