France was an absolute monarchy until King Louis XVI control was divided between him and the nobility. Absolute monarchy is a system of government when a king or queen has power over all citizens. A monarchist had the power to create laws and was considered as the highest judge in the land. To become a monarch you had to be related to someone in the royal family. The oldest son became the heir to the throne. Since you were chosen because you were an heir to the throne, you were not chosen based on your leadership. This led to countries with absolute monarchy to have both good monarchists and bad ones. French nationalism was altered by absolute monarchy by giving the French an identity based on their monarch during the time. This
