TOKUGAWA IEYASU, LOUIS XIV,

AND PETER THE GREAT

Absolutism

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa IeyasuAfter Toyotomi ‘s death in 1598, one of his daimyo allies named Tokugawa Ieyasu completed the unification of Japan in

1600In 1603, Tokugawa became shogun of Japan, moved to capital to Edo (later called Tokyo), &

restored gov’t & order to Japan.

He controlled the nobles by forcing them to stay in Edo every other year. (I.E. they couldn’t return to their home area to raise an army against him.) They also had to leave their families in Edo.

Tokugawa ruled until 1615, but he created a line of succession called the Tokugawa Shogunate that ruled Japan until 1867.

LOUIS XIV

Louis XIV inherited the throne at age 5, & his Chief Minister worked to secure his reign.

Louis called himself ‘the Sun King’ (because the sun is the center of the solar system & he was the center of the nation).

Louis XIV

Louis never called the Estates-General (the council made of representatives of all social classes), so they were not able to check his power.

L’ETATC’EST MOI.

Strengthening of Royal Power under Louis XIV

Louis expanded bureaucracy intendantsintendants collected taxes,

recruited soldiers, & made sure Louis’s policies were followed.

He strengthened the army.

With help of finance minister (Colbert), he strengthened the French economy by following policies of mercantilism (increasing exports and placing tariffs on imports).

Versailles

Louis XIV built an extravagant palace at Versailles (near Paris) as a symbol of royal power.

Versailles was the home of Louis, about 10,000 nobles, & was also the seat of the government.

As a patron of the arts, Louis sponsored artists, playwrights, & musicians to provide entertainment at Versailles.

Peter the Great

Before the rule of the Romanov czars in the 1600s, Russia was backwards & isolated from Western Europe.

Peter the Great, who came to power in 1682, was able to regain the absolute power of the earlier czars.

Peter the GreatPeter the Great

carried out social & economic reforms to make Russia more modern.

Westernization of RussiaPeter the Great also

weakened the Russian nobles (boyars) & forced them to Westernize. Part of this program included requiring nobles to wear Western clothes & shave their beards.

He gained territory along the Baltic Sea as a result of his war against Sweden.