Historical examples of absolute monarchies
Outside Europe
In the Ottoman Empire, theEurope
Throughout much of European history, the divine right of kings was the theological justification for absolute monarchy. Many European monarchs claimed supreme autocratic power by divine right, and that their subjects had no rights to limit their power. Throughout the Age of Enlightenment, the concept of the divine right to power and democratic ideals were given serious merit. The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the ''Springtime of the Peoples'' or the ''Springtime of Nations'', were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in European history. By the 19th century, divine right was regarded as an obsolete theory in most countries in the Western world, except in Russia where it was still given credence as the official justification for the Tsar's power until February Revolution in 1917 and in the Vatican City where it remains today.Kingdoms of England and Scotland
James VI and I and his son Charles I tried to import the principle of divine right into Scotland and England. Charles I's attempt to enforce episcopal polity on the Church of Scotland led to rebellion by the Covenanters and the Bishops' Wars, then fears that Charles I was attempting to establish absolutist government along European lines was a major cause of the English Civil War, despite the fact that he did rule this way for 11 years starting in 1629, after dissolving the Parliament of England for a time.Denmark–Norway
Absolutism was underpinned by a written constitution for the first time in Europe in 1665 da, Kongeloven, lit= King's Law, label=none of Denmark–Norway, which ordered that the Monarch: This law consequently authorized the king to abolish all other centers of power. Most important was the abolition of the Council of the Realm in Denmark. Absolute monarchy lasted until 1814 in Norway, and 1848 in Denmark.Habsburgs
Hungary
France
Prussia
In Brandenburg-Prussia, the concept of absolute monarch took a notable turn from the above with its emphasis on the monarch as the "first servant of the state", but it also echoed many of the important characteristics of absolutism. Frederick William (r. 1640–1688), known as the Great Elector, used the uncertainties of the final stages of the Thirty Years' War to consolidate his territories into the dominant kingdom in northern Germany, whilst increasing his power over his subjects. His actions largely originated the militaristic streak of the Hohenzollerns. Frederick William enjoyed support from the nobles, who enabled the Great Elector to undermine the Diet of Brandenburg and other representative assemblies. The leading families saw their future in cooperation with the central government and worked to establish absolutist power. The most significant indicator of the nobles' success was the establishment of two tax rates – one for the cities and the other for the countryside – to the great advantage of the latter, which the nobles ruled. The nobles served in the upper levels of the elector's army and bureaucracy, but they also won new prosperity for themselves. The support of the Elector enabled the imposition of serfdom and the consolidation of land holdings into vast estates which provided for their wealth. They became known as Junkers (from the German for young lord, ''junger Herr''). Frederick William faced resistance from representative assemblies and long-independent cities in his realm. City leaders often revolted at the imposition of Electorate authority. The last notable effort was the uprising of the city ofRussia
Until 1905, the Tsars and Emperors ofSweden
The form of government instituted inContemporary trends
Many nations formerly with absolute monarchies, such as Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco, have moved towards constitutional monarchy. However, in these cases the monarch still retains tremendous power, even to the extent that by some measures, parliament's influence on political life is viewed as negligible. In Bhutan, the government moved from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy following planned parliamentary elections to the Tshogdu in 2003, and the election of a National Assembly in 2008. Nepal had several swings between constitutional rule and direct rule related to the Nepalese Civil War, the Maoist insurgency, and the 2001 Nepalese royal massacre, with the Nepalese monarchy being abolished on 28 May 2008. In Tonga, the king had majority control of the Legislative Assembly until 2010. Liechtenstein has moved towards expanding the power of the monarch: the Prince of Liechtenstein was given expanded powers after a referendum amending the Constitution of Liechtenstein in 2003, which led the BBC to describe the prince as an "absolute monarch again".Current absolute monarchies
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, and according to the Basic Law of Saudi Arabia adopted by Royal Decree in 1992, the King must comply with Shari'a (Islamic law) and the Qur'an. The Qur'an and the body of the Sunnah (traditions of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad) are declared to be the Kingdom's Constitution, but no written modern constitution has ever been promulgated for Saudi Arabia, which remains the only Arab nation where no national elections have ever taken place since its founding. No political parties or national elections are permitted and according to '' The Economist's'' 2010 Democracy Index, the Saudi government is the eighth most authoritarian regime from among the 167 countries rated.Scholarship
There is a considerable variety of opinion by historians on the extent of absolutism among European monarchs. Some, such as Perry Anderson, argue that quite a few monarchs achieved levels of absolutist control over their states, while historians such as Roger Mettam dispute the very concept of absolutism. In general, historians who disagree with the appellation of ''absolutism'' argue that most monarchs labeled as ''absolutist'' exerted no greater power over their subjects than any other ''non-absolutist'' rulers, and these historians tend to emphasize the differences between the absolutist rhetoric of monarchs and the realities of the effective use of power by these absolute monarchs. Renaissance historian William Bouwsma summed up this contradiction: Anthropology, sociology, and ethology as well as various other disciplines such as political science attempt to explain the rise of absolute monarchy ranging from extrapolation generally, to certain Marxist explanations in terms of the class struggle as the underlying dynamic of human historical development generally and absolute monarchy in particular. In the 17th century, French legal theorist Jean Domat defended the concept of absolute monarchy in works such as ''"On Social Order and Absolute Monarchy"'', citing absolute monarchy as preserving natural order asSee also
* Autocracy * Authoritarianism * Constitutional monarchy * Criticism of monarchy * Democracy * Despotism * Dictatorship *Footnotes
References
Further reading
* Anderson, Perry. (1961, 1974). ''Lineages of the Absolutist State''. London: Verso. * Beloff, Max. ''The Age of Absolutism From 1660 to 1815''. * Blum, Jerome, et al. (1970). ''The European World'', vol 1, pp 267–466. * Blum, Jerome, et al. (1951). '' Lord and Peasant in Russia from the Ninth to the Nineteenth Century''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. * Kimmel, Michael S. (1988). ''Absolutism and Its Discontents: State and society in seventeenth-century France and England''. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books. * Méttam, Roger. (1988). ''Power and Faction in Louis XIV's France''. New York: Blackwell Publishers. * Miller, John (ed.) (1990). ''Absolutism in Seventeenth Century Europe''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. * Wilson, Peter H. (2000). ''Absolutism in Central Europe''. New York: Routledge. * Zmohra, Hillay. (2001). ''Monarchy, Aristocracy, and the State in Europe – 1300–1800''. New York: Routledge. {{DEFAULTSORT:Absolute Monarchy Monarchy Political theories