Unit 3 · Absolutism and Constitutionalism
● Core concept · ○ Supporting concept
3.2 The English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution
Constitutionalism ● (core concept) — The principle that government power is limited by law and shared with representative bodies, emerging victorious in England.
English Civil War ● (core concept) — The mid-17th-century conflict between Parliament and Charles I over royal authority, ending in the king's execution and a short-lived republic.
Glorious Revolution ● (core concept) — The overthrow of James II and installation of William and Mary, securing parliamentary power in England.
Charles I ○ — English king executed after the Civil War; an illustrative example of absolutist claims defeated by Parliament.
English Bill of Rights ○ — The law limiting royal power and guaranteeing parliamentary rights after the Glorious Revolution.
Oliver Cromwell ○ — Parliamentary leader who ruled England as Lord Protector after the Civil War; an illustrative example.
3.3 Continuities and Changes to Economic Practice and Development
Agricultural Revolution ● (core concept) — Improvements in farming, such as enclosure and new techniques, that increased food production and supported population growth.
3.4 Economic Development and Mercantilism
Mercantilism ● (core concept) — Economic policies aiming to increase national wealth through a favorable balance of trade, bullion reserves, and colonial control.
Favorable balance of trade ○ — Exporting more than is imported; the central mercantilist goal for building state wealth.
3.5 The Dutch Golden Age
Dutch Golden Age ● (core concept) — The 17th-century period of Dutch commercial, artistic, and financial dominance built on trade and religious toleration.
Religious toleration (Dutch Republic) ● (core concept) — The Dutch Republic's policy of religious toleration, which attracted merchants and fostered economic growth.
Dutch East India Company (VOC) ○ — The powerful Dutch trading corporation; an illustrative example of Dutch commercial power.
3.6 Balance of Power
Balance of power ● (core concept) — The diplomatic principle of preventing any single state from dominating Europe, pursued through shifting alliances.
War of the Spanish Succession ○ — An illustrative example of a war fought to preserve the European balance of power.
3.7 Absolutist Approaches to Power
Absolutism ● (core concept) — A system in which monarchs claimed unlimited, centralized power over the state.
Catherine the Great ● (core concept) — Russian empress who corresponded with philosophes and pursued limited reforms while strengthening autocracy.
Louis XIV ● (core concept) — French king whose long reign became the model of absolute monarchy in Europe.
Peter the Great ● (core concept) — Russian tsar who westernized Russia's military, government, and culture to strengthen absolutist power.
Divine right of kings ○ — The doctrine that monarchs derive authority directly from God, justifying absolute rule.
Palace of Versailles ○ — Louis XIV's grand palace, symbolizing absolute royal power; an illustrative example.