American History

The Age of Absolutism

Although the Holy Roman Empire no longer has played a significant role in European politics after the Thirty Years' War, it remained important in Germany, providing a framework for the many German states and cities conduct their affairs. The Reichstag, which remained in session at Regensburg from 1663 until the dissolution of the empire in 1806, if a forum for conflict resolution. Occasionally, voices have been taken to remove incompetent or tyrannical rules of member states. The most important service of the empire was that it provided a measure of security to many small states and free cities of Germany, without which some have been swallowed up by larger neighbors. Because of his weakened state, the empire could no longer dominate Germany, even when headed by ambitious and capable men such as Charles VI (r. 1711-1740). During the 1720s, he tried unsuccessfully to breathe new life into the empire. Later emperors returned to the traditional practice of using the Habsburg imperial throne to benefit their own dynastic holdings.

For almost a century after the Peace of Westphalia, the main danger to German states came from abroad. France was the chief threat, seizing parts of southwestern Germany near the end of 1600s, among them the city of Strasbourg in 1681. French troops also fought on German soil during the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714). In addition to these military actions, France formed the most significant alliances with some German states, with Bavaria, which sought support against neighboring Austria. The Ottoman Empire also posed a threat. In 1683 its forces besieged Vienna. The Germans were finally successful against the Ottoman Empire, and after the Treaty of Passarowitz of 1718, the Turks no longer a danger.

Absolutism and the Social Contract

In 1589, in France, the Bourbon Henry IV tried to achieve the concentration of powers; emerging victorious from the Fronde uprising that occurred between 1648 and 1653. Between 1643 and 1715, Louis XIV, known as the "Sun King", coined the phrase "I am the state", which symbolizes the aspiration of the absolutism of the time. He was a skillful diplomat, who organized the best seventeenth-century European army.

But other voices emerge, such as Locke (1632-1704) that will rise to call for limiting the power of the sovereign to prevent unlimited and arbitrary exercise of power. Hobbes also spoke as the existence of a social contract, but for Locke, the state of nature was not hostile but people lived harmoniously. The state was due to see the benefits it would bring its constitution, for greater security and protection of the rights of all, avoid private revenge. For these individual members of the State reserved the supreme power and can remove the rulers if they abuse the powers delegated by the people, who are only required to exercise their mandate.

This theory of the social contract, will be deepened by Rousseau (1712-1778), who describes the natural state as a paradise where all men are equal and enjoy a wealth of resources to ensure everyone's ...