Absolutism. - DEFINITON Absolut Is the political doctrine...

DEFINITON:
Is the political doctrine and practice of unlimited, centralized authority and absolute
sovereignty, as vested especially in a monarch or dictator. The essence of an
absolutist system is that the ruling power is not subject to regularized challenge or
check by any other agency, be it judicial, legislative, religious, economic, or
electoral. King Louis XIV (1643–1715) of France furnished the most familiar
assertion of absolutism when he said, “L’état, c’est moi” (“I am the state”).
Absolutism has existed in various forms in all parts of the world, including in Nazi
Germany under Adolf Hitler and in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.
"Absolutism." Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 6 June 2016.
Absolutism is a political theory and form of government where unlimited, complete
power is held by a centralized sovereign individual, with no checks or balances from
any other part of the nation or government. In effect, the ruling individual has
‘absolute’ power, with no legal, electoral or other challenges to that power. In
practice, historians argue about whether Europe saw any true absolutist
governments, or how far certain governments were absolute, but the term has been
applied – rightly or wrongly - to various leaders, from the dictatorship of Hitler, to
monarchs like Louis XIV of France, to Julius Caesar.
"What Was Absolutism?" About Education. Web. 6 June 2016.
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Absolutism.htm
THE ABSOLUTE AGE:
Absolutist Monarchs:
When talking about European history, the theory and practice of Absolutism is
generally spoken about with regards to the ‘absolutist monarchs’ of the early modern
age (16th to 18th centuries); it is much rarer to find any discussion of the twentieth
century dictators as absolutist. Early modern absolutism is believed to have existed
across Europe, but largely in the west in states such as Spain, Prussia and Austria.
It is considered to have reached its apogee under the rule of French King Louis XIV
from 1643 – 1715, although there are dissenting views – such as Mettam -
suggesting that this was more a dream than a reality. Indeed, by the late 80s, the
situation in historiography was such that a historian could write “…there has
emerged a consensus that the absolutist monarchies of Europe never succeeded in
Absolut

freeing themselves from restraints on the effective exercise of power…” (Miller, ed.,
The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought, Blackwell, 1987, pg. 4).
What we now generally believe is that Europe’s absolute monarchs still recognised –
still had to recognise - lower laws and offices, but maintained the ability to overrule
them if it was to benefit the kingdom. Absolutism was a way central government
could cut across the different laws and structures of territories which had been
acquired piecemeal through war and inheritance, a way of trying to maximise the
revenue and control of these sometimes disparate holdings. The absolutist monarchs