Frq_English_and_French_Govt._Varing

December 8th, 2011 Period 7 AP Euro FRQ In the 17th century the English and French government varied in development. They varied by the way they ran (monarchy), the way the nobles were treated, and the way they work with parliament. England being the stuarts was hereditary and French being the Bourbans had an absolute monarchy. England was elective and France went by the divine right theory and how you’re born into the power given to by God. In 1713 Louis 14th signed the pragmatic sanction which forced it to stay in habsburg blood. Louis the 14th built the palace of Versailles to keep watch on the nobles because he didn’t trust them after they betrayed him when he was young and he was forced to flee. Later in the sixteen hundreds, monarchial systems for France and England were changingIn England, they were switching from an absolute monarch to a more powerful parliament. The opposite was happening in France with Louis XIV. Louis XIV strengthened his own office while weakening the general assembly of France. Absolutism, a political situation where a monarch controls all aspects of government with no checks or balances, was introduced to England by James I and Charles I, however it never quite took hold. France, on the other hand with Louis XIV took absolutism to extremes, claiming to be a servant of God ( divine right of kings ) and dissolving France's only general assembly. In my opinion why absolutism was unsuccessful in England but flourished in France is mainly because of the political situation in each country when the idea was first introduced. In England, two monarchs came to power that attempted to develop royal absolutism in that country. Both James I and Charles I attempted to rule without consenting parliament, however parliament had powerful control at that time that neither James nor Charles successfully decreased the role of Parliament in the English government. The English weren't ready to give al power of government to a single person. The land-owning nobles and merchants supported parliament , where members could be elected and changed in necessary rather than an absolute monarch with no control. 1642 was the date of the civil war and it was ignited because of the differences between parliament and Charles I, however it was also caused partly by royal stubbornness to share control of the country, and partly by parliaments refusal to give up their power in government. Now France however had a completely different government.