Compare And Contrast Frederick William And Louis Xiv

Two great rulers of the 16th-17th century, Louis XIV and Frederick William, once paved their way into becoming a perfect example of how absolutism could turn out. Either in ruin, or prosperity. Louis XIV was the King of France, in which he praised so much his divine power as a King. On the other hand, there was Frederick William who aided the creation of the militaristic power, Prussia. These two rulers were idolized for their prosperous intellect and unique decisions when it came to governing their region. However, they did it in very different ways. Louis XIV was one of few rulers that praised the idea of divine power; this means that he was chosen by god to rule all of France and lead them alone into the future. That began his absolutist

Like the “Sun King”, Frederick was able to tax the various provinces of Prussia, without retaliation, in order to build up a fund for the military expansion. With the fear of further foreign invasion, his tax profits increased dramatically. One by one, Prussian Provinces became one big state in which Frederick William was in charge of. Thus an absolute monarch. The nobles power declined, the absolutist nature seized over the government and Frederick William passed on his secrets of financial support and military tactics to his son, Frederick William I. His son kept the Empire going without any further trouble, unlike Louis XIV’s children. Therefore, the absolutist reign can either end in ruin or further expansion. The way Louis XIV responded to the challenges of his state led him to lead France straight into debt. However, Frederick William’s patience and relentless taxing allowed for a better outcome when it came time that he fixed the issues within his state. This allowed for a better future and and ensured pathway to success for the empire of Prussia. In the end these rulers showed their own beliefs and values in ruling alone, which determined the outcome of their reign, but those ethics and ideas passed onto the modern day world. We still consider their ideas valuable in understanding how things work in the government