The Western Experience, 10th Edition (Chambers)

Chapter 17: The Emergence of the European State System

Problems for Analysis

I. Absolutism in France

1
In what ways did the policies of Louis XIV build the state's power? What evidences success or failure of these policies?
2
Which view of Louis XIV's reign do you find more persuasive, Albert Sorel's or John Rule's? Why?

II. Other Patterns of Absolutism

3
Explain the relative success of Prussia during the eighteenth century.
4
How did Austria centralize state power during this period?
5
Compare Russian absolutism to that of France and Prussia. In what ways was it similar to each? How was it different from both?

III. Alternatives to Absolutism

6
What developments support the argument that during the late seventeenth century the gentry triumphed in England?
7
Compare the decentralization of government and society that occurred in the United Provinces, Sweden, and Poland during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

IV. The International System

8
Compare the nature of war and diplomacy during the eighteenth century with that of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
9
What role did "reasons of state" and dynastic interests play in the wars, diplomacy, and internal policies of European states during the eighteenth century? Give examples.
Chambers, The Western Experience, 10th Edition
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