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Our homie, the Sun King, Louis XIV and his homeboy  Jean-Baptiste Colbert smacked some centralized authority into France. Take a seat, Mr. Perkins, because I am about to take you on a wild historical ride that is Louis XIV's reign. Alright, so first of all, he was not about to be one of those wimpy old French kings with their stupid lilies and weak grip on the aristocracy. The aristocracy was a bunch of big babies, and while little baby Louis XIV was growing up, they were rebelling against the government. Lousi didn't like that, and he was like, "I'm never gonna let them do this when I'm a big and strong king." So he grows up and CRACKS DOWN on the aristocracy in a very indirect way; he takes control of the population of France.  He revoked the Edict of Nantes, saying the whole country has to be Catholic, like him. He had Versailles built for him so that he could have nobles under his supervision and keep all of France under his control and his control only. Versailles became the center of European politics, and France the center of culture. His good buddy Jean-Baptiste Colbert (If that ain't the Frenchest name am I right) was super into mercantilismand applied a ton of mercantilist policies to FRance

 

STUPID FREDERICK II OF PRUSSIA WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AN ENLIGHTENED ABSOLUTIST, RIGHT? ALL "RELIGIOUSLY TOLERANT" AND A MODERN, CLASSY PERSON. BUT THEN HE GOES SHOVING JEWISH PEOPLE INTO GHETTOS AND MAKING IT ILLEGAL FOR THEM TO BE PART OF MOST OCCUPATIONS? NAH, SON.

 

5. Analyze how Peter the Great ‘westernized” Russia and how Catherine the Great continued the process.

HE TOOK AWAY EVERYTHING THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE LIKED, LIKE THEIR BEARDS AND THEIR ORIENTAL ROBES, AND REPLACED THEM WITH TYPICAL WESTERN CRAP. CATHERINE DID THESE THINGS ALSO, BUT CLASSIER BECAUSE SHE WAS A PATRON OF THE ARTS AND EXPANDED RUSSIAN BORDERS SOUTH AND WEST. 

1. Explain how the outcome of the English Civil Ear and the Glorious Revolution protected the rights of the gentry and aristocracy from absolutism through assertions of the rights of Parliament. Use the English Bill of Rights and Parliaments sovereignty as case studies

So there was a ton of stuff going down in England, and there were kings who straight up wanted to take absolutist control of England, some who were two-faced and secretly wanted to unify England, and some who wanted to show their butts rather than politley wave to their subjects. Parliament kept getting disbanded and rebanded and they were really really tired of kings being such brutes, so they eventually made a king sign some papers to give the people some rights and protect them from absolutism. The English bill of rights was a document that basically said "WE DESERVE SOME SORT OF RIGHTS, YO"

 

 

2. Explain how Louis XIV’s continuous wars provoked a coalition of European powers to oppose him. Use the War of Spanish Succession as a case study

Pretty much, everyone wanted to beat up Louis because he was a big meanie face and he got lucky because his grandson became the king of Spain and covered his ass against all the other countries THE FREAKING END.