Marcos Santiesteban
Mrs. Cocke
English 10
April 19, 2023 Absolutism Corrupts Absolutely In history, there have been various great powers. Although These powers are great, they do not stay around forever. One example is the French Monarchy. The French Monarchy lasted 948 years, but it still fell due to revolution. Caesar was also a great ruler of Rome, he was feared by many people. A group was created to assassinate Caesar. These things happened because of the Ruler's actions that led to people's reactions. When nothing is checked in a power, the power will corrupt. The corrupting nature of power is shown many times throughout history, as presented by various examples. For example, France had a monarchy that lasted for 948 years, as shown
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Louis XIV, known as the "Sun King," was notorious for doing whatever it took to improve his country, “His own glory was indissolubly connected with the welfare of France, and never did he look upon his kingdom as a noble regards his land, from which he extracts as much as he can that he may live in luxury.”-John B. Wolf “A Neo-Augustan Age” page 2, pg. 3, but his autocratic rule set a precedent that future kings followed, resulting in a culture of carelessness and neglect for the welfare of the people. This ultimately contributed to the fall of the French Monarchy. For example, ”King Louis XVI reluctantly approved a new constitution that stripped him of much of his power.”-History.com “Monarchy Abolished in France”, but his previous actions had already created discontent among the people, leading to dissatisfaction and the eventual overthrow of the monarchy. Louis XVI had secret communications with foreign nations, which were leaked to the public. This led to his execution, showing how every action can have severe consequences. These examples show how a leader's actions, driven by power and authority, can lead to corruption, and ultimately end their position and the stability of their
The French Revolution was a major event in history that impacted and changed the course of the world today, and most famous for the executions of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. It helped introduce modern civilization to multiple ideologies such as socialism, liberalism, and even patriotism, as well as reforming the government. With all these great advancements, there’s a pondering question left by many asking what happened to cause this revolution. There were many factors that led up the French Revolution, but one of the many significant causes was the king of France himself. According to the Sixth Document, Causes of the French Revolution, It was said that Louis XVI’s lack of leadership skills made him an ineffective ruler.
In his early years of being king, Louis focused on religion and foreign policy. Louis early foreign policy success was supporting the American colonies fighting for independence from France’s enemy Great Britain. However, the policy is taking out international loans and not raising taxes, increasing the debt and nearly made the country go bankrupt in the mid 1780’s. When Louis got too pressured he went back to his ways of being simple and uncommunicative, having no solution to the problems, and not responding to those who offered to help. When he failed to fix France’s problems the revolution would eventually be upon him.
This new king showed potential. He rose at a very unfortunate time because had to pay for his antecedents recklessness and spending. The nation was nearly bankrupt. When Louis XIV first came to power, he was greeted the same way Louis XV was. The difference was, this king showed that he could actually make the country better.
Subnational tyranny in different nations and locales varied impressively as far as its beginning, types of run the show, also, outcomes: some subnational tyrant administrations were brief and transitional; others dove in for long hundreds of
Power, and the way it is distributed, has changed over the years. The democratic system seen today in most 1st world countries which embodies the motif of the common man having power over his own destiny is a stark contrast to the despotisms, empires, and monarchies of the past. The greatest upheaval of this old system happened in the waning years of the 18th century, with the French peasantry throwing off their heavy yokes burdened upon them by their greedy and unqualified royal masters and becoming the masters of their own destiny (by appointing for themselves an emperor instead of a king). What happened in those years long past still echoes today as the model method for overthrowing oppression and taking ownership of one’s own destiny from the selfish clutches that they first had been stricken to.
If you are reading your history book, a play, or even watching the news today, you will see how people abuse the power that they have over somethings. There have been many leaders and people who abuse their power over civilization and places. Even the littlest taste of power often leads them to corruption. Many times, citizens and adversaries riot over some of the things that they disagree on and, in some cases, murder comes in to play.
The abuses of absolute rulers were the starting point of revolutions during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. For example, Louis XVI of France became king at a very young so he had no experience. Although he was inexperienced, that is not an excuse for the countless amount of times he ignored the people’s needs and requests because he wanted control. For example, he ignored the people’s demands to enforce the
Throughout history, people had a desire for power and abused their power. Power is a significant enduring issue because it led to events that had huge effects on the world such as the Qin dynasty of ShiHuangdi’s ruling, Autocrats,
Louis XVI Louis XVI, who succeeded the throne in 1774, lacked the abilities to deal with the sate affairs wisely. The queen, Marie Antoinette, spent much time on court intrigues. Both the king and the queen failed to have an insight into the hopeless and dissatisfaction of people, which led to the later violent revolution. At that time, Louis XVI is regarded as a tyrant due to his incompetence and indecisiveness, which is the main reason of the break out of the French Revolution.
Monarchy was one of the berdons holding France back at this time. From 1770-80 under the ruling of Louis the 16th France found itself in a large amount of debt. HIm and his wife Marie Antoinette excessive spending habits were the cause of the debt being repaid by the third estate. In 1793 when The Convention found him guilty of treason and sentenced him to death by guillotine. After being decapitated, the executors showed his severed head to the crowd saying ¨Long live the Republic¨(document 5).
Considering Caesar’s approval surrounded by the senate, it gave him a copious number of enemies because other politicians were jealous of the number of things that he had accomplished in the republic. He also gave former enemies, ones he had previously conquered, positions in government. Some of these positions included the senate. This was ultimately the biggest mistake during his reign due to the fact that, these people conducted the assassination plot for
The debt of King Louis XIV was very troublesome. It caused his once powerful and rich kingdom, to plummet. The article Memoir of the Reign of Louis XIV, by the Duke of Saint – Simon: Louis de Rouvry, states, “He wished to reign by himself. His jealousy on this point unceasingly became weakness . . . He liked nobody to be in any way superior to him.”
When somebody receives incredible power, they also receive a large burden of responsibility. Some people, such as Napoleon, disregard these responsibilities and become corrupt. In reality, we have seen this in leaders such as Stalin, who became corrupt once into power. In “Animal Farm”, Napoleon, a totalitarian pig, is a great example of how too much power is equal to corruption.
Power can have the persuasive action in undoing the moral ethics of one’s character. This can be seen throughout history, such as World War II and proven by the actions of Napoleon in the allegory, Animal Farm, by George Orwell. As Lord Acton said “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In history what was viewed as a villain, is never the same as the perception. A leader does not begin wanting to do wrong, they start with the best intentions, but power is a tricky thing.
As described in the article, “Louis XIV, king of France,” of The Columbia Encyclopedia, Louis’s vast spending on his palace at Versailles, along with him participating in needless wars such as the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), left France in a state of debt and “greatly weakened [France] militarily” (“Louis XIV, king of France” para. 5). Additionally, Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes which had protected the religious freedoms of French Protestants known as Huguenots, as he wished to transform his monarchy to