Catherine, Frederick and Louis - Unenlightened Despots in an Enlightened Age

Catherine, Frederick and Louis - Unenlightened Tyrants in an pundit Age It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both. -- Niccolo Machiavelli, - The Prince The promised land is touted by modern historians as a sequence of intellectual and social advancement, an era of optimism and freedom unhearable of in earlier terms. The era of absolutism is seen as a time of mounting liberty that contri anded to the rise of democracy in the Americas and elsewhere. In reality, the Enlightened Despotism of the absolutist leaders was more(prenominal) in keeping with the tyrannical rulers of the pre-reformation Holy Roman empire than with the egalitarian republic of modern America. Three of the most bighearted absolutist leaders were Catherine the Great of Russia, Frederick the Great of Prussia and Louis XIV of France - these ternion leaders are perfect examples of the avarice, tyranny and lust for power that characterizes the Enlightened Despots. Catherine the Great was an absolutist leader who preached the benefits of the Enlightenment entirely do policy decisions in finish up contradiction to Enlightenment ideals. subsequently the death of her husband, Peter III (which Catherine whitethorn or may not have instigated) she assembled a legislative counseling to draftsmanship a document that would reform Russias code of laws. not just now were the serfs not represented at this meeting, but after the Pugachev uprising, Catherine laid-off the commission alto obtainher, choosing to draft the code herself. Her reforms of the Russian government lonesome(prenominal) reinforced to the power of the oppressive Russian nobility and change magnitude serfdom in spite of appearance Russia and her fresh conquered frontiers and colonies. Catherines reign was rife with cronyism at its most severe, friends and lovers were granted complete control over long swathes of land and the people who lived within them, tens of thousands of people were forced... If you w! ant to get a full essay, hallow it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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