Comparison Of Two Absolute Monarchs: Peter The Great and Louis Xiv

During the 17 century, there were two rulers, Louis XIV, that contributed to the development of France, and Peter the Great that shaped Russia into what it is today. Throughout this time, Louis XIV and Peter the Great were both absolute monarchs, meaning they were rulers that held total power. As Spielvogel states, absolutism was an idea of government where the monarch held all the power and had control of every aspect. (Spielvogel textbook page 223). Louis XIV and Peter the Great were very effective absolute monarchs that greatly influenced and shaped their countries through their economic, social, and political contributions. Even though both rulers were very effective and influential, Peter the Great was a much better ruler, for the reason that he surpassed Louis’s financial success, was a lot more hardworking and intelligent, and dealt with his problems better. Peter the Great was sensible and made smart decisions for Russia by helping the economy, centralizing his authority, having a powerful army, and dominating through culture and science. On the other hand, Louis drove France into financial debt because he fought so many wars. To prove, he fought 4 wars in the span of only four years, between 1667 and 1713. Knowing the hard working and down to earth personality of Peter, and the aggressive and lavish lifestyle of Louis, it is obvious to who was the better leader.

To begin, Peter the Great’s economy was much better than Louis’s, because Russia was receiving a lot of revenue from trade and he enhanced his economy with industrial growth. Some may argue Louis’s economy in France was better and more financially stable because of the large amount of money Louis had, but he was foolish to how he spent it. He wasted his money on fighting wars and drove France to financial debt, which later led to an end to his reign. For example, in the Spielvogel textbook it states, “In 1715, the Sun King died. He left France with great debts and surrounded by enemies.” (Spielvogel 226) On the other hand, Peter made a lot of money for his nation by imposing higher taxes and collecting money from the Church. To prove, Peter was making a lot of revenue from trade because he valued industrial development causing he foreign trade turnover to increase seven times during his reign. (“10 MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF PETER THE GREAT by Anirudh). In addition to the constant flow of money coming in from trade, successful businesses were often taken over in order to raise the nation’s economy. He also raised taxes, mostly paid by the peasants to bring in more money for Russia’s economy. Although raising taxes for the lower class was a bad thing, it was the most logical thing to do to pay off debt from war. Peter the Great was more sensible instead of wasting his money on fighting too many wars like Louis XIV. Furthermore, Peter the Great made money from the church because he received jurisdiction, giving him full legal authority and power. On the other hand, Louis XIV found other ways to bring in money for his country. He took a percentage of his nobles income, made the nobles pay higher taxes rather than the peasants. Louis also tried to make trade prosper to generate more revenue, but he wasn’t as successful as Peter, since Peter was more determined than Louis. All in all, Peter did more to help Russia’s economy since Louis wasted his money on fighting wars, resulting in him to have many enemies.

Another way Peter the Great surpassed Louis XIV’s effectiveness, was how hardworking and determined Peter was to broaden his knowledge in areas of culture and science. Peter the Great traveled West in an attempt to learn more and modernize his nation. He was very successful in doing this because he didn’t care about himself, but moreover the way russia was. Peter learned how to build ships, make clocks, perform dentistry, which all helped him advance Russia as a strong nation. For example, in the Documentary it states, “...he studied printing, iron casting, paper making, even how to render whale blubber. He took classes in surgery and anatomy...and dentistry” (Documentary: Russia (Land of the Tsars) - Part 2). This shows how Peter was superior to Louis XIV, because Peter wanted to learn how to build ships and do other things that would benefit his economy and strengthen his army and nation as a whole. However, Louis XIV did not work as hard. He lived a lavish life in his palace, Versailles where he watched concerts, plays and dances. Peter changed Russia to be a better, modernized country, while Louis wasn’t as hard working, just relaxing in Versailles. Not only was Peter a lot more hardworking than Louis XIV, but he was more independent and didn’t rely on anyone to support his country. Louis XIV greatly depended on Colbert to increase the wealth and power of France. In an attempt to do this, Colbert followed the ideas of mercantilism and did many things for France’s trade to profitable. Colbert did this by decreasing imports, making investments, increasing exports, raising taxes on foreign goods, and building roads and canals to increase trade. This proves how Louis XIV depended on other people for France’s success, while Peter was independent and hardworking, so his country could thrive.

Despite Louis XIV having a bigger army than Peter the Great, it didn’t benefit Louis in the long run because nearing the end of his reign he left France with great financial debts and began to have many enemies because of his focus on war. Louis XIV’s army may have been larger in size, but Peter the Great’s army was also strong, which strengthened Peter's position as tsar and freed him from the threat of rebellion. For instance, the army gained 200,000 regular troops and 100,000 other soldiers, making it 40% larger than the army of 1681. (Peter the Great, Military Reforms.) This proves that even though Louis XIV had 400,000 men in his army, Peter outdid this by creating Russia’s first navy from nothing and making it larger and larger. Not only did Peter the Great fix his problems of having a small army, but he also didn’t let anyone come for his crown or authority. His competitive family was eager to steal his power, whether it was his half brothers, or his two wives. Peter’s half sister, Sophia was also desperate for the crown, so he imprisoned her and sent her away to a convent to be a nun. Although, she wouldn’t be able to rule anyway because she wasn’t the first born child. This shows how Peter didn’t let anyone get in his way and he overcame any obstacles that refrained him from becoming king. In addition, nobles were a huge threat to both monarch’s power, but Peter corrected the problem better, rather than being sneaky like Louis XIV. For instance, instead of spying on them in Versailles, like Louis, and setting up the largest spy rings in history, he kept nobles under control by giving them jobs in the military and civil offices. Doing this, kept the nobles busy and distracted, away from trying to rob Peter of his power. To contradict, Peter wasn’t always kind to his nobles, he ripped out their beards so they replicated what he saw when he traveled West. Regardless, Peter had a good reason to do this because he wanted to modernize and westernize Russia, while Louis XIV tricked his novels into thinking he was generous for letting them stay at Versailles, but in reality he was just spying on them to keep his power. Unfortunately it seemed as Peter’s success got to his head when he beat his son to death because of his lazy attitude and how he couldn’t rule the way Peter wanted him too. A good thing being that Peter cared a lot about his country, but he was wrong for just killing his son for his lack of effort.

Despite Peter’s wrongdoings later in his reign, he was a more effective absolute monarch than Louis XIV. This was because he had a better economy, dominated in culture and science, and didn’t let any obstacles get in his way. Peter was also hardworking, eliminated his competition, and accomplished his ultimate goal of modernizing Russia. Peter was determined to increase his trade to generate revenue resulting in his financial success, while Louis left France to huge debts. Even though Louis XIV was a productive ruler with total control that also shaped a nation to what it is today, Peter was more hardworking causing the success of Russia to be better than France. Looking at Louis XIV and Peter the Great’s different stories, it shows how hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.