1500 to 1800 Was Perhaps Term Paper

Two examples of this "Enlightened Despotism" were Catherine the Great of Russia and Frederick the Great of Prussia. They based their monarchial powers, not on the Divine Right of Kings, but upon the need for a strong authoritative government to promote greater welfare within the state. These rulers created greater national standards and regulations that helped the state create a strong political infrastructure that veered away from traditional custom-based doctrine. As a result, Enlightened Absolutism became the norm within European government as monarchs began to systematically create a method to entrench national level reforms that would provoke greater political, economic and social stability.

Ultimately all four of these events are strongly interrelated because they were changes in the mindset of individuals. At the core level however, they were all reactions and extensions of the Reformation movement, which promoted greater individual liberty and free thinking.Absolutism and its evolution led to a greater push for individual rights, which resulted in the concept of Constitutionalism. The Scientific Revolution became a catalyst in the cause of greater reform in government and an empirical approach to human and political behavior. This inevitably led to the Enlightenment which changed how governments treated its citizens and created reforms that centered on systems for stabilizing social, political and economic movements within Europe. The parallels and interconnectivity of these four movements makes each step necessary for the next. The eve of change in Europe between this three hundred year span has changed our modern world, and the root of all of this change can be traced to the religious upheaval….....