9.4 Enlightened Absolutism and Reforms

The Enlightenment influenced some absolute monarchs to adopt progressive ideas while maintaining power. These "enlightened absolutists" like Frederick II, Catherine the Great, and Joseph II implemented reforms in administration, law, education, and religion, aiming to modernize their states.

However, enlightened absolutism had limits. Rulers still prioritized their authority over individual liberty, often imposing reforms from the top down. This contradiction between Enlightenment ideals and absolute power sparked criticism from some thinkers who saw it as hypocritical.

Enlightened Rulers

Enlightened Absolutism and its Key Proponents

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• Enlightened absolutism combined ideas of the Enlightenment with absolute monarchy where rulers embraced rationality, progress, and tolerance to enhance their countries while still maintaining total authority
• Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great) implemented Enlightenment ideas, reformed bureaucracy and civil service, promoted religious tolerance, and patronized arts and education
• Catherine the Great of Russia corresponded with Enlightenment thinkers (Voltaire, Diderot), promoted Western education, and expanded the Russian state through military victories and shrewd politics
• Joseph II of Austria (Holy Roman Emperor) enacted reforms to modernize his empire including abolishing serfdom, promoting religious tolerance, and centralizing the government

Limits and Contradictions of Enlightened Absolutism

• Enlightened absolutism had limits as monarchs still prioritized their own power and control over Enlightenment ideals of individual liberty and democracy
• Reforms were often enacted top-down without input or participation from the people and could be rescinded at the ruler's whim
• Enlightened monarchs justified their absolute power as necessary to enact rational reforms and create progress, a view at odds with Enlightenment ideas of natural rights and government by consent
• Criticized by some Enlightenment thinkers (Kant) as contradictory and hypocritical for embracing Enlightenment thought while still ruling as absolute monarchs

Domestic Reforms

Administrative and Legal Reforms

• Administrative reforms aimed to rationalize and centralize state bureaucracies to increase efficiency and the power of the monarch
• Streamlined tax collection, abolished internal tariffs and duties, and created standardized weights and measures to improve economic activity
• Legal reforms influenced by Enlightenment ideas of natural law and uniformity
• Codified laws into a coherent system (Prussian General Code), reduced torture and corporal punishment, and established the principle of equality before the law

Education and Religious Reforms

• Educational reforms expanded schooling and literacy to create an educated populace and skilled workforce
• Established state-run primary and secondary schools, regulated universities, and promoted practical curricula (sciences, engineering)
• Religious tolerance policies reduced the power of the established church and granted limited freedoms to religious minorities
• Joseph II's Edict of Toleration granted Protestants, Orthodox Christians, and Jews freedom of private worship and access to education and professions in the Habsburg lands

Economic Theory

Physiocracy and its Influence

• Physiocracy was an economic theory developed by French Enlightenment thinkers (Quesnay, Turgot) that emphasized the importance of agriculture and the "natural order"
• Viewed agriculture as the source of all wealth and advocated for free trade, reduced regulation, and a tax on land as the only form of taxation
• Influenced economic policies of enlightened monarchs who reduced internal trade barriers, improved infrastructure (roads, canals) to facilitate agricultural trade, and reformed taxation
• Reflected Enlightenment ideas of rationality and natural law applied to economics and challenged mercantilist policies of strict government control of the economy