Political Parties; Elites; Ideologies; Mass Politics - AP European History

Louis XIV moved the royal court, and therefore the seat of government from Paris in 1682. The royal court would stay in Versailles until the royal family was taken prisoner and forced back to Paris following the start of the French Revolution in 1789.

After the death of Charles II his closest living male descendant was named to the throne. That was his sisters grandson, Philip V of the House Bourbon. He had been raised in France as a member of the French court. He was also a grandson of Louis XIV. Other nations so disliked this union of French and Spanish royal houses that it started the War of the Spanish Succession.

Robespierre was the second President of the Committee of Public Safety. He is commonly associated with the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution as suspected Royalists and sympathizers were killed in the thousands. Eventually he met the same fate as the Reign of Terror spun out of control and caused the Convention to order Robespierre's arrest for attempting to seize control of France.

Louis XVI was the last King of France before the Revolution. He was arrested and executed in 1793. His son, also named Louis, lived until 1795 when he died of illness. However he was never crowned king and therefore is not included in the list of Kings of France.

The group that represented the Third Estate when the Kings of France called the Estates General was displeased with how power was being shared. Despite having twice the representatives, they did not have twice as many votes as the other estates. They therefore walked out and created their own rival organization that would take power and start the revolution, the National Assembly.

Robespierre rose to power with the Jacobins as the second President of the Committee of Public Safety. He is famed for his association with the Reign of Terror, which killed thousands of people. Ironically, the Reign of Terror he unleashed ended with his own execution.

In the final days of the Directory Napoleon conspired with several Directory members to form a coup and form the Consulate as the new French Government. After the successful coup Napoleon was made First Council and head of state.

A Constitutional Monarchy fits this description. This is where an elected body and a monarch both hold clearly defined powers as assigned by a constitution or other document, thus sharing power.

James was an open Catholic, but his daughters from his first marriage were Protestant, thus the people of England thought his Catholic eccentricities would be short lived; however, he granted religious freedom to Catholics, allowing them to take public office in 1687, and in 1688 his second wife gave birth to a son who would be raised Catholic, thus meaning there could be a permanent Catholic dynasty ruling over England. These two events caused many influential members of Parliament to invite William of Orange to invade England and take the throne.

The Prime Minister, as a position, was made in order to be a close adviser of the King, over time the position transitioned to one in the parliament, and to being the leader of the Parliament.

The July Monarchy occurred after the French Revolution. After the fall of Napoleon the House of Bourbon was put back on the throne of France. It was, however, very unpopular, and in 1830 a more liberal branch of the family was put on the throne after the July Revolution of 1830.

A limited monarchy is one where a monarch must share power with a legislative body (Parliament), or has their power defined and limited by a legal document (Constitution or Bill of Rights). Absolute monarchies are directly ruled by the monarch with no check from a legislative branch.

Louis XIV was called the Sun King because, like the galaxy revolving around the sun, France revolved around Louis.

The estates General functioned similarly to, but was functionally much weaker than, the English Parliament. It was their job to raise taxes, recruit soldiers, and enforce laws in the provinces. Louis appointed trusted people to do these tasks, and thus never called the Estates General to session.

Ivan the Terrible was the final Duke of Moscow and the first Czar of Russia. He declared himself to be the emperor of Russia when his Duchy of Moscow grew so large that it reached the size and stature of an empire, thus needing a new name.

The nobility of Russia were referred to as Boyars, which is derived from old Turkic meaning rich men. Members of the peasant class were referred to as "kulaks."

Ivan V was Peter's elder half brother, and therefore was also the rightful heir; however, Ivan was severely hindered by physical and mental disabilities and was unfit to rule. Therefore he and his younger brother Peter were named co-Czars so Ivan could rule in name and Peter in practice until the time of Ivan's death.

The Sejm is the Polish Parliament. Historically members were elected by popular vote of landed nobility. Today it is elected by universal ballot.

Henryk Walezy was the first man elected to be King of the Commonwealth. He was actually a son of the reigning King of France, and he abdicated the throne in order to become King of France in 1574.