Question

In 3–5 sentences, compare the causes and effects of constitutional monarchy in England with the causes and effects of absolute monarchy in Russia. Make it short.

Answer 1

England’s slide to a constitutional monarchy was driven by rising parliamentary and legal traditions, religious and class conflicts (Civil War) and the Glorious Revolution, which curtailed royal prerogative. The effect was a rule-bound monarchy with parliamentary sovereignty, protected property and civil rights, and political stability through shared governance. Russia’s move toward absolute monarchy grew from the need to unify a vast, frontier state, the legacy of centralized rule, weak representative institutions and reliance on serfdom and noble service. Its effect was a highly centralized tsarist bureaucracy and personal rule that enforced order and rapid state-directed modernization but suppressed political pluralism and individual liberties.