ABSTRACT
The absolutism introduced standing armies, a permanent bureaucracy, national taxation, a codified law, and the beginnings of a unified market. Together, these elements rationalized and centralized political authority and represent a significant step in the modernization of the political state. The Henri IV was willing to convert to Catholicism in order to win the loyalty of his subjects; he subsequently proclaimed an official policy of religious toleration. The evolution of military technology necessitated more expenditure per soldier; by the Thirty Years' War, warfare had become more capital-intensive, relying on an array of gunpowder weapons as well as larger fortifications and ships. An important aspect of absolutism was economic policies known collectively as mercantilism, which gave the state a larger direct role in the economy in the interest of strengthening the entire kingdom. Mercantilism represents a move toward a command economy that maximized economy of scale and undermined the role of tradition in European economies.
