England and France had some major differences and similarities in absolutism, exploration, and religion. Even though England and France had a lot of differences there are still some similarities in both of their societies. One similarity is that both England and France had absolutism. In England both James I and Charles I attempted to rule the country without consenting parliament. The absolutism in France was started by a strong absolute Louis XIV. When Cardinal Mazarin died in 1661 Louis XIV took power and it was the strong absolute leader that France was looking for. Louis.
managed to control all aspects of government, from economics to foreign policy thus in turn defining Frances position of an absolute monarchy. A major difference is that Absolutism failed in England and it succeeded in France. It was unsuccessful in England because Parliament had gained much control and power under the later Tudor monarchs. .
Parliament had the support of merchants and land owing nobles and members could be elected and changes if necessary. Parliament was strongly ingrained into the English process of government and its status as a centralized body meant it survived when faced with the threat of an absolute ruler. France succeeded in absolutism because Louis took a firm grip of the country putting himself at the head of government. Since England's parliament grew in power the absolutism was a failure, and since France was already on the decline it had a vice-versa affect. France and England colonized and explored in hopes of finding new trade routes to India as well as to find trading partners to enrich their nations. It was incredibly hard for these European powers to hold a grip over the rest of the world especially since the world was so large and the population of France and England alone could not keep it together. England colonized.
India which was really the jewel of the England crown India was like a gold mine full of stuff the English sold and traded.