An absolute monarch is the only one governing over their country, with little to no counterweight against their power. They, in theory, have total control over all maters concerning their country, would it be economical matters or diplomacy matters. Absolute monarchs want a strong State, which controls and appears stable, and is meant to be the best option for the population. They also deeply change their country's cultural approach, changes which often go against the general population's customs and last for centuries.
Both Louis XIV and Peter the Great were absolute monarchs, as they unquestionably ruled alone over their country. Whereas Louis XIV used the Catholic Church to declare him God's representative on Earth, Peter the Great chose to diminish the Russian Orthodox Church' control over internal affairs.
However, they both were chiefs of their respective country's army, and both longed to put their country on the first scene. They both waged war and won considerable amounts of land, with Louis XIV winning the Franco-Dutch War and Peter the Great the Great Northern War.
Bot also squashed multiple noble and aristocratic rebellions, bringing more stability in the country. Early in his reign, Louis XIV had to squash multiple rebellions, such as the Fronde, when a part of France's nobles chose to go to war over succession rights. Peter the Great went to great lengths to diminish the influence of the Boyar, highest nobles of Russia's feudal society, by reorganizing the country's entire noble hierarchy, while violently squashing rebellions, such as the Bulavin one.
This violence was perpetrated while making the country undergo significant cultural changed. With his royal patronage, Louis XIV helped playwrights, such as Racine ,to develop and expend France's cultural scene. However, such evolution came with restrictions, and the playwright's creativity was strictly supervised by strict rules of "bienséance", or what is morally correct to show.
Peter the Great wanted to modernize Russia, and did so by implementing radical cultural shift rules, such as forbidding the wear of a traditional Middle Eastern kaftan in favour of more occidental clothes, as well as putting a tax on the wear of a beard. He also made it possible for Russian citizen to travel outside of the country.