18th Century Europe: Society, Politics & Economy
Key Terms and Concepts
Ancien Régime: The political, economic, and social system in Europe during the 18th century.
Culture: Customs, knowledge, and level of artistic, scientific, and technical development of a society.
Absolute Monarchy: Form of government in which the monarch holds unlimited power, believed to come from God.
Thirty Years’ War: European war from 1618 to 1648, after which the Habsburg dynasty lost its dominance over Europe.
Parliamentary Monarchy: Form of government in which all or some of the monarch’s decisions must be approved by Parliament.
Bill of Rights: Declaration signed in 1689 that obliged the monarch to govern in accordance with English law and Parliament.
Guild: Medieval association of craftsmen with the same skill or trade, which controlled the manufacture and sale of craft products.
Bourgeoisie: Urban population with economic power and social influence because they controlled banking and trade on a large scale, and earned big profits from these activities.
Mercantilism: Economic theory in which a country’s wealth is based on the accumulation of precious metals (gold and silver) obtained through trade by increasing exports and reducing imports.
Enlightenment: Intellectual movement that emerged in Europe during the 18th century and criticized the political, social, and economic structures of the Ancien Régime.
Legislative Power: Power to make and approve laws.
Executive Power: Power to apply the law and take political decisions.
Judicial Power: Power to judge and solve conflicts according to the law.
Nationalism: Ideology that advocates the right of people who define themselves as a nation to form independent states.
Physiocracy: Economic theory based on the idea that a country’s wealth derived from its natural resources.
Enlightened Despotism: New form of government that developed in some European countries in the 18th century. Its objective was to combine absolute monarchy with Enlightenment ideas aimed at modernizing the country and improving people’s well-being.
Economic Liberalism: Economic theory based on the idea that the state should not intervene in the processes of production or exchange of goods.
Putting-Out System: Production system in which peasants made products at home and sold them to merchants.
Revolution: Radical and often violent change to a country’s political, economic, or social system.
Constitution: Basic law which defines the rights and liberties of the citizens of a specific country, and the powers and institutions of its government.
Federal Republic: Political system consisting of various states with political and legislative autonomy. At a national level, they share the same president, constitution, foreign policy, and army.
French Revolution: Period of violent political and social change, which saw the abolition of the absolute monarchy and the end of the estates system of the Ancien Régime. From 1789 to 1799.
Popular Sovereignty: Political theory that states that power resides in the will of the people, and that this power is expressed through the right to vote.
Restoration: A return to the political system of the Ancien Régime that was imposed by the victorious European powers (Austria, Prussia, Russia, and the United Kingdom) after Napoleon’s defeat in 1815.
Liberalism: Ideology that advocates individual liberties, such as the right to life, freedoms of expression and association, the right to choose political representatives, and the right to own private property.