The Enlightenment and Enlightened Despotism in Europe
The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement developed in Europe during the 18th century. It emphasized reason as the primary tool for analysis. Governance systems, it argued, should be guided by what was most reasonable. Man was at the center of Enlightenment theories, which defended people’s natural rights and tolerance as the basis for human coexistence. Enlightenment thinkers opposed the traditional, estate-based society, advocating instead for a system of social and legal equality.
Enlightened Despotism
The monarchs of the 18th century were also influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment. The political system stemming from the application of these ideas is known as Enlightened Despotism. Influenced by the Enlightenment, 18th-century kings implemented reforms in their kingdoms to improve the lives of the population, while also seeking to advance the process of concentrating power. Enlightened Despotism supported the economic theory of physiocracy, as enunciated by Quesnay. Physiocrats believed that wealth was fundamentally dependent on agriculture. This belief led to policies of *desamortización* (disentailment).
From the second half of the 18th century, the birth rate remained high, but mortality decreased significantly. As a result, the population began to grow at a high rate, a phenomenon known as the demographic revolution. This increase was an important factor in Europe’s economic progress, alongside improvements in agricultural techniques. Continuous crop rotation replaced the fallow system, preventing soil depletion. Later in the 18th century, new machines were created, and the use of fertilizers and livestock breeding became more refined. Changes to agrarian structures led to land becoming private property. Social and economic change was also a product of the ideological diffusion of economic liberalism.
World War II
In 1929, a major economic crisis had significant political and social consequences. Japan, Italy, and Germany embarked on aggressive expansionist policies. Japan invaded Manchuria and was expelled from the League of Nations. In 1933, Hitler came to power in Germany and rejected the Treaty of Versailles, abandoning the League of Nations and reclaiming the Saarland and Rhineland. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia and aligned its policies with those of Germany, leading to the formation of the Rome-Berlin Axis in 1936. German troops invaded Austria and the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia, and subsequently invaded Poland. Hitler’s actions, initially unchecked, ultimately led France and Britain to declare war on Germany.
Germany invaded Denmark and Norway, followed by Holland and Belgium. After conquering France, Germany launched the Battle of Britain, which ended in a German defeat. Italy’s conquests in Greece were ultimately completed with German assistance. In 1941, Germany invaded the USSR. Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Pacific. The Allies then took the initiative, with the Germans suffering defeats at Stalingrad and in North Africa, and the Japanese at Midway. The Allies invaded Italy, and by 1944, the advance of the Japanese in the Pacific had been halted. Russia reached the gates of Germany, and in 1945, Hitler committed suicide. The United States used atomic bombs on Japan.
Two peace conferences, Yalta and Potsdam, were held to divide territories among the victors. The Allies discovered the Nazi concentration camps, where 6 million Jews and others had been systematically murdered. The war also saw the use of military tactics that resulted in the massacre of civilian populations.