The Rise and Fall of the Old Regime
The Old Regime and Economic Interventionism
During the era of monarchical absolutism, the king held absolute power over legislative, executive, and judicial matters. The main economic activity was agriculture.
Social Structure
Society was stratified and organized into groups called estates. The privileged estates, clergy and nobility, enjoyed wealth and privileges, including exemption from taxes.
The Third Estate
The common people, or the Third Estate, worked the land, engaged in crafts or trade, and paid taxes to the state.
The Ideology of Change
The Enlightenment, an 18th-century cultural and ideological movement, reflected the discontent and aspirations of those opposed to the Old Regime.
Enlightenment Proposals
The Enlightenment challenged popular superstitions and ignorance, advocating for natural religion. It criticized the privileges of the nobility and clergy, promoting liberty, equality, and private property. It also championed national sovereignty and the division of powers. Economically, it supported total and absolute freedom.
Enlightened Despotism
The first attempt to apply Enlightenment ideas was through enlightened despotism. This reform program, initiated by those in power, ultimately failed due to opposition from those whose interests were threatened and due to war.
Crisis of the Old Regime
Several factors contributed to the crisis:
- Increased taxes during economic hardship.
- Protests from those affected by the new taxes.
- Involvement of the Third Estate, challenging the state’s authority to impose unjust laws, marking the start of the liberal revolution.
- Triumph of reformers who reorganized the state and society based on Enlightenment doctrines.
The American Revolution
The American Revolution, a liberal revolution, began when settlers resisted new taxes imposed by the British Parliament. The Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, united the thirteen colonies. The Constitution established executive power vested in the President, a bicameral legislature (House of Representatives and Senate), and judicial power exercised by the courts.
The National Constituent Assembly
King Louis XVI convened the Estates-General. The Third Estate proclaimed itself the National Assembly and invited the clergy and nobility to join. The Assembly drafted three key laws:
- The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
- The Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
- The Constitution of 1791, which granted executive power to the King and legislative power to the Assembly based on census suffrage.
The Convention and the Reign of Terror
In August 1792, radicals, led by the Jacobins, proclaimed a republic and executed the King and Queen. The Jacobins initially dominated the Convention, but after a coup by the Girondins, a new constitution was adopted in 1793.
The Directory and the Consulate
The Girondins regained power and adopted a third constitution, establishing a moderate system similar to the previous one but without a king. Executive power was held by a five-member Directory. In 1800, a new constitution strengthened executive power, vesting it in a First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte. The legislature comprised three assemblies: the Senate, the Tribunate, and the Legislative Body. The Consulate became a lifetime appointment, eventually transforming into the Empire.
The Empire
Napoleon, a product of the Revolution, promoted individuals from the bourgeoisie within the army and administration. Key achievements included the Civil Code and the Concordat with the Holy See. Napoleon’s foreign policy aimed to spread liberal ideas and the Civil Code across conquered nations. After escaping exile, he launched the Hundred Days campaign, culminating in his final defeat at Waterloo.
The Restoration
The Restoration aimed to reinstate absolute monarchy and the privileged estates. Following Napoleon’s defeat, the Congress of Vienna, guided by Prince Metternich, sought to restore the balance of power in Europe, returning former rulers to their thrones and redrawing the map.
Diplomatic Consequences
The Congress of Vienna achieved a balance of power in Europe, largely preventing major conflicts until 1914. The Holy Alliance served as a military arm of the Congress system.
Political and Territorial Implications
The redrawing of the European map aimed to prevent any single country from dominating others.
Liberalism
Liberalism advocated for national sovereignty and limited suffrage, with voting rights restricted to wealthy men. It supported the division of powers and individual liberties while maintaining public order. Doctrinaire liberalism sought to strengthen the monarchy’s authority by allowing it to share legislative power with parliament.