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02 REVOLUTIONS AND THE RESTORATION OF ABSOLUTISM - Coggle Diagram
02 REVOLUTIONS AND THE RESTORATION OF ABSOLUTISM
02 POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC LIBERALISM
1 CRITICISM OF THE OLD REGIME
Introduction
Development of political theories during the Enlightenment.
Advocacy for reforms to ensure individual rights and limit monarchical power.
Contributions of Enlightenment thinkers (Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau) leading to liberalism.
Definition of Old Regime
Describes the feudal system of the time.
Key characteristics:
Political absolutism
Estate system
Predominantly agricultural economy (primary sector)
Legal Inequality of the Estate System
Absence of equality before the law.
Division of society:
Privileged groups:
Nobles and Clerics
Commoners (Third Estate):
Peasants, artisans, shopkeepers, merchants, professionals (notaries, doctors).
Survival of a Feudal Economy
Criticism of obstacles to economic development:
Fiefdoms and their restrictions.
Privileged corporations (guilds) limiting trade.
Goods with restrictions on buying/selling.
Trade restrictions and price controls during emergencies (e.g., poor harvests).
Power of Absolute Monarchs and the Church
Monarchical and ecclesiastical influence curtailing individual rights.
Censorship of criticism and suppression of new ideas.
Survival of Manorialism
Obligations of fiefdom inhabitants:
Labor for lords.
Payment of taxes.
Subjugation to laws established by nobility and the Church.
2 IDEAS OF POLITICAL LIBERALISM
Equality before the Law
Abolition of privileges, fiefdoms, manorialism, and the estate system.
Everyone, including the monarch, subject to the same laws regardless of social origin.
The exisctence of unalienable individual rights
Inspired by the work of John Locke.
Rights to life, liberty, and property.
Establishment of freedoms in areas like press, printing, education, and assembly.
Division of Powers
Based on Montesquieu's theories.
Power moderated by individual rights and divided into three branches:
Executive (government)
Legislative (parliament)
Judicial (courts)
Separation of church and state to prevent religious interference.
Sovereignty of the Nation
Drawing from the parliamentary political tradition and Rousseau's teachings.
The people should govern themselves through elected representatives in Parliament.
Advocacy for a representative political system based on suffrage (voting).
03 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION: THE FOUNDING OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
1 THE THIRTEEN COLONIES: WAR AND INDEPENDENCE
Since the 17th century
groups of European emigrants, mainly from England
settled on the east coast of North America
Some had fled political instability and religious persecution in their countries of origin.
The British monarchy organised the colonists into 13 demarcations or colonies
Seven Years' War
1756–1763.
British established a permanent army in America.
Colonists rebelled against new taxes
Declaration of Independence
1776.
Delegates from the Thirteen Colonies declared independence in Philadelphia.
American War of Independence
British resistance to colonial independence
France, Spain, and the United Provinces aided the colonists
Battles and Resolution
Battles of Saratoga and Yorktown led by George Washington
Peace of Paris signed in 1783; Great Britain recognized U.S. independence
2 THE POLITICAL REGIME OF THE UNITED STATES
The delegates from the new states met again in Philadelphia and drafted a Constitution,
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Popular Sovereignty
Power resides with the citizens of the United States
Federal Republic
Government functions are split between the federal government (Washington, D.C.) and individual states
Separation of Powers
Executive: Led by the President.
Legislative: Composed of Congress (House of Representatives and Senate).
Judicial: Headed by the Supreme Court
Head of state
The President is elected by the House of Representatives every four years
Suffrage
Citizens have the right to vote for members of the House of Representatives
Basic Rights
Life, liberty, property, and various freedoms (religious, speech, assembly, etc.) are acknowledged and safeguarded
05 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
1 FEATURES OF THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME
Napoleon accumulated many government powers during the Consulate period.
He established hereditary power to ensure his regime would continue
Napoleon was crowned emperor of the French in 1804,
Napoleon’s Empire marked the reform of the inherited political framework and the starting point of the modern French State
NAPOLEON’S REFORMS
Authoritarian Control
Established an authoritarian regime controlling executive and legislative powers, including judicial appointments
Revolutionary Achievements
Abolished the abolition of slavery and the separation of powers
Legal reforms
French Civil Code: Created a model for future legal codes, ensuring equality before the law and prohibiting torture.
Separation from Church: Distanced civil matters (e.g., marriage, divorce) from Church control
Bosted the economy
founded the Central Bank of France to centralise the minting of money and finance his war campaigns.
modern educational
models by reforming the university and by creating secondary schools (during the Consulate) and high schools
Public Administration
by creating a Court of Accounts to oversee public finances and drawing up a budget with forecasts of government expenses and income
2 THE RISE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON’S EMPIRE
Achieved success and fam, defending the Republic against international counter-revolutionary coalitions that attacked France.
resurrected the idea of a European empire
main enemies
mainly Austria, Prussia and Russia, his most persistent rival was Great Britain
THE NAPOLEONIC WARS
SECOND PHASE (1812–1815)
Napoleon tried to conquer Russia, but his army was heavily defeated
He briefly regained power, but in 1815, the British and their allies finally defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.
FIRST PHASE (1804–1812)
Austria, Prussia and Russia, led to control of Italy and Central Europe and to the dissolution of the Holy Empire