18th Century Europe: Society, Economy, and Enlightenment

Posted on Oct 29, 2024 in History

Unit 1: The 18th Century: Crisis of the Ancien Régime

1.1. Survival of the Ancien Régime

Features:

Concept of Ancien Régime: The social, economic, and political relations in Western Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries.

Section 1: 18th Century Europe

1.2. Economic Structure

The Hegemony of Agriculture:

  • Predominant subsistence agriculture.
  • Periodic subsistence crises (famine).
  • Land ownership primarily in the hands of the privileged.
  • Majority of farmers subjected to taxes by the state, Church, and monarchy.
  • Result: Rural discontent.

The Development of Industry and Trade:

  • Industry based on small craft workshops controlled by guilds.
  • Emergence of new forms of production:
    • Putting-out system
    • Domestic system
    • Royal manufactories
  • Trade: Significant development due to exchanges between Europe and America.
  • Problems of internal trade: Guild control, differing weights and measures, and internal customs.
  • Result: Enrichment of the bourgeoisie.

1.3. Government in the Early 18th Century

Absolutism:

  • Predominant form of government in Europe.
  • Characteristics:
    • Concentration of power (legislative, executive, and judicial) in the monarch.
    • Centralizing policy and administration.
    • Revocation of Parliament.
  • Model: Louis XIV (France).
  • Thinker: Bossuet (divine right of kings).

The English Parliamentary System:

  • 17th Century: Stuart dynasty attempts to establish absolutism but faces opposition from Parliament.
  • King-Parliament conflict leads to the revolutions of 1642 and 1688: Expulsion of the Stuarts and victory of the parliamentary monarchy under William of Orange.
  • Characteristics:
    • Separation of powers.
    • Political liberalism.
    • Equality before the law.
    • Property as a criterion for social differentiation.
  • Thinker: John Locke (separation of powers).

Section 2: Class Society

Privileged: Nobility, clergy.

Not Privileged: Third Estate (peasants, bourgeoisie, popular classes).

Section 3: The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment:

  • Intellectual movement in 18th century Europe based on:
    • Reason
    • Progress of humanity
    • Natural rights
    • Tolerance
  • Critiques of the Ancien Régime:
    • Rejection of the estate system and advocacy for social balance and legal equality.
    • Privileges of certain social groups (nobility and clergy) and institutions (guilds) hinder economic growth.
  • Diffusion of ideas: Encyclopedia (Diderot and d’Alembert).

Enlightened Despotism:

  • Variant of absolutism influenced by Enlightenment ideas.
  • Rulers attempt to develop their countries through reforms:
    • Promotion of domestic industry.
    • Transformation of agriculture.
    • Improvement of communication and promotion of trade.
    • Scientific development and expansion of education.
    • Rationalization and centralization of public administration.
    • Professionalization of the army.
    • Subjugation of other powers.
  • Key representatives: Catherine II of Russia, Frederick II of Prussia, and Charles III of Spain.

Economic Thought:

  • The Enlightenment’s economic defense:
    • Freedom of commerce and industry.
    • Guarantee of private property.
    • Importance of agricultural development (physiocracy).
  • Adam Smith: A major economic thinker and strong supporter of capitalism and liberalism.

Political Thought:

  • The Enlightenment defends political liberalism, represented by three major thinkers:
  • Montesquieu: Defends the separation and independence of the three powers (legislative, executive, and judicial).
  • Rousseau: Defends the concept of the social contract, meaning that national sovereignty (the nation decides its own future) is expressed through voting.
  • Voltaire: Defends the need to limit the power of the king and advocates for a tax system that doesn’t solely burden the common people.

Section 5: The American Revolution

5.1. The United States of America

The thirteen English colonies of North America, which declared independence to form the United States of America, are the first example of a state formed on the principles of equality, liberty, and tolerance. The English colonists rejected increased taxes and submission to the United Kingdom.

  • 1773: Boston Tea Party. Protest against taxes.
  • 1776: U.S. Declaration of Independence.
  • 1776-1783: U.S. War of Independence.
  • 1783: George Washington becomes the first U.S. president.

5.2. The United States Constitution

In 1787, the first written constitution in history is approved, including:

  • Extensive declaration of rights and liberties.
  • Separation of powers: legislative, executive, and judicial.
  • Republican government, with strong presidential power.
  • Federal structure: State governments have control over most self-governance. The federal (central) government only deals with foreign policy, defense, and general finances.

Section 6: The Arrival of the Bourbons on the Spanish Throne

The War of Succession

After the death of the childless Charles II, a succession controversy arose.

  • Charles of Austria (Archduke of Austria) was the son of the Emperor of Austria and another sister of Charles II. His rights to the Spanish crown were defended by Austria, Portugal, England, and Holland.
  • Philip of Anjou (future Philip V) was the grandson of the King of France and the sister of Charles II. Charles II named him heir to the Spanish crown in his will. He had the support of France.

The European powers, opposed to France, did not accept Philip as King of Spain, and the War of Spanish Succession began as an international conflict.

  • 1701-1702: Philip V swore to uphold the Catalan constitutions in the Courts and was accepted as king in Catalonia.
  • 1705: Catalan representatives signed the Pact of Genoa with England and other allied powers to defend Archduke Charles as king of the Hispanic monarchy.
  • 1705: Archduke Charles landed in Barcelona and was proclaimed king.
  • 1705-1707: Archduke Charles increased his territory in the Peninsula, occupying Madrid.
  • 1707: Reaction of Philipists at the Battle of Almansa. Defeat of the Austrian side, and Franco-Spanish troops began the occupation of Valencia and Aragon.
  • 1711: Archduke Charles became Emperor of Austria upon the death of his father, Leopold I. This caused Holland and England to lose interest in his triumph in Spain.
  • 1713: European powers signed the Treaty of Utrecht, ending the War of Succession internationally. The Catalans were left alone fighting against Philip V.
  • 1714: The city of Barcelona withstood a siege until September 11th. Cardona held out until September 18th. The Catalan defeat represented the end of Catalonia’s institutions: the Parliament and Government.

The Treaty of Utrecht

The Treaty of Utrecht represented territorial losses for the Spanish monarchy.

The Decree of Nueva Planta

The defeat of the Catalans against Philip V resulted in repressive policies, summarized in the Decree of Nueva Planta and other associated decisions, which implied:

  • Persecution of supporters of the Austrian candidate.
  • Disappearance of the Courts and the Generalitat.
  • Imposition of a new tax collection system: the cadastre.
  • Disappearance of Catalan universities and their replacement by the University of Cervera.
  • Disappearance of the sometent (armed volunteer corps).
  • Construction of the Ciutadella barracks in Barcelona.
  • Division of Catalan territory into 12 corregimientos.
  • The Captain General became the highest authority in Catalonia.
  • Imposition of the Castilian language in certain areas, such as the courts and the Royal Audience.

5.3. Economic Growth in the 18th Century

The Catalan population almost doubled during the 18th century. The growth was distributed unevenly:

  • The strongest growth, in relative terms, occurred in the western and southern regions.
  • The areas with the least growth were the Pyrenean and pre-Pyrenean zones.

Regarding accumulated population density, the following areas stand out:

  • A coastal area around Barcelona with the highest density.
  • An inland area from Priorat to Garrotxa.
  • The rest with very low densities, although some areas were repopulated during the 18th century.

The population growth is due to:

  • Significant reduction in catastrophic (extraordinary) mortality. However, there were still many epidemic episodes, especially in the first half of the 18th century and towards the end of the century.
  • Decrease in adult mortality, but not in infant mortality.
  • Increase in fertility.
  • High nuptiality and early marriages.

This population growth tended to be located in a greater proportion in urban areas.

The economic upturn of Catalonia in the 18th century is explained by:

a) Increase in agricultural production.

  • Increase in cultivated area (drying of marshes and deforestation).
  • Reduction of fallow land (replacement by rotation systems).
  • Introduction of new crops.
  • Territorial specialization in certain crops.
  • Expansion of vine cultivation.
  • Improved techniques.

b) Expansion of manufacturing (Indian textiles industry). Domestic industry and factory work were combined.

c) Increase in trade. This trade was directed towards the Iberian Peninsula, northern Europe, and, from 1778, towards America.