Ancien Regime

The Ancien Régime was a social, political and economic system that existed in Europe between the 15th and the 18th centuries. It was a period in which monarchs became powerful, craftwork and trade developed and the bourgeoisie became wealthier.

● Politics
The most common form of government was the absolute monarchy, in which the king had unlimited authority and controlled every aspect of his subjects’ lives because it was believed that his power came from God.
In England they are going to have parliamentary monarchy, a form of government in which the monarch’s power was limited by a Parliament.

● Economy
During the Early Modern Ages, agriculture continued being the most important economic activity, although productivity was low and they had outdated techniques and tools. Crafts were still controlled by guilds and trade increased thanks to the Discovery of America and the establishment of new routes.

Mercantilism was an economic system imposed by European absolute monarchs based on the idea that a country’s wealth depended on how much gold and silver they possessed. In order to accumulate more, they introduced protectionist policies that consisted of limiting imports and encouraging exports, making foreign products very expensive and forcing people to consume local products.
● Society
During the Ancien Régime, the Society was divided in the three estates of the realm: Clergy (1st) and Nobility (2nd) , withprivileges, and the Third Estate (Bourgeoisie and Peasantry), with no privileges. This way of dividing society was called the Estates System.

The 18 th century was a period of transition between the Early Modern Ages and the Modern Ages in Europe. During this period, important changes took place which contributed to the collapse of the Ancien Régime (Old Regime).
One of the main developments in the 18 th century was an intellectual movement called the Enlightenment. The supporters of this movement wanted to use reason, science and education to combat ignorance and reform society. These new ideas eventually transformed most of the basic structures of the Ancien Régime:

● In some countries, absolute monarchs introduced social reforms to improve their subjects’ quality of life. However, they did not allow the people to participate in choosing the government.
● New forms of industry and commerce contributed to significant economic expansion.
● The three traditional estates of the realm continued to exist, but the wealthy middle class, or bourgeoisie, became more important and tried to gain more political power.

The 18 th century was a period of transition between the Early Modern Ages and the Modern Ages in Europe. During this period, important changes took place which contributed to the collapse of the Ancien Régime (Old Regime).
One of the main developments in the 18 th century was an intellectual movement called the Enlightenment. The supporters of this movement wanted to use reason, science and education to combat ignorance and reform society. These new ideas eventually transformed most of the basic structures of the Ancien Régime:

● In some countries, absolute monarchs introduced social reforms to improve their subjects’ quality of life. However, they did not allow the people to participate in choosing the government.
● New forms of industry and commerce contributed to significant economic expansion.
● The three traditional estates of the realm continued to exist, but the bourgeoisie, became more important and tried to gain more political power.

The Enlightenment was an important intellectual movement that appeared in France in the 18th century, criticised the traditional structures of the Ancien Régime and suggested new ideas to change society. They wanted to put an end to ignorance and promote social progress, using reason, science and education.

The main principles of Enlightenment were:

● Reason is the only source of knowledge; beliefs and dogma are not considered rational.
○ Traditional religious beliefs were strongly criticised and a new type of natural religion developed: deism. Its main principle is based on the fact that God created the Universe and it works according to scientific laws. In some cases, deism evolved into atheism or agnosticism.

● In Nature we can find truth and virtue, society corrupts men: “Everything is good as it leaves the hands of the author of things, everything degenerates in the hands of men” (Emile, Rousseau). Only education can
save them.
● Learning and teaching are essential since the new knowledge gives freedom and creates an enlightened society.

● Progress: use of reason and scientific improvements would lead to an harmonious and perfect society, with no wars, no illnesses… The target is human happiness.
● Happiness: Every man has the right and the duty to be happy.
● Equality and liberty are key elements of an enlightened society: everybody should enjoy the same legal rights and freedom.

 Enlightenment thinkers organised meetings in the salons of their homes to discuss new ideas.

D’ Alambert and Diderot, created an extensive collection of writings called the Encyclopaedia. It was a compendium of the knowledge of that time and it summarised knowledge from many areas of study, including science, philosophy, art and grammar.

● Politics: they proposed to limit the power of absolute monarchs
○ Montesquieu: in The spirit of the laws (1748), he analysed and compared different political systems, choosing the English parliamentarism as the best one. He defended the separation of powers (legislative, executive, judicial); according to him, they should never be held by the same person in order to represent the whole society.In addition, he defends that all the powers have the same importance but the legislative should prevail over the others since it is the assembly that represents the nation. This way, there should also be a written Constitution with all the legal principles.
○ Voltaire criticized religious dogmatism and defended religious tolerance. Although he favoured a strong monarchy, he also supported the existence of parliaments. He inspired Enlightened despotism since he understood that the monarchs should be advised by intellectuals, who should lead the national politics. This way, he was really influential in the European courts since he was quite moderate. He had very important links
with the Russian tsarina Catherine II.
○ Rousseau established the basis of what we now know as democracy, introducing, in The social contract (1762), the idea of popular sovereignty. He defended that sovereignty resides in the people. Hence, the government must follow their will, if not it can be removed from the power by the people.

Enlightened despotism was a new form of government that developed in some European countries in the 18 th century. Its objective was to modernise the country and improve the subject’s quality of life by combining absolute monarchy with Enlightenment ideas. Enlightened despots had the following characteristics:
● They created centralised governments to consolidate their power and implement their policies.
● To promote reforms, they appointed enlightened thinkers to important positions, for example as ministers.
● Education was seen as a way to improve people’s quality of life. They wanted to free people from ignorance and improve the country’s wealth and prosperity by creating schools and academies and new
institutions to promote scientific developments.
● They attacked privileged people’s idleness, and defended the
revalorisation of work.
● They had control over the Church, limiting their power and establishing religious tolerance.
In the end, enlightened despotism did not succeed as a form of government because it maintained the privileges of the estates system. In addition, the legal reforms were not sufficient to guarantee equality and freedom for all members of society.

Physiocrats argued that agriculture was the true source of wealth, since it provided food and materials that can be transformed by craftsmen into manufactured goods. So, industry and trade should be secondary economic activities. They also rejected Mercantilism and believed that the state should not interfere with trade and other economic activities. This idea came from Adam Smith, who theorized about economic
liberalism in his book The wealth of nations (1776). He defended:

● The origin of wealth comes from the individual effort to get the maximum profit. Hence, there must not be any state regulation so that individuals can get their profit, which will benefit society.
● Supply and demand must regulate production and prices in order not to flood the market with some products or run out of some others.

At the beginning of the 18 th century, the economies of Europe functioned in the same way as they had in the earlier phases of the Ancien Régime.However, important changes took place in the following decades due to social reforms introduced by Enlightened monarchs.In AGRICULTURE, during the 18 th century, harvest improved for a number of reasons: 

● Agricultural techniques like crop rotation were more widely used.
● Improved agricultural machinery increased farmers’ productivity.
● The repopulation of uninhabited areas increased production.
● New crops were introduced, such as potatoes and corn.
In CRAFTS, during the 18 th century, population growth caused an increase in demand for many consumer goods.

● The domestic system of production became important in rural areas, especially in the case of textiles.
● Royal manufacturers produced various luxury goods, such as crystal lamps, cloth, silk, tapestries, porcelain and clocks. These products adorned royal palaces and were also bought by the nobility and the bourgeoisie.

In TRADE, in the early 18 th century, domestic trade in Europe was limited by inadequate transportation systems. Therefore, some countries began to improve roads and build new ones. In addition, canals were built to connect river systems and port installations were modernised. International trade also intensified, with an increased exchange of products between Europe and the American colonies. During the 18 th century,
the Atlantic Ocean became the world’s most important trading zone. The triangular trade route between Europe, Africa and America were controlled by the British.
● In Europe: goods from America and Africa were traded for tools and arms.
● In Africa: goods from Europe and America were exchanged for African slaves.
● In America: goods from Europe and slaves from Africa were exchanged for sugar, rum, cotton and tobacco.

Society
During the 18th century, the population grew steadily from 110 million up to 190 million in 1800. This growth was mostly due to scientific advances, improvements in nutrition and hygiene and the reduction of epidemics thanks to the discovery of the first vaccine. European society continued to be based on the estates system, but Enlightenment thinkers wanted to introduce reforms:
● They criticised the social and economic influence of the nobility and the clergy. However, these groups resisted changes that would reduce their dominance.
● Enlightened despots passed laws to limit the influence of the nobility and, above all, the clergy. Some Church lands and buildings were confiscated, and the number of convents was reduced. Some taxes were also imposed to the clergy.
● The wealthy middle class, or bourgeoisie, was inspired by Enlightenment ideas, such as the value of work and progress. They also protested against the nobility and clergy’s privileges.
● The peasants’ living conditions did not improve, even after agricultural reforms. However, the domestic system enabled some peasants to earn additional money.

ROCOCO

● Architecture: Rococo interiors were elaborately decorated, especially with curves, seashells and floral elements. In French, these decorative motifs are called rocaille, and this is the origin of the name “Rococo”.
● Sculpture: they were often small, and represented joyful and mythological themes. 
● Painting: pastel colours were used to depict mythological themes, rural festivals and domestic scenes.

NEOCLASSICISM

● Architecture: buildings were well-proportioned and featured classical elements, such as rounded arches, columns and domes.

● Sculpture: Neoclassical sculptures were usually made of marble and depicted mythological or historical themes or famous people.
● Painting: Neoclassical painters imitated classical sculptures, so their works featured people who looked like statues. The themes were frequently mythological or historical, with idealised images of famous people.