Liberal Ideology vs. Absolutism: Historical Perspectives
THE LIBERAL IDEOLOGY
Sovereignty belongs to the nation. People govern themselves through representatives. No absolute power leads to separation of powers. Right to vote, representatives elected through suffrage. Citizens and King must comply with laws, especially the constitution or fundamental law. All men are equal in the eyes of the law. Freedom of the press is recognized. Economic freedom. Men and women have rights to life, freedom, and property. Separation of church and state.
ABSOLUTISM
Sovereignty belongs to the King. Receives the right to govern from God. King has absolute power and answers only to God. Slogan: ‘everything for the people, nothing by the people’. The Will of the King is law. Inequality is natural. Three states: nobility, clergy, third state. Ideas are controlled through censorship. Economic life is controlled by the King. People must follow anything the King says or demands. Throne and altar are linked.
Ideological Tendencies Among Liberals:
MODERATE LIBERALS:
- Monarchists wanted to keep the King, army, and official religion but believed their power should be restricted by the constitution.
- Believed in an electoral system based on censitary suffrage.
RADICAL LIBERALS:
Known in Spain as ‘evaltados’ and then ‘progresistas’. Some were republicans and democrats because they believed in universal suffrage. Proposed regime of unlimited freedoms and the suppression of religious interventions in aspects of civil life.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION: THE FOUNDING OF THE US
Since the 17th century, European emigrants had settled on the east coast of North America. Some had fled political instability and religious persecution in their countries of origin.
THE THIRTEEN COLONIES:
The British monarchy organized colonies in 13 areas. A governor was in charge of each colony, but his power was mostly restricted to military matters. For all other matters, colonial assemblies.
INDEPENDENCE AND WAR:
Seven years war (1756-1763) Great Britain vs France. After British created a large permanent army in America that forced colonies to fund it through new taxes. They rebelled: ‘no taxation without representation’ because they had no representatives in the parliament in London. Revolutionary process began. 1776 delegates from the Thirteen Colonies met in Philadelphia and declared Independence from Great Britain and George III’s rule. Colonies became states. New country became the USA. British opposed American War of Independence. France, Spain, and Netherlands supported colonists to weaken Great Britain. After battles of Saratoga and Yorktown (won by colonists, George Washington), Peace of Paris in 1783. Great Britain recognized the new country’s independence.
CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY:
The new state’s delegates met again in Philadelphia and drafted a constitution, approved in 1787. First time the principles were incorporated into a country’s fundamental law. Key points: US is a federal republic, government functions are divided between the capital and the states. Head of the State is the president, elected by the House of Representatives every 4 years. Separation of Powers: Executive – president, Legislative – congress and senate, Judicial – supreme court. Series of amendments. The number of states quickly doubled. The electoral system imposed was universal manhood suffrage. In 1829, Andrew Jackson was elected president. He founded the Democratic Party (well established in the south) and introduced new democratic reforms. Not all the population had the right to vote (natives, southern women, black slaves). These slaves moved to states in the North where they believed slavery was repugnant, therefore, they refused to hand them over to the South. States of the North wanted to abolish slavery completely, South were opposed. American Civil War (1861-1865) North (liberal and industrialized) won. Leadership by Abraham Lincoln of the Republican Party, slavery was abolished and all slaves were freed.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
Late 18th century, France was still an absolute monarchy under Louis XVI. Many people demanded a change in the regime. In 1789, factors that triggered the revolution: Liberal ideas of the enlightenment had become popular even amongst nobility and clergy. Absolutism was criticized and people called for the separation of Powers. Example of the US, some French people had thought on the side of the colonists in the American War of Independence. Inequality before the law. Nobility and clergy didn’t pay taxes, while the middle class did. Economic crisis from the 7 years’ war, France lost Canada and it affected their economy. France had to pay an enormous public debt. The court didn’t reduce its spending on luxuries. Meanwhile, the population grew a lot and farming production wasn’t enough for them to eat. Many propaganda criticized the Old Regime. King and queen were openly criticized and disparaged. More than 25,000 books of grievances were compiled. Citizens and peasants described their complaints and demands in these books.
PHASES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION:
- THE ESTATES GENERAL (1789): The three estates of the realm: each one vote but the 3rd estate was much bigger and wanted to vote per person. This started the Revolution. The 3rd estate delegates formed the National Assembly, swore not to depart until France had a Constitution.
- NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY (1789-1791): The people of Paris revolted and stormed the Bastille prison. Soldiers defending the prison opened the doors. King couldn’t dissolve the Assembly. Drafted Constitution.
- LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (1792-1795): Absolutists Austria and Prussia threatened to invade France. Political groups formed: Girondists – moderates who wanted a constitutional monarchy, Jacobins – radical liberals who wanted a republic.
- THE REPUBLIC (1792-1795): Republic declared by the National Convention, control of executive and legislative Powers. King executed by guillotine. Committees were organized. Committee of Public Safety to protect the military movement, leader: Robespierre (Jacobins’ leader). Anti-revolutionary people executed. This period was known as the Terror.
- THE DIRECTORY (1795-1799) AND THE CONSULATE (1799-1804): Robespierre executed by moderates. Directory (a government) was formed. Revolutionary France won important military victories over Europe’s absolutist Powers. Napoleon Bonaparte (prestigious general) led a coup d’état in 1799, took power, appointed himself consul.
SANS CULOTTES: Men of lower classes who wore long trousers. Knee breeches (short trousers) were worn by healthy men. Sans culottes allied with the middle class, involved in the main events of the French Revolution.
THE NAPOLEONIC EMPIRE
In 1804, Napoleon autoproclaimed Emperor. His victories over Austria and Prussia gave him control over Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and a large part of Germany. He invaded Spain, where his brother José I ruled for several years. In 1812, he tried to conquer Russia but was defeated and had to withdraw. His greatest enemy was Great Britain. He never conquered it. He had to contend with the Continental Blockade. English economy was affected but not destroyed. In 1815, the Battle of Waterloo, British and European allies vs Napoleon, he was defeated. Napoleon created the civil code (Napoleonic code): guaranteed equality of citizens before the law, prohibited torture, aspects of civil life removed from the church’s control, modernized education, and promoted science and culture. He also divided France into provinces.