The Rise of Class Society and the Enlightenment in 18th Century Europe

Posted on May 14, 2024 in History

Section 2: Class Society

Privileged:

Nobility, clergy.

Not Privileged:

Third Estate (peasants, bourgeois, popular classes).

The Enlightenment

An intellectual movement of 18th century Europe based on:

  • Reason
  • Progress of humanity
  • Natural rights
  • Tolerance

The Enlightenment criticized the Old Regime:

  • Considered the estate system an unjust society and advocated a system of social balance and legal equality.
  • The privileges of some social groups (nobility and clergy) and some institutions (guilds) impeded economic growth.

Dissemination of Ideas

Encyclopedia (Diderot and d’Alembert).

Enlightened Despotism

A variant of absolutism resulting from the ideas of the Enlightenment.

The monarchs tried to develop the country through a series of reforms:

  • Strengthening of domestic industry
  • Transformation of agriculture
  • Improvement of communications and promotion of science and trade
  • Development and expansion of education
  • Centralization and rationalization of public administration
  • Professionalization of the army
  • Submission of other powers

Principal representatives: Catherine II of Russia, Frederick II of Prussia, and Charles III of Spain.

Economic Thought

The Enlightenment defended the following in the economic sphere:

  • Freedom of commerce and industry
  • Guarantee of private property
  • Importance of agricultural development (physiocracy)

One of the great economic thinkers of the era and a champion of economic liberalism and capitalism is Adam Smith.

Political Thought

The Enlightenment defended political liberalism, which is represented by three great thinkers:

  • Montesquieu defends the independence and separation of three powers: legislative, executive, and judicial.
  • Rousseau defends the concept of the social contract, which means that national sovereignty (the nation’s right to decide its own future) is expressed through voting.
  • Voltaire defends the need for a parliament to limit the power of kings and a tax system that does not fall solely on the people.

The American Revolution

The United States of America

The thirteen English colonies of North America gained independence to form the United States of America, the first example of a nation founded on the principles of equality, freedom, and tolerance.

The English colonists did not accept the tax increases imposed on them or 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.

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

  • A wide declaration of rights and freedoms
  • Separation of powers: legislative, executive, and judicial
  • Republican government, with strong power held by the president
  • Federal structure: state governments have control over self-government. The federal government (central) deals only with foreign policy, defense, and general finance.

The Arrival of the Spanish Bourbons to the Throne

The War of Succession

After the death of Charles II without children, a succession controversy arose.

Charles II died childless in 1700.

Philip of Anjou (future Philip V) was the grandson of the King of France and Charles II’s sister. Charles II appointed him heir to the Hispanic crown in his will. He had the support of France.

Charles of Austria (Archduke of Austria) was the son of the Emperor of Austria and another sibling of Charles II. He defended his rights to the Hispanic crown with the support of Austria, Portugal, England, and Holland.

European powers opposed to France would not accept Philip as king of the Hispanic crown, and the War of the Spanish Succession began as an international conflict.

1701-1702: Philip swears to uphold the Catalan constitutions before the Catalan Courts and is accepted as king.

1705: Representatives of the Catalans in Genoa sign a pact with England and other Allied powers to defend Archduke Charles as King of the Hispanic monarchy.

1705: Archduke Charles lands in Barcelona and is proclaimed king in Barcelona.

1705-1707: Archduke Charles increases his territorial control in the Peninsula, occupying Madrid.

1707: Reaction of the Philipists at the Battle of Almansa. The Austrian forces suffer losses, and the Franco-Spanish troops begin the occupation of Valencia and Aragon.

1711: Archduke Charles is appointed Emperor of Austria after the death of his father, Leopold I. This causes the Netherlands and England to lose interest in his triumph in Spain.

1713: The European powers sign the Treaty of Utrecht, ending the War of Succession on the international stage.

The Catalans continue fighting alone against Philip V.

  • The city of Barcelona withstands the siege until September 11, 1714.
  • Cardona holds out until September 18.
  • The Catalan defeat represents the end of the existence of Catalan institutions: the Parliament and the Government.

The Decree of Nueva Planta

The defeat of the Catalans leads to a harsh repressive policy by Philip V, synthesized in the Decree of Nueva Planta and other related decisions, involving:

  • Persecution of supporters of the Austrian candidate
  • Disappearance of the Courts and the Government
  • 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 (body of armed volunteers)
  • Construction of the Ciutadella barracks in Barcelona
  • Division of Catalan territory into 12 corregimientos
  • The Captain General becomes the highest authority in the State
  • Imposition of Spanish in areas such as the courts and the Royal Court

Economic Growth in the Eighteenth Century

The Catalan population almost doubled during the eighteenth century.

The growth was distributed differently:

  • The strongest increase, in relative terms, occurred in the western and southern counties.
  • The areas with lower growth were the Pyrenees and the pre-Pyrenees.

Regarding cumulative population density, the following areas should be highlighted:

  • An initial coastal environment of higher density around Barcelona
  • A second area inland, including the Priorat and the Garrotxa
  • The rest of the territory still had low densities, although some areas were populated during this century

The population growth was caused by:

  • Significant reduction of catastrophic mortality (extraordinary). Although there were many epidemic episodes, especially in the first half and the end of the eighteenth century.
  • Decrease in adult mortality, but not for children
  • Increased fertility

High population growth led to increased nuptiality and earlier marriages. This tended to occur more frequently in urban areas.

The economic upturn of Catalonia in the eighteenth century can be explained by:

a) Increased Agricultural Production

  • Increase of cultivated area (draining wetlands and deforestation)
  • Reduction of fallow (replacement with crop rotation systems)
  • Introduction of new cultivars
  • Regional specialization in certain crops
  • Expansion of vine cultivation
  • Technical improvements

b) Expansion of Manufacturing (Domestic Industry)

This combined domestic industry and factory work.

c) Increase in Trade

This trade was directed towards the Iberian Peninsula, northern Europe, and, since 1778, to America.