Most history books offer roughly the same definition of absolutism. This political system was formed in most European countries of the XVII-XVIII centuries. It is characterized by the sole power of the monarch, which is not limited by any state institution.
The main features of absolutism
The modern definition of absolutism was formulated in the middle of the 19th century. This term replaced the expression "old order", which described the French state system before the Great Revolution.
The Bourbon Monarchy was one of the main pillars of absolutism. With the strengthening of royal power, there was a rejection of estate-representative bodies (States General). The autocrats stopped consulting with deputies and looking back at public opinion when making important decisions.
King and Parliament in England
Absolutism was formed in a similar way in England. Medieval feudalism did not allow the state to effectively use its own resources and capabilities. The formation of absolutism in England was complicated by a conflict with Parliament. This assembly of deputies had a long history.
The Stuart dynasty in the 17th century tried to belittle the importance of Parliament. Because ofthis in 1640-1660. The country was engulfed in civil war. The bourgeoisie and most of the peasantry opposed the king. On the side of the monarchy were the nobles (barons and other large landowners). King Charles I of England was defeated and eventually executed in 1649.
Great Britain was formed after 50 years. In this federation - England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland - parliament was placed in opposition to the monarchy. With the help of a representative body, businessmen and ordinary residents of cities were able to defend their interests. Thanks to the established relative freedom, the economy began to rise. Great Britain has become the world's main maritime power, controlling colonies scattered around the world.
English enlighteners of the 18th century gave their definition of absolutism. For them, he became a symbol of the bygone era of the Stuarts and Tudors, during which the monarchs unsuccessfully tried to replace the entire state with their own person.
Strengthening of tsarist power in Russia
The Russian age of absolutism began during the reign of Peter the Great. However, the prerequisites for this phenomenon were traced even under his father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. When the Romanov dynasty came to power, the boyar duma and zemstvo councils played an important role in state life. It was these institutions that helped restore the country after the Troubles.
Aleksey initiated the process of abandoning the old system. The changes were reflected in the main document of his era - the Cathedral Code. Thanks to this code of laws, the title of Russian rulers receivedaddition "autocrat". The wording was changed for a reason. It was Alexei Mikhailovich who stopped convening Zemsky Sobors. The last time this happened was in 1653, when a decision was made to reunite Russia and left-bank Ukraine after a successful war with Poland.
In the tsarist era, the place of ministries was occupied by orders, each of which covered one or another sphere of state activity. In the second half of the 17th century, most of these institutions came under the sole control of the autocrat. In addition, Alexei Mikhailovich established an order of secret affairs. He was in charge of the most important affairs of state, as well as receiving petitions. In 1682, a reform was carried out that abolished the system of parochialism, according to which key positions in the country were distributed among the boyars according to their belonging to a noble family. Now appointments depended directly on the will of the king.
Struggle between state and church
The policy of absolutism pursued by Alexei Mikhailovich ran into serious resistance from the Orthodox Church, which wanted to interfere in state affairs. Patriarch Nikon became the main opponent of the autocrat. He proposed to make the church independent of the executive branch, as well as to delegate some powers to it. Nikon argued that the patriarch, according to him, was the vicar of God on earth.
The apogee of the power of the patriarch was the receipt of the title of "great sovereign". In fact, this put him on an equal footing with the king. However, Nikon's triumph was short-lived. In 1667 the churchthe cathedral defrocked him and sent him into exile. Since then, there has been no one who could challenge the power of the autocrat.
Peter I and autocracy
Under the son of Alexei Peter the Great, the power of the monarch was further strengthened. The old boyar families were repressed after the events when the Moscow aristocracy tried to overthrow the tsar and put his older sister Sophia on the throne. At the same time, due to the outbreak of the Northern War in the B altic, Peter began great reforms that covered all aspects of the state.
In order to make them more effective, the autocrat has completely concentrated power in his hands. He established collegiums, introduced a table of ranks, created heavy industry in the Urals from scratch, made Russia a more European country. All these changes would have been too tough for him if he was opposed by conservative boyars. The aristocrats were put in their place and for a time turned into ordinary officials who made their small contribution to Russia's successes in foreign and domestic policy. The tsar's struggle with the conservatism of the elite sometimes took on anecdotal forms - what is worth only the episode with the cutting off of beards and the ban on old caftans!
Peter came to absolutism, because this system gave him the necessary powers to comprehensively reform the country. He also made the church part of the state machine by establishing the Synod and abolishing the patriarchate, thereby depriving the clergy of the opportunity to assert themselves as an alternative source of power in Russia.
Power of Catherine II
The era whenAbsolutism in Europe reached its peak in the second half of the 18th century. In Russia during this period, Catherine 2 ruled. After several decades, when palace coups regularly took place in St. Petersburg, she managed to subdue the rebellious elite and become the sole ruler of the country.
Features of absolutism in Russia was that the power was based on the most faithful estate - the nobility. This privileged stratum of society in the reign of Catherine received a Letter of Complaint. The document confirmed all the rights that the nobility had. In addition, its representatives were exempted from military service. Initially, the nobles received the title and land precisely for the years spent in the army. Now this rule is a thing of the past.
The nobles did not interfere in the political agenda dictated by the throne, but always acted as its protector in case of danger. One of these threats was the uprising led by Yemelyan Pugachev in 1773-1775. The peasants' revolt showed the need for reforms, including changes related to serfdom.
Enlightened Absolutism
The reign of Catherine II (1762-1796) also coincided with the emergence of the bourgeoisie in Europe. These were people who had achieved success in the capitalist field. Entrepreneurs demanded reforms and civil liberties. The tension was especially noticeable in France. The Bourbon monarchy, like the Russian Empire, was an island of absolutism, where all important decisions were made only by the ruler.
At the same time, France became the birthplace of such great thinkers and philosophers as Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot, etc. These writers and orators became the founders of the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment. They were based on free thought and rationalism. Liberalism has become fashionable in Europe. Catherine 2 also knew about the idea of civil rights. She was German by origin, thanks to which she was closer to Europe than all her predecessors on the Russian throne. Later, Catherine's combination of liberal and conservative ideas was called "enlightened absolutism."
Attempt to reform
The Empress's most serious step towards changing Russia was the establishment of the Legislative Commission. The officials and lawyers included in it were to develop a draft reform of domestic legislation, the basis of which was still the patriarchal "Cathedral Code" of 1648. The work of the commission was placed by the nobles, who saw the changes as a threat to their own well-being. Catherine did not dare to go into conflict with the landowners. The established commission finished its work without achieving any actual transformations.
Pugachev uprising in 1773-1775. not a little scared Catherine. After him, a period of reaction began, and the word "liberalism" turned into a synonym for the betrayal of the throne. The unlimited power of the monarch remained and existed throughout the 19th century. It was abolished after the revolution of 1905, when an analogue of the constitution and a parliament appeared in Russia.
Old and new order
Conservative absolutism in Europe was hated by many as well as by the oppressed peasants of Russiaprovinces that supported Emelyan Pugachev. In France, state dominance hindered the development of the bourgeoisie. The impoverishment of rural residents and periodic economic crises also did not bring popularity to the Bourbons.
In 1789, the French Revolution broke out. The then Parisian liberal journals and satirists gave the boldest and most critical definition of absolutism. Politicians called the old order the cause of all the troubles of the country - from the poverty of the peasantry to defeat in wars and the inefficiency of the army. The crisis of autocratic power has come.
The French Revolution
The beginning of the revolution was the capture of the famous Bastille prison by the rebellious citizens of Paris. Soon King Louis XVI agreed to a compromise and became a constitutional monarch, whose power was limited by representative bodies. However, his uncertain policy led the monarch to decide to flee to loyal royalists. The king was captured at the border and put on trial, which sentenced him to death. In this, the fate of Louis is similar to the end of another monarch who tried to preserve the old order - Charles I of England.
The revolution in France continued for several more years and ended in 1799, when the ambitious commander Napoleon Bonaparte came to power after a coup d'état. Even before that, European countries, in which absolutism was the basis of the state system, declared war on Paris. Among them was Russia. Napoleon defeated all coalitions and even launched an intervention in Europe. In the end, andhe was defeated, the main reason for which was his failure in the Patriotic War of 1812.
The end of absolutism
With the advent of peace in Europe, reaction triumphed. In many states, absolutism was again established. Briefly, the list of these countries included Russia, Austria-Hungary, Prussia. Throughout the 19th century, there were several more attempts by society to resist autocratic power. The most notable was the all-European revolution of 1848, when constitutional concessions were made in some countries. Nevertheless, absolutism finally sunk into oblivion after the First World War, when almost all continental empires (Russian, Austrian, German and Ottoman) were destroyed.
The dismantling of the old system led to the consolidation of civil rights and freedoms - religion, voting, property, etc. The society received new levers for governing the state, the main of which was elections. Today, in place of the former absolute monarchies, there are nation-states with a republican political system.
