From: Haosheng Zhou <philz@ee.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: The Defeat of Absolutism (article)
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 16:01:04 GMT
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		The Defeat of Absolutism

                Haosheng Zhou
                September, 1992

This article is to review the history in Europe when the absolutism was
defeated. I am sure most materials refereed in this article are familiar
to readers. But after reading this article, maybe you have different
ideas about the cause of democracy in China. A brief discussion is given
at the end.


	1. The Background

By 1500, nearing the end of the period of Renaissance and Reformation,
Europe entered a period of rapid economic growth. Historians called it a
commercial revolution [1]. Ricker and Saywell wrote [2]:

        The two most striking aspects of the commercial revolution were
        the rapid increase in trade and commerce, and the triumph of
        _capitalism_ in economic life.

At the _same_ time, new states, such as France, Spain, England and
Portugal, emerged. Ricker and Saywell wrote [3]:

        Strong kings or princes gradually unified the territory under
        their control. They weakened or destroyed the power of the
        feudal nobles, who, for hundreds of years, had dominated
        European life.

So the age of absolute monarchy began.


	2. The Absolute Monarchies

Louis XIV, a French king in this period, summed up the nature of the
absolute state when he said, "l'etat, c'est moi"--I am the state [4].
Ricker and Saywell wrote [4]:

        Such power has also been called _absolute_, for the king
        recognized no limits on his power and was responsible to no one.
        The king controlled the civil service and often the Church; the
        law was little more than his command, and he appointed officials
        and judges to see that it was enforced. A permanent army under
        his absolute command was used not only in foreign wars, but also
        to crush any opposition at home.


	3. The Middle Class

In this age, the merchants and traders in the towns, who became
increasingly prosperous and powerful, are the middle class. Ricker and
Saywell wrote [5]:

        This new middle class--between the aristocracy and the
        peasants--usually supported the king in his struggle with the
        nobility. They wanted law and order over the widest possible
        territories, for it meant safe and prosperous trading.


	4. The Defeat of Absolutism

Events in England, however, were following a different course. Ricker
and Saywell wrote [6]:

        English kings, too, had attempted to be all-powerful. In doing
        so, however, they had aroused the stubborn opposition of members
        of Parliament and many Protestants [7]. This opposition between
        King and Parliament finally resulted in civil war. With the
        execution of one king and the expulsion of a second, the
        parliamentary forces emerged triumphant. Absolute rule was
        defeated, and England became a state where the king and
        Parliament ruled jointly.

The "third" king and queen were William and Mary. Ricker and Saywell
wrote [8]:

        Parliament met and invited William and his wife Mary, the
        Protestant daughter of James II, to become king and queen.

        In accepting the throne, however, William and Mary had to accept
        the Bill of Rights. The Bill declared that the king could not
        levy taxes, set aside laws or maintain an army without the
        consent of Parliament.

This is refereed as a bloodless "Glorious" Revolution in Ricker's book
[9].


	5. The French Revolution

In 1789, King Louis XVI who was frustrated in attempt to collect badly
needed money, "was forced to call a meeting of the Estates-General, a
form of French parliament, that, owing to the triumph of absolute
monarchy in French, had not met for almost 200 years." Ricker and
Saywell continued [10]:

        The nobles had no idea that by forcing the king to call the
        Estates-General they were starting a revolution that would
        eventually destroy them.

	......

        When the Estate-General assembled in May 1789, the Third Estate
        [11] demanded widespread reform before considering the King's
        request to increase taxes. Their leaders, supported by some
        nobles and clergy, declared that they represented over ninety
        per cent of the people and were themselves a "National
        Assembly," which alone could speak for all the people.
        Excitement spread when it was rumoured that the King planned to
        dissolve the National Assembly by force. The Paris workers
        stormed the hated Bastille, a symbol of the old order, where
        political prisoners were often kept. Peasants burned their
        lord's chateaux and refused to pay their dues and rents.
        Meanwhile, during the summer of 1789 the National Assembly
        abolished all feudal dues and privileges, confiscated the lands
        of the clergy, ended the tithe and levied taxes on Church and
        noble. Finally it adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man
        and the Citizen, which triumphantly declared that, "Men are
        born, and remain, free and equal in rights. ..."


	6. The Causes of Revolutions

Why the middle class, once supporting the monarchies, finally defeated
them? The reasons are many. Ricker and Saywell wrote [12]:

        Although prosperous, they were critical of the privileged
        social, political, and financial position of the nobility and
        the clergy. They realized that they paid more than their share
        of the taxes, ... Moreover, they shared the _philosophes'_
        dislike of the out-dated legal system, the absence of trial by
        jury and the denial of personal liberties and freedom of speech
        and of the press.


	7. When Did Revolutions Occur?

Both revolutions in England and French occurred when the king needed
money. For French, the situation has been described above. For England,
Ricker and Saywell wrote [13]:

        ... From 1629 to 1640 Charles tried to govern without
        parliament. His official used every possible means to raise
        money and to force the Puritans to accept the doctrine and
        practices of the Church of England.

        This movement towards absolute monarchy was cut short in 1640
        when Charles, in need of money for a war against the Scots, had
        to call Parliament. Before granting Charles money, Parliament
        was determined to make it impossible for the king ever again to
        rule without Parliament. ...


	8. The Absolute Is not Absolute

However, the monarchies are not absolute as they are called. This is not
only due to the fact that they still had Parliament. For England, Ricker
and Saywell wrote [14]:

        The King and his council possessed vast power which Henry
        exercised to the utmost. Henry could not do without Parliament
        completely, however, for only Parliament could grant the king
        taxes and pass important new laws.

In the time of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), there were about 400 members of
the Commons. Each county or shire sent two members, _elected_ by people
owning land worth forty shilling a year. The other members were
_elected_ by the boroughs or towns, generally by the well-to-do citizens
[14].


	9. Where Does the Monarchy Look Like CCP?

Ricker and Saywell described a French king, Cardinal Richelieu [15]:

        He increased the power of the royal intendants and divided
        France into thirty districts with an intendant in charge of
        each. So great was the power of these officials that they were
        dubbed the "thirty tyrants." Chosen from the middle class, they
        were obedient to the king. But even so, they were shifted
        frequently from one district to another so that they would not
        become too friendly with the local nobles or the people.

For Louis XIV, Ricker and Saywell wrote [16]:

        Louis completed the work of centralizing the government. Law,
        finance, and the army were reorganized and made more efficient.
        The intendants were given still more power over local officials
        and nobility. The king's spies and agents roamed the country,
        alert to any sign of opposition. Louis did not hesitate to sent
        the dreaded _lettre de cachet_ (an order under the king's seal)
        which would place a suspected enemy immediately in prison, where
        he would remain without trial and with no hope of release unless
        Louis wished it. Louis also built up a large professional army
        under his direct command, probably the greatest army in Europe.


	10. Nationalism and Democracy Worked Hand in Hand

By 1500, there was little sense of both nationalism and democracy.
Ricker and Saywell wrote [17]:

        In this early period there was little sense of _nationalism_
        among the people; that is, a sense of pride in their nation, a
        sense that they were united by strong ties of language, race and
        common traditions. Nor was there any sense of _democracy_ or a
        feeling of participation in the creation and government of the
        state.

Both nationalism and democracy came after the revolutions. Ricker and
Saywell wrote [18]:

        Nationalism was not the only force to burst the dikes of the
        Vienna settlement [19]. The ideas of liberalism--individual
        liberty and freedom, equality before the law, and participation
        of the people in government--were also eroding its foundations.


	11. Different Goals

Although workers and students [20] supported democracy, they had
different goals from the middle class. Ricker and Saywell wrote [21]:

        These middle-class demands for liberal reforms were supported as
        well by the working class, whose ranks were also swelled by the
        spread of industrialism. But as the middle class secured its
        goals, these one-time allies often became enemies. The working
        class wanted a more democratic system than that advocated by the
        middle class. They felt that _all_ men, regardless of their
        wealth, should have a voice in government.

	12. Summary and Discussions

1) The monarchy age is short in Europe(1500-1870). Compared with Europe,
the history of the absolute in China is very long, about 2000 years. The
absolute is well adopted by China, Chinese culture and Chinese people.
In 2000 years, until 1911, there had been a lot of revolts in China. But
none of them discarded the absolute. None of them thought there should
be otherwise.

2) It can be clearly seen from the revolutions in both England and
France that the more complete the absolute was, the more severe the
revolution would be. It is worth notice that the absolute is far more
completed in communist countries.

3) Revolution came when kings were lack of money. Situations are
different in the revolutions in the communist countries in East Block
and Soviet Union. The communist parties seem never lack of money but
products.

4) The causes of revolution is basically the same everywhere while the
major force of revolution is the middle class. In communist countries,
there was little middle class. In China, the middle class is arising.
The major obstacle for the development of the middle class in China is
from the government, i.e., the Party. This is different from the
situation described in this article as monarchies in Europe usually
encouraged the middle class to develop. In this sense, the middle class
in China, if there is any, has to fight for freedoms right from the
beginning.

5) Although many groups (classes) supported democracy, their goals are
different. For China, reform means democracy. But the prospectives for
democracy are different for different groups, too. The goals of
intellectual and students are far more radical than those of reformers
in China. Nevertheless, I think Chinese intellectual and students should
make their goals clear and struggle hard for them.

6) While nationalism worked together with democracy in Europe, it is
bitterly to see that nationalism in China is working with CCP. While the
nationalism in Europe was developed with democracy, in China, it was
well established together with the absolute. For this, the cause of
democracy in China is far more complicated.

7) Although the middle class support the absolute at the beginning, the
absolute became an obstacle to it finally. The things are just as
natural as that. However, in China, the CCP never treats the middle
class a friend.  Instead, CCP sees the middle class as a threat to its
power.

			      ***********

References

[1] J. C. Ricker and J. T. Saywell: Europe and the Modern World,
    Clarke, Irwin & Company Ltd, Toronto, 1969, p. 68.

[2] Ricker/Saywell: p. 68.

[3] Ricker/Saywell: p. 116.

[4] Ricker/Saywell: p. 117, p. 118.

[5] Ricker/Saywell: p. 116.

[6] Ricker/Saywell: p. 124.

[7] Protestants are those who protested against the Roman Catholic
    Church, Ricker/Saywell: p. 25.

[8] Ricker/Saywell: p. 126.

[9] Ricker/Saywell: p. 127.

[10] Ricker/Saywell: p. 132.

[11] Third Estate are the middle and lower classes, Ricker/Saywell: P.
     156.

[12] Ricker/Saywell: p. 132.

[13] Ricker/Saywell: p. 126.

[14] Ricker/Saywell: p. 124-125.

[15] Ricker/Saywell: p. 120.

[16] Ricker/Saywell: p. 121.

[17] Ricker/Saywell: p. 116.

[18] Ricker/Saywell: p. 137.

[19] In the hope of restoring much of the old, pre-revolution order and
     dampening the coals that still smouldered from the fires of the
     French Revolution, the statesmen of Europe gathered at Austrian
     capital of Vienna in 1814-15 to check French power.
     Ricker/Saywell:  p. 136.

[20] Students participated in the revolutions, see Ricker/Saywell:  p.
     139.

[21] Ricker/Saywell: pp. 137-138.
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