Absolutism

Absolutism is a political system established in a number of Western European countries in modern times ^[1] , in which the supreme power (as a rule, monarchical) is not limited to representative institutions, as opposed to its limitations (in constitutional states).

The term absolute monarchy , understood as the unlimited power of the sovereign, has a broader meaning, but the term absolutism coincides in meaning with the term absolute monarchy , understood in a narrow, strictly scientific sense ^[1] .

Absolutism was the dominant state form in the European continental states during the XVII and XVIII centuries, which was favored by theologians who attributed supreme power to divine origin, and Roman lawyers who recognized the absolute power of the ancient Roman emperors for the sovereigns. This state form reached its climax under the French king Louis XIV , who systematically carried out his famous “ L'Etat c'est moi ” (the state is me ). As a historical term, absolutism replaced the concept of the “ old order ” (Ancien regime) in the middle of the 19th century.

The social support of the various absolute monarchies is not the same. Absolute monarchies in modern Europe were the noble states in which the "society of privileges" was preserved ^[1] . In Soviet historiography, the emergence of absolutism was usually associated with the class struggle - the nobility and the bourgeoisie ( S. D. Skazkin ) or the peasantry and the nobility ( B. F. Porshnev ). Currently, the point of view is widespread, according to which a number of economic, social and cultural processes contributed to the strengthening of absolutism.

Thus, the strengthening of state power is associated with frequent wars (in connection with which there was a need for increased taxation), the development of trade (the need for protectionist policies appeared), the growth of cities and social changes in them (the collapse of the social unity of the urban community, the rapprochement of the nobility with the monarchy) ^[1] .

State absolutism in the sense of centralization existed, for example, in France both under the constitutional monarchy of Louis Philippe and under the military despotism of Napoleon I and Napoleon III .