A History of Modern Europe - From the Renaissance to the Present

Part Four

Revolutionary

Europe, 1789-1850

The French Revolution of 1789 struck the first solid

blow in continental Western Europe against monarchical abso­
lutism on behalf of popular sovereignty. The roots of revolution
extend back to the second half of the seventeenth century, an era
of hitherto unparalleled absolute monarchical authority. The
monarchs of France, Russia, Prussia, Austria, Spain, and Sweden
had reinforced their authority to the extent that they stood clearly
above any internal challenge to their power. Compliant nobles
served as junior partners in absolutism, acknowledging the rulers
absolute power to proclaim laws, assess taxes, and raise armies, in
exchange for royal recognition of their noble standing and pro­
tection against popular revolts. The governments of Great Britain
and the Dutch United Provinces stood in sharp contrast to
absolute states. In the English Civil War in the 1640s, Parliament
had successfully turned aside the possibility of absolute monar­
chy in England, leading to the execution of King Charles II, fol­
lowed after some years of turmoil by the Restoration of constitu­
tional monarchy. In the Netherlands, the Dutch revolt against
absolutist Spain led to the establishment of the Dutch Republic.
The theory of popular sovereignty developed not only as an alter­
native to absolute rule but also as an extension of constitutional

rule. In the dramatic events of the French Revolution that began
in 1789, the theory of popular sovereignty became reality as ordi­
nary people helped bring about the downfall of absolute rule and
then, three years later, the monarchy itself.
True popular sovereignty was a short-lived experiment, how­
ever, as counter-revolution and foreign intervention led to the
dramatic centralization of state authority. In 1799, Napoleon
Bonaparte helped overthrow the Directory, the last regime of