Enlightened absolutism. Definition of absolutism. The formation of absolutism, its features

Absolutism Absolutism is a form of state in some countries of Western Europe and the East in the 16th-18th centuries, in which the monarch has unlimited supreme power. In a strictly centralized state, an extensive bureaucratic apparatus, a standing army, police, tax service, courts. The most typical example of absolutism is France during the reign of the king Louis XIV, who considered himself the deputy of God on Earth.

Historical Dictionary. 2000 .

Synonyms:

See what “Absolutism” is in other dictionaries:

    - (absolutism) Originally (1733) the theological concept that salvation is entirely dependent on the will of God. Later this term was extended to political regime, in which the ruler has the legal right to accept any... ... Political science. Dictionary.

    In polit. sense, there is a form of government in which the supreme power is not limited by the constitution. Absolutism was the dominant state form in European continental states during the 17th and 18th centuries... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

    - (from Latin absolvere to untie, resolve, release). 1) in philosophy: the desire for direct contemplation and perception of the unconditional. 2) in politics: a system of unlimited power. Dictionary foreign words, included in the Russian language... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

    This term has other meanings, see Absolutism (meanings). Absolutism (from the Latin absolutus unconditional) is a period in the history of Europe when there was absolute monarchy. Absolute monarchy government structure,... ...Wikipedia

    - (unlimited, absolute) monarchy, autocracy, autocracy, autocracy, tsarism Dictionary of Russian synonyms. absolutism see autocracy Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. M.: Russian language... Dictionary of synonyms

    absolutism- a, m. absolutisme m. 1797. Ray 1998. A form of government in which supreme power belongs entirely to an autocratic monarch, an unlimited monarchy. Ozh. 1986. When I noticed in the people I spoke to a desire political freedom without… … Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

    - (absolute monarchy) a form of feudal state in which the monarch has unlimited supreme power. With absolutism, the state achieves highest degree centralization, a branched bureaucratic apparatus is created,... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    ABSOLUTISM, a form of unlimited monarchy (absolute monarchy), characteristic of the era of late feudalism. Under absolutism, the state reaches the highest degree of centralization, an extensive bureaucratic apparatus, a standing army and... Modern encyclopedia

    ABSOLUTISM, absolutism, many. no, husband (from Latin absolutus independent) (polit.). A state system with unlimited personal supreme power, autocracy. Dictionary Ushakova. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

    ABSOLUTISM, ah, husband. A form of government in which supreme power belongs entirely to an autocratic monarch, an unlimited monarchy. | adj. absolutist, oh, oh. Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Books

  • , Alexandrov M.S.. Alexandrov Mikhail Stepanovich (1863-1933) - Russian activist revolutionary movement, Marxist historian and publicist. The study is devoted to the problem of the state and criticism of bourgeois theories...
  • State, bureaucracy and absolutism in the history of Russia, Aleksandrov M.S.. This book will be produced in accordance with your order using Print-on-Demand technology. Alexandrov Mikhail Stepanovich (1863-1933) - leader of the Russian revolutionary movement, Marxist...

Absolutism

ABSOLUTISM

(absolutism) Originally (1733) theological concept that salvation was entirely dependent on the will of God. Subsequently, this term extended to a political regime in which the ruler has the legal right to make any decision at his own discretion. As a rule, monarchies of the initial period are called absolute. new history, primarily the regime of the French king Louis XIV. In political meaning, the term actually began to be used only from the end of the 18th century, when many regimes of this type were already on the verge of dying out. Unlike tyrannies, absolutist regimes existed on a legitimate basis. Louis XVI in November 1788, on the eve French Revolution(French Revolution), told his cousin, the Duke of Orleans (father of the future King of France Louis Philippe, 1830–48), that any decision he made expressed the will of the law. Some modern historians argue that absolutism never meant unlimited power, since it existed within the framework of traditions and customary laws that limited the actions of the monarch.


Policy. Explanatory dictionary. - M.: "INFRA-M", Publishing House "Ves Mir". D. Underhill, S. Barrett, P. Burnell, P. Burnham, etc. General editor: Doctor of Economics. Osadchaya I.M.. 2001 .

Absolutism

a concept that characterizes the form of government and the way of organizing political power in a country with a monarchical regime. Absolutism means the concentration of all power in the hands of one person - the monarch. Absolutism is associated with an extremely high degree of centralization of government. To characterize this form of government, the concept of “absolute monarchy” is also used. Absolutism, in contrast to despotic, totalitarian regimes, allows for the presence of latent (hidden) restrictions on power: economic (there is a well-known pluralism of property), social (the presence of a diverse social structure and especially a hereditary aristocracy), political (absolutism is capable of political dynamics, i.e. expanded political reproduction), ideological (absolutism does not see the existence of ideological diversity as a mortal threat to itself). The concept of monarchical absolutism was developed by R. Filmer, F. Bacon; the idea of ​​state absolutism - T. Hobbes, J. Bodin. The concept of absolutism should be distinguished from the concepts of authoritarianism and autocracy. The ideal was “enlightened absolutism.”

Domanov V.G.


Political science. Dictionary. - M: RSU. V.N. Konovalov. 2010.

Absolutism

(from lat. absolutus - independent, unlimited)

absolute monarchy. a form of feudal state in which the monarch has unlimited supreme power. Under absolutism, the state reaches the highest degree of state centralization, an extensive bureaucratic apparatus, a standing army and police are created; the activities of class representation bodies, as a rule, cease. The heyday of absolutism in Western European countries occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries. In Russia, absolutism existed in the 18th and early 20th centuries. (see Autocracy). From a formal legal point of view, under absolutism, the entire completeness of legislative and executive branch, he independently sets taxes and manages public finances. The social support of absolutism is the nobility. The justification for absolutism was the thesis of the divine origin of supreme power. Magnificent and sophisticated palace etiquette served to exalt the person of the sovereign. At the first stage, absolutism was progressive in nature: it fought against the separatism of the feudal nobility, subordinated the church to the state, and eliminated the remnants of feudal fragmentation, introduced uniform laws. The absolute monarchy is characterized by a policy of protectionism and mercantilism, which contributed to the development national economy, commercial and industrial bourgeoisie. New economic resources were used by absolutism to strengthen the military power of the state and wage wars of conquest.


Political Science: Dictionary-Reference Book. comp. Prof. Science Sanzharevsky I.I.. 2010 .


Political science. Dictionary. - RSU. V.N. Konovalov. 2010.

Synonyms:

See what “Absolutism” is in other dictionaries:

    In polit. sense, there is a form of government in which the supreme power is not limited by the constitution. Absolutism was the dominant state form in European continental states during the 17th and 18th centuries... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

    - (from Latin absolvere to untie, resolve, release). 1) in philosophy: the desire for direct contemplation and perception of the unconditional. 2) in politics: a system of unlimited power. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

    This term has other meanings, see Absolutism (meanings). Absolutism (from Latin absolutus unconditional) is a period in the history of Europe when there was an absolute monarchy. Absolute monarchy government system,... ... Wikipedia

    - (unlimited, absolute) monarchy, autocracy, autocracy, autocracy, tsarism Dictionary of Russian synonyms. absolutism see autocracy Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. M.: Russian language... Dictionary of synonyms

    absolutism- a, m. absolutisme m. 1797. Ray 1998. A form of government in which supreme power belongs entirely to an autocratic monarch, an unlimited monarchy. Ozh. 1986. When I noticed in the people with whom I spoke a desire for political freedom without... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

    - (absolute monarchy) a form of feudal state in which the monarch has unlimited supreme power. Under absolutism, the state reaches the highest degree of centralization, an extensive bureaucratic apparatus is created,... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    ABSOLUTISM, a form of unlimited monarchy (absolute monarchy), characteristic of the era of late feudalism. Under absolutism, the state reaches the highest degree of centralization, an extensive bureaucratic apparatus, a standing army and... Modern encyclopedia

    A form of state in some countries of Western Europe and the East in the 16th and 18th centuries, in which the monarch has unlimited supreme power. In a strictly centralized state, an extensive bureaucratic apparatus, a standing army,... ... were created. Historical Dictionary

    ABSOLUTISM, absolutism, many. no, husband (from Latin absolutus independent) (polit.). A state system with unlimited personal supreme power, autocracy. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

    ABSOLUTISM, ah, husband. A form of government in which supreme power belongs entirely to an autocratic monarch, an unlimited monarchy. | adj. absolutist, oh, oh. Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Books

  • State, bureaucracy and absolutism in the history of Russia, Alexandrov M.S.. Alexandrov Mikhail Stepanovich (1863-1933) - leader of the Russian revolutionary movement, Marxist historian and publicist. The study is devoted to the problem of the state and criticism of bourgeois theories...

ABSOLUTISM (French absolutisme from Latin absolutus - unconditional, unlimited) - a form of government in which the supreme power in the country belongs entirely to one person; unlimited monarchy. 

Raizberg B.A. Modern socioeconomic dictionary. M., 2012, p. 7.

ABSOLUTISM (from Latin absolutus - unconditional) - an unlimited monarchy, a despotic form of government based on arbitrariness, in which political power belongs entirely to one person - the monarch. The rise of absolutism in Western Europe- 17-18 centuries, in Russia - 18-19 centuries *.

Brief political dictionary. M., 1988, p. 6.

Notes

* When applied to the history of Russia of the 18th-19th centuries, the correct concept is “ " The term “absolutism” describes only political systems Western European civilization. Political publications of Soviet times tended to confuse these two different concepts.

French absolutism (VI, 1958)

17th century French state, built on the principle of the absolute power of the king, by its class nature was a dictatorship of the nobility. The main purpose of the absolutist state was to protect the feudal system, the feudal economic basis from all anti-feudal forces.

The main anti-feudal force was the peasantry. The strength of peasant resistance grew throughout the late Middle Ages, and only a centralized coercive body - the state - was able to successfully resist it. The urban plebeians were an important ally of the peasants. But only the joining of the bourgeoisie to the popular masses and leadership on its part could turn the spontaneous struggle of anti-feudal forces into a revolution. The most important task absolutism was to prevent the formation of such a bloc of the bourgeoisie, peasantry and plebeians...

Enlightened absolutism

"ENLIGHTENED ABSOLUTISM". History of the Russian absolutist state second half XVI The II century can be divided into two periods: 1) before the peasant war of 1773 - 1775; this period is usually called the period of “enlightened absolutism” and 2) the period of open noble reaction, which especially intensified from 1789-1790 in connection with the revolution in France.

The heyday of “enlightened absolutism” in Russia dates back to the 50-60s of the 18th century. Despite the liberal phrases and demagogic techniques of the autocrats, the social nature of the autocracy under “enlightened absolutism” remained noble. As in many countries of that time - in Austria, Prussia and others - “enlightened absolutism” in Russia was a special form of autocratic policy, characteristic feature which was some adaptation of the policy of the noble state to the requirements of rising capitalism...

Prussian "enlightened absolutism"

In the 18th century, public and political system Prussia was characterized by the same features that had already emerged quite clearly in the second half of the 17th century. Serfdom continued to intensify in the country. The increasing export of agricultural products encouraged landowners to continuously increase the hardships of serfdom. The corvée became more and more difficult; Some of the poorest peasants in some places were transferred to the position of servants, who gave their entire labor to the landowner for providing them with a meager month.

Absolutism in Austria

Austria's failures in two great wars made for ruling circles the obvious urgency of reform. These reforms, carried out during the reign of Maria Theresa (1740 - 1780) and her son Joseph II (1780 - 1790), are very characteristic of the policy of “enlightened absolutism”. As in other countries, “enlightened absolutism” in Austria carried out reforms in the interests of the ruling class of nobles and made only minimal concessions to the rising bourgeoisie. The government sought only to eliminate the most crude feudal institutions that hindered the development of the country. The most important of the activities carried out was military reform, the need for which was felt especially acutely. In 1748, shortly after the end of the first Austro-Prussian war, the country introduced new order military kit...

Absolutism in France (Manfred, 1972)

History of France in the first half of the 16th century. under the three successors of Louis XI - Charles VIII (1483-1498), Louis XII (1498-1515) and Francis I (1515-1547) was the history of the formation of an absolute monarchy in France, the foundation of which was laid by the omnipotence of King Louis XI. The proud edifice of the new monarchy, however, was still far from being completed in all its details.

The monarchy was ruled by a king and his court. The latter was an important political institution of the absolute monarchy. Here there was constant contact between the ruling class and its head - the king. Here, therefore, the main lines of state policy were determined. " Public opinion", that is, the opinion of the nobility, was condensed into the will of the king, who, due to the unique nature of absolutism, was still independent enough to determine the method of implementation decisions made and choose your assistants and executors of this will...

Absolutism (SIE, 1961)

ABSOLUTISM (from the Latin absolutus - independent, unlimited), absolute monarchy, is a form of feudal state characteristic of last period the existence of a feudal formation; in a number of countries, in a modified form, absolutism as a relic of feudalism survived until the 20th century. From a formal legal point of view, absolutism is characterized by the fact that the head of state (king, czar, emperor) is considered as the only source of legislative and executive power, the latter being exercised by officials dependent only on him; the head of state sets taxes and spends the collected money uncontrollably. Absolute monarchy - the most complete form of political centralization in feudal states - creates a powerful and extensive bureaucratic apparatus and the most effective (compared to previous forms of state) means of coercion in the form of a standing army, police, court, fiscal system...

Absolutism in Russia

ABSOLUTISM IN RUSSIA was formed in the late 17th - early 18th centuries (according to A.A. Zimin, N.I. Pavlenko and others - from the mid-17th century). At this time, the role of the nobility increased significantly, the merchant class was formed, the convening of zemstvo councils ceased, the importance of the aristocracy decreased, the order system of government was abolished and noble-bureaucratic institutions were created: the Senate, collegiums, local authorities authorities, the church is subordinate to the state, organized regular army and navy, etc., which led to the transformation of Russia into a bureaucratic-noble monarchy with unlimited power of the emperor.

Predominant number modern states were once subordinate to one person, recognized as the embodiment of divine power on earth, that is, they were monarchies.

Monarchies that gave their ruler unlimited or absolute power contributed greatly to historical progress. They overcame feudal fragmentation, introduced uniform laws, created a strong centralized state with a developed economy, trade and industry, thereby forming a nation.

Absolutism is a type of monarchical regime in which all power in the country, including legislative, executive, judicial, military and in some cases religious, belongs to one person - the monarch. Therefore, this regime is also called an absolute monarchy.

Autocracy is a form of relationship to power based on the unlimited powers of the ruler. Whereas absolutism often has a number of hidden restrictions on the part of the hereditary aristocracy, etc.

An example of autocracy is the despotic monarchies of the Ancient East.

Authoritarianism is a system of government in which power, concentrated in the hands of one person or governing body, is limited to a certain extent. Unlike a monarchical regime, under authoritarianism the ruler is not determined by hereditary principles, but proclaims himself.

Signs of absolutism

The main features characterizing an absolute monarchy include:

  • high degree of centralization of state power;
  • the presence of an extensive bureaucratic apparatus;
  • presence of army and police;
  • the social support of the monarch is the nobility;
  • ideological support - the thesis about the divine origin of the ruler;
  • the possibility of latent restrictions on the power of the monarch:

    • in economics (equality various forms and types of property);
    • V social sphere(structural diversity of society and the privileges of the aristocracy);
    • in ideology (ideological pluralism).

Absolutism in history

Everyone went through absolutism in their development. European states. Each of them had its own characteristics.

This is how the absolute monarchy manifested itself most clearly in France XVII century.

In England, the heyday of absolutism occurred under Elizabeth I (16th century), although it differed significantly from classical definition: the queen shared power with parliament, there was no standing army.

In Germany, due to its territorial fragmentation, absolutism developed not as a unified system for the entire country, but within the framework of individual principalities.

In general, the peak of absolute monarchy in Western Europe occurred in the 17th-18th centuries. Russia lagged behind it by almost two centuries. Absolutism in Russia existed in the form of autocracy, the main distinguishing feature of which was the weakness of the national bourgeoisie.

Modern absolute monarchies

Today there are several states in the world with an absolute monarchy, among them: Bahrain, Brunei, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia in Asia, and the Vatican in Europe.

It is noteworthy that the monarchy in the Vatican is not only absolute, but also theocratic, that is, it is ruled by a clergyman - the Pope. Absolutism in Saudi Arabia Brunei is also characterized by a similar situation.

The Principality of Andorra occupies a special place with its own special regime of government. There, for more than 700 years, the state has been headed by two persons (princes), one of whom, according to tradition, is the ruler of France. Thus, Andorra combines feudal and capitalist features.

Absolutism is a form of government in which supreme power belongs entirely to one person, autocracy, unlimited monarchy.

in a number of countries, in a modified form, absolutism as a relic of feudalism survived until the 20th century. From a formal legal point of view, absolutism is characterized by the fact that the head of state (king, czar, emperor) is considered as the only source of legislative and executive power, the latter being exercised by officials dependent only on him; the head of state sets taxes and spends the collected money uncontrollably. Absolute monarchy - the most complete form of political centralization in feudal states - creates a powerful and extensive bureaucratic apparatus and the most effective (compared to previous forms of state) means of coercion in the form of a standing army, police, court, and fiscal system. An absolute monarchy, like any other form of feudal state, is an organ of subordination and suppression of the working people, primarily the peasantry. Specific feature absolutism is that under absolutism the apparatus of coercion (i.e., the state in the proper sense of the word) acquires apparent independence from the ruling class of the nobility, whose organ it is. The conditions creating such an opportunity appear with the development in the depths of feudal society of elements of capitalist production relations and the emergence of a bourgeoisie, not yet strong enough to lay claim to seizing power, but economically already powerful enough to oppose its interests to the interests of the ruling class of feudal lords. It was during this transition period that an absolute monarchy emerged. Despite the fact that absolutism and its executive bodies played on the contradictions between the nobility and the bourgeoisie, relying first on the first and then on the second, it remained a form of dictatorship of the nobility, which in the changed historical conditions the disintegration of feudalism and the sharp aggravation of the class struggle were forced to be tolerated in the interests of preserving their own. privileges and their position as the ruling class with the need for independence (within certain limits) of the apparatus of state power.

The problem of absolutism attracts great attention historians and government scientists; however, bourgeois historians and lawyers usually focus their main attention on the formal legal features of absolutism (many of them find absolute monarchy wherever there was unlimited monarchical power - in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome during the period of the empire, etc.). In accordance with bourgeois views on the state, there are widespread ideas about the supra-class nature of the absolute monarchy, statements that the absolute monarchy is essentially a bourgeois state, and not a feudal one (in accordance with bourgeois concepts of feudalism as a period of feudal fragmentation). Absolute monarchy first received scientific theoretical consideration in the works and statements of K. Marx, F. Engels, V. I. Lenin (see literature for the article). In the Soviet historical science The problem of absolutism has long been one of the controversial issues. In the 1920s, the concept of M. N. Pokrovsky, who considered absolute monarchy a form of domination of commercial capital, was widely spread. Modern Soviet historians unanimously define the class essence of an absolute monarchy (this is the last form of a feudal state), although there are differences in the approach to the problems of an absolute monarchy in the works of Soviet historians (see the works of S. D. Skazkin and B. F. Porshnev, indicated in the literature to the article). Until recently, absolute monarchy was studied almost exclusively on European material. However, this form of state arose in certain historical conditions and far beyond the borders of Europe, although the development of absolutism in European countries and in the countries of the East has its own characteristics, as well as its development in a particular country. The features of absolute monarchy in the countries of the East have not yet been sufficiently studied in historical science.

The countries where absolutism took the most complete “classical” forms were: in Europe - France, in Asia - Japan. In France, the appearance of some elements of absolutism dates back to the time of Louis XI (1461-1483), the flowering - to the time of Richelieu and especially Louis XIV (1643-1715). Absolute monarchy came here, as in other European countries, to replace class monarchy; estate-representative institutions (the French Estates General, the Spanish Cortes) in the era of absolutism, as a rule, cease to be convened.

The absolute monarchy in the initial period of its existence played a historically progressive role. She put an end to the separatism of the feudal nobility, destroying the remnants political fragmentation, contributed to the unity of large territories, establishing uniform governance in them, which contributed to the economic unity of the country and successful development new, capitalist relations. The absolute monarchy subsidized the development of manufactures, introduced a system of protective duties, pursued a policy of mercantilism, and waged trade wars. Therefore, during this period it was supported by the bourgeoisie, which, in addition, needed an apparatus of violence in the era of the so-called primitive accumulation of capital. However, the absolute monarchy acted to the benefit of the bourgeoisie only insofar as it was in the interests of the ruling class of the nobility, which received from the successful economic development of the country, which at that stage could only be capitalist, additional income from the development of trade and industry, both in the form of taxes (centralized feudal rent ), which increased enormously under absolutism, and directly from the revival of economic life. The absolute monarchy also used economic development to strengthen the military power of the feudal state and carry out military expansion. These features of absolutism, characteristic (with various modifications) of most European countries that have gone through the stage of absolutism, found their most vivid expression in France. Features of English absolutism ( classical period- under Elizabeth Tudor, 1558-1603) were the preservation of parliament, which was used by the royal authorities as a tool to strengthen their power, the weakness of the bureaucratic apparatus in the localities, where local government continued to play a major role, and the absence of a standing army. The main feature of absolutism in Spain (classical period - under Philip II, 1556-1598) was that it did not support the country's industry and trade (did not pursue a policy of protectionism, encouraging the development of manufactories, etc.), thus not , a progressive role and actually degenerated into despotism. In fragmented Germany, absolutism developed belatedly (in the 2nd half of the 17th and 18th centuries) and only within certain territories (princely absolutism). Distinctive Features There was also absolutism in Russia (see below - section Absolutism in Russia). In some countries (Poland) absolutism did not develop at all. In the 18th century, a characteristic form of absolutism in a number of European countries with a relatively slow development of capitalist relations (Austria, Prussia, Russia, Scandinavian countries) was the so-called enlightened absolutism.

In Asian countries, absolutism developed from different forms than in European countries. state forms(there was no class monarchy). Due to the slower development of elements of capitalist relations in most Asian countries, the existence of absolutism here dragged on (in a number of countries it existed until the 20th century, in some it has survived, albeit in a modified form, to this day). Greater stability feudal relations in Asian countries led to the fact that centralization was carried out here less fully, and the emerging local capitalist. elements had less influence on the policies of the absolutist state than in many European countries; at the same time, foreign intervention and the colonial policy of European capitalist powers had a significant influence on the policies of feudal absolutist states in a number of Asian countries. For example, in China, where elements of absolutism arose during the Ming dynasty (especially in the 16th century), the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644-1911), which preserved the feudal system for some time, relied not only on Chinese feudal lords, but also on foreign imperialists. Conservation of the feudal system, reliance not only on large Turkish feudal lords, but also on foreign imperialism were also characteristic of the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909) in Ottoman Empire. Certain features of absolutism (encouragement of manufactures, introduction of protective customs duties, state monopolies) were found in Egypt in the 1st half of the 19th century, especially under Muhammad Ali (1805-1849), but they did not develop due to the penetration of foreign capital into Egypt. In Japan, where absolutism was expressed most clearly (established at the beginning of the 17th century during the Tokugawa era), it was characterized by: the placement of the possessions of feudal lords so that between the lands of large feudal lords there were located the possessions of feudal lords, either directly belonging to the ruling Tokugawa house, or completely dependent on him; the hostage system - the obligation of feudal lords to keep their families in the capital, and to live alternately for a year in their principality, a year in the capital; creating one’s own economic power by concentrating almost a quarter of the country’s entire land fund in the hands of the ruling house; removal of all large trade and craft cities and trade routes from the jurisdiction of the feudal lords and their subordination to the central government; isolation of the country from the outside world.

With the development of the bourgeoisie, the absolute monarchy gradually lost its progressive character and became an institution that delayed further development capitalism and society as a whole. In developed capitalist countries, where early bourgeois revolutions took place, absolutism was destroyed during these revolutions (in England - during bourgeois revolution 17th century, in France - the bourgeois revolution of the late 18th century). In countries of slower capitalist development, the bourgeoisie, in the face of a growing proletariat, made a deal with the feudal-absolutist monarchy (in the revolutions of 1848-1849 in Germany and Austria, in the revolution of 1905-1907 in Russia, etc.) - here a gradual evolution of the feudal-absolutist monarchy took place. an absolutist monarchy into a bourgeois-landowner monarchy; The so-called Meiji Revolution (1867-1868) in Japan, which ended Tokugawa absolutism, but did not eliminate the monarchy and the dominance of feudal elements in the state apparatus, was also incomplete. In Russia, the absolute monarchy was abolished by the February bourgeois-democratic revolution of 1917; The semi-absolutist monarchy in Germany lasted until the bourgeois-democratic November Revolution of 1918. In China, where the struggle against the feudal-absolutist regime of the Qing dynasty was closely intertwined with the struggle for liberation from foreign oppression, the absolute monarchy was destroyed as a result of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911. In Turkey, absolutism was eliminated in 1922, as a result of the national liberation struggle of the Turkish people (the so-called Kemalist Revolution).