The Bourgeois Revolution: Europe's Shift to Capitalism

What Was the Bourgeois Revolution?

The Early Modern Age (16th to 18th centuries) is considered a period of transition to capitalism and the start of commercial capitalism. During this time, a new social class emerged: the bourgeoisie. This was also the period of absolutism, where power was concentrated in the hands of a monarch or king.

The fact that the bourgeoisie held economic power but could not attain political power led to the age of revolutions in Europe.

Defining the Bourgeois Revolution

The bourgeois revolution is a violent process through which a country transitions from a feudal economic system and an absolutist political system to a capitalist economy and society. In this process, all obstacles to the development of capitalism are destroyed, creating a bourgeois state.

The Enlightenment: Political Roots of the Revolution

The bourgeois revolution has its ideological roots in the Enlightenment, an intellectual and philosophical movement in 18th-century Europe. Enlightenment thinkers formulated theories that questioned the existing political and social order. Some of the most important thinkers were:

• Montesquieu

  He wrote The Spirit of the Laws. He admired the English parliamentary system and developed one of the most important ideas in modern political thought: the separation of powers, which today is the model for the governance of democratic states. To avoid the concentration of power in one person or group and prevent tyranny, he proposed three different, independent powers:

  1. The Executive Power: The head of state.
  2. The Legislative Power: Represented by the parliament, which makes laws.
  3. The Judicial Power: Represented by the courts, which ensure that the law is applied.

• Rousseau

  He defended direct democracy and did not agree with the separation of powers. His ideas of freedom comprised only men, as he held reactionary views on women. He was later criticized by an early English feminist.

• Locke

  He was a defender of liberal democracy and individual rights. He believed in limiting and controlling power. He also believed that women were equal or nearly equal to men.