Europe's Old Regime to the Cold War: Key Historical Transformations

The Old Regime in Europe

The Old Regime (Antiguo R\u00e9gimen) refers to the political and social order in Europe before the French Revolution of 1789. The international panorama was dominated by continental hegemony, first held by France and later by other states, based on the territorial power inherited in Europe and the vast American empire conquered by Charles I of Spain.

This hegemony was challenged by France and other European monarchies, and Spain faced numerous conflicts and wars. The loss of Spain's hegemony meant the loss of part of its possessions. Continental hegemony passed to France with the reign of Louis XIV, while colonial hegemony was exercised during the 16th century by Portugal and Spain. Along the 17th century, both Dutch Provinces lost their commercial hegemony to Great Britain and France.

Political System of the Old Regime

The political system was an absolute monarchy, the majority of the former political system of the Old Regime. Power was considered divine. Political participation of subjects was merely to approve taxes. Socially, the system was not absolute, and Great Britain was an exception.

The Economy of the Old Regime

The economic base of the Old Regime was agriculture and discoveries, which stimulated the development of crafts and commerce.

• Agrarian activities: Livestock farming and agriculture employed about 80% of the population and were the basis of food production, using rudimentary techniques.
• Artisanal activities: Crafts were concentrated in the manufacture of textiles, metallurgy, and leather. Production was not taken in any urban context, but controlled by the guilds.

In the 17th century, new forms of production emerged: working at home and manufactories.

Internal and External Trade

Internal trade: Held usually in urban locales where merchants exchanged products, and also cattle and crops.

External trade: Large merchants operated in cities and experienced a large increase during the 15th century through geographic discoveries.

A Period of Transformations: The 18th Century International Panorama

The 18th century international context was marked by a balance of continental power and the dislocation of colonial hegemony. The continental balance was established in the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt and the Peace of Rastatt at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession.

The Crown of Great Britain proposed the principle that European powers should maintain balanced forces. Wars did not occur because France and Spain did not seek to recover their former power. In the colonial struggle, Great Britain became the greatest colonial and commercial power in the world.

The French Revolution

Causes:

• Political and ideological: The Enlightenment had given the intellectual basis for ending absolutism.
• Social: Widespread discontent among the nobles and social classes, who lost power as a consequence of the decline of absolutism.
• Economic: Many people had difficulty supporting the expenses of the state and courtiers, military costs, and the influence of the bourgeoisie in politics, which hampered mercantilism.

The peasantry was mostly overwhelmed by taxes and subsistence payments. The revolution was the result of a double crisis: bad harvests and high bread prices led to widespread hunger and discontent.

Consequences of the Industrial Revolution

The changes affected all aspects of life in the countries of Europe. It led to a rise in the level of industrialization, influencing population growth and urbanization. It promoted the expansion and development of capitalism and created a new class society based on wealth, with advances in science and technology.

Socialism and Anarchism

Socialism: Marx and Engels argued for the abolition of private property, causing social division. To achieve it, a revolution under the leadership of the proletariat and a socialist party was required.

Anarchism: Proudhon and Bakunin aimed to achieve maximum individual freedom, opposing everything that limited it: the state, the church, and others.

The Political Crisis of the Old Regime

The War of Independence

Invading forces were resisted by guerrillas who surprised the enemy in the field. Amid the resistance of Girona, Zaragoza, and Valencia, and the Battle of Bail\u00e9n (1808), Napoleon's situation grew critical. On the front in Spain, Spanish soldiers, with help from the British army, defeated the French at Arapiles.

Goya: Painter of His Era

From 1774 to 1792, Goya painted cartoons for tapestries in factories. During this period, he became a famous portraitist and an illustrator of the Enlightenment. In 1789 he became painter to King Charles IV and painted the magnificent family portrait of Charles IV, as well as the portrait of the Duke of Wellington.

During the first part of the reign of Ferdinand VII, Goya painted the Third of May 1808 shootings in Madrid, when the war was at its height at home. His final years were spent in exile in France as an afrancesado.

Main Causes of World War I

Territorial claims over Alsace and Lorraine, the rivalry between Germany and France, Russia and Austria-Hungary vying for expansion in the Balkans, and the nationalist aspirations of the peoples of the Mediterranean were key conflicts. Different nationalities clashed, forming part of great empires.

Economic rivalries increased with the industrial growth of Germany, considered the first British economy and France. The arms race intensified during an armed peace, with the training of large military systems, the Triple Alliance, and the Triple Entente.

Phases of the War

The first four years (1914-18): Germany attempted a quick victory over France in the first offensive, concentrating forces to defeat Russia.

Trench warfare: The front stabilized along the trenches.

Changes in 1917: Russia withdrew from the war after the Bolshevik Revolution, allowing Germany to concentrate against France. The United States backed the Allies after German submarine attacks on transatlantic shipping.

The final war: An offensive by the Allies on all fronts caused the progressive collapse of the Central Empires.

The Primo de Rivera Dictatorship

In the first phase, the government suspended the Constitution of 1876, dissolved the Cortes, prohibited political parties, repressed the workers' movement, and launched the landing at Al Hoceima in Morocco. In the second phase, a civil directorate was formed, with agriculture and construction gaining momentum and major railway projects. Primo de Rivera resigned in 1930 in an attempt to restore the prestige of the parliamentary system, but the monarchy was discredited, and Alfonso XIII left the country.

The Second Republic (1931-36)

After Alfonso XIII went into exile on 14 April 1931, the Second Republic was proclaimed. A provisional government was formed, convoking elections to Constituent Cortes, in which most parties of the left, socialists, and republicans participated.

The Constitution of 1931 contained a broad declaration of rights, popular sovereignty, universal suffrage, a division of powers, autonomy for the regions, and the separation of church and state.

The Reformist Biennium (1931-33)

The government of Manuel Aza\u00f1a carried out reforms of the army, the Church, and the state. To end centralism, Catalonia obtained its Statute of Autonomy, while the Basque Country and Galicia pursued their own autonomy statutes. Social reform aimed to improve working conditions, including a 40-hour workweek and increased wages.

The Spanish Civil War

The military uprising aimed to take Madrid and was directed against the Republic. After the setbacks at the Jarama and Guadalajara, the plans changed. The war was displaced to the Mediterranean, and the Republican zone was split in two after the Cantabrian campaign. The Republic launched the Ebro offensive in Catalonia, but was defeated. Surrender followed, and the Republican areas fell in 1939, leaving Franco to govern the country.

The Cold War

Characteristics: From 1947 to 1991, the relationship between East and West was marked by tension: military, diplomatic, ideological, and permanent. It led to defensive military alliances, the creation of large arsenals, and economic cooperation instruments.

Berlin was divided into four occupation zones. The Soviets controlled their areas, while the Western Allies sought to unify their zones. Stalin blocked Western access to the city. In Korea, after Japan's defeat in World War II, the country was divided into Soviet and American control. In 1950, the North invaded the South, sparking a war that ended in 1953 with the reestablishment of the prewar border.