Evolution of the Old Regime and Industrial Revolution
The Old Regime: Economy and Society
Agricultural Economy and Stately Property
The agricultural economy was characterized by stately property linked to territorial members (reserves and hamlets) and manor rights (territorial and jurisdictional). It featured backward agriculture using archaic techniques and polyculture, leading to insufficient production, self-sufficiency, and subsistence crises such as bread riots.
The stagnant population faced high mortality and high birth rates, resulting in low life expectancy and demographic crises. Traditional industry relied on handicraft through unions, domestic systems, and manufacturing. Transportation was insufficient, with poor roads, limited river and sea navigation, and low speed and load capacity. Trade was limited to local and regional markets, though colonial trade overseas fostered the development of commercial capitalism.
Social Structure and Monarchical Absolutism
The class society was divided into:
- Privileged: Nobility (court, provinces, toga) and clergy (high and low).
- Non-privileged: Bourgeoisie, peasantry, and urban working classes.
Monarchical absolutism was based on divine right monarchy and the concentration of absolute, unlimited power. However, there were limits on royal power, including divine law, natural rights, fundamental laws, and parliament. Early parliamentarism emerged in England (Parliament, Habeas Corpus) and the U.S. (Constitution, Bill of Rights).
The Enlightenment and the Crisis of the Old Regime
The Enlightenment introduced a new way of understanding the world through faith in reason, the idea of progress, and deism. It offered a critique of the Old Regime, advocating for:
- Separation of powers (Montesquieu)
- National sovereignty and the social contract (Rousseau)
- Social mobility based on merit
- Freedom of conscience and tolerance
In economics, physiocracy emerged in opposition to mercantilism, laying the foundations of economic liberalism and enlightened despotism.
The Industrial Revolution and Demographic Change
Agricultural and Demographic Revolutions
The agricultural revolution introduced new tillage systems (Norfolk), new machinery, and changes in land ownership, which increased food production and led to a rural exodus. This triggered a demographic revolution, characterized by a subsequent decline in birth rates, decreasing mortality, and increasing life expectancy.
The Development of Industry and Transportation
The factory system introduced mechanization, concentrating workers in factories. New energy sources like hydro and steam (coal) powered the steam engine, increasing production and lowering prices. Key industries included cotton textiles, coal, steel, metallurgy, and chemicals. New systems of transportation, such as the rail and steamship, expanded both international and domestic markets.
Economic Liberalism and the Rise of Capitalism
Capitalism and Economic Doctrine
Economic liberalism posits that the individual seeks maximum profits, the market regulates itself, and the state should not intervene in the economy. The capitalist economic system is defined by private ownership of the means of production, competition between companies, a trend towards concentration (corporations), periodic crises, and the tension between free trade and protectionism.
The Emergence of Industrial Society
Industrial society led to rapid urbanization, rural exodus, and urban growth with segregation by neighborhoods. A new class society emerged, dominated by the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. This era saw the triumph of bourgeois values and social differentiation based on gender.