The classical world was influenced by ideas about the city-state as the largest political unit into which people could be organized. Even the Roman Empire was only an extension of the city-state of Rome. Anyone who became a citizen of the city became a citizen of Rome, no matter where he lived. In the Middle Ages, the concept of political, not just spiritual unity dominated, and in theory, all people were united in New Rome - the Holy Roman Empire. In practice, however, it was feudalism with all its decentralization that ensured well-being and order in chaotic periods. The revival of cities during the pre-sessian era led to the emergence of strong city-states in Italy, but the future in Europe was for the nation-state as a form of political organization. England, France and Spain became pioneers in the development of such nation states. Development in England went along the lines of a constitutional monarchy, in which sovereignty was divided between the monarch and parliament. The institutions in which the peoples of France and Spain were represented never reached such strength as the parliament in England, and France and Spain developed as centralized nation-states, where the king’s power was absolute. As cities grew and trade flourished, a middle class emerged, and he wanted to occupy a worthy position in political and religious life.
2.1. The emergence of the English nation state
The English parliament was formed from the feudal assembly, known as “Curia Regis” (“Royal Curia”), which appeared in England under the rule of William the Conqueror after his successful conquest of England in 1066.
It was an assembly of feudal lords, serving as the highest court and acting as the deliberative vote of the king, and also providing money when the king asked for more than the feudal lords gave him. Her power was strengthened by the signing of the Great Charter by John in 1215. John agreed not to levy new taxes without the consent of the curiae and allowed the barons to oppose him if he violated this charter. Judicial justice was envisaged, and people were given the right to sue by representatives of their own class. Although this document favored only the class of feudal lords of that time, he introduced the principles by which the ruler was limited by law, and taxes could be withdrawn only with the consent of those with whom they were levied. In 1295, Edward I convened a “Modal Parliament”, which was attended by representatives of all counties and cities, and not just feudal lords and leaders of the clergy. The first two groups formed the House of Commons, and the second two eventually formed the House of Lords. During the 14th century, the king’s need for money led to the development of legislative law of the parliament, as members of the parliament did not give the king the desired income until he signed their petitions or bills, which later became law.
The representative parliament, to which the king's ministers were accountable, was only one of the foundations of the English constitutional monarchy. In, the reign of Henry II appeared General Law, which protected individual freedom better than Roman law, and a legal system was developed.
The one-hundred-year war with France (1337–1453) strengthened the British national pride when, firstly, the English Yeomen archers found that the arrows of their long bows could hit the French knights on horseback, and secondly, the final loss of territories that left France, inclined the upper and middle classes to the formation of national unity. The war of the Red and White Roses in the third quarter of the 15th century led to the elimination of the old feudal nobility and made possible the union between the king and the middle class in the state. The middle class, in exchange for order and security, generously provided money and power to the rulers. The freedom of parliament of the 15th century gave way to the hidden despotism of the Tudors, who ruled the state in the image of Machiavelli in the 16th century. However, they did not abandon parliament, for he supported their actions.
2.2. The emergence of the French national state
The French national state encountered obstacles at the time of its occurrence: the English monarchs ruled over most of France and the high feudal nobility did not submit to the French king, who owned only the lands around Paris. France had neither national unity of subjects, nor a single geographical relief, which led to provincialism, division into provinces. Despite these problems, the Capet dynasty of rulers in Paris, starting with Hugo Capet in 987, was able to unite France. The general states, the French parliament, were never as powerful as the English parliament, and the monarch, therefore, was more absolute in his administration of the state. Able rulers and hatred of the enemy - England during the Hundred Years War contributed much to the unification of France. This war also gave France its national heroine Joan of Arc.
2.3. The emergence of the Spanish national state
The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon with Isabella of Castile in 1469 helped unite Spain. The development of the Spanish national state was religious in nature as a result of the struggle for the liberation of the Iberian Peninsula from Muslims. The Crusade, known as the Reconquista, peaked in the 11th century. Roman Catholic faith and nationalism became allies in Spain, and the absolutism of the Roman Church went in parallel with the political system of absolutism of the ruler. This was manifested in the Spanish Inquisition, led by Torquemada, in which more than ten thousand people were executed, and Ximen, in which 2500 people were executed.
Nation-states became opposition to the Roman Catholic Church, especially in France and England, where monarchs and a powerful middle class opposed the outflow of money from the state treasury or from their own wallets to the treasury of the papacy. The nobles complained that the Roman Church owns so much land. Kings did not want to share power over their subjects with the pope. Church courts, which had jurisdiction over the clergy, acted contrary to the royal court system, and appeals to the papal court were particularly challenging. It is good to remember that in about 1300 the powerful rulers of England and France defeated Boniface VIII's attempts to take control of the clergy of their states and that France, in the “Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges” in 1438, insisted that the Roman Church in France be ruled by a French ruler. England in two statutes of 1351 and 1353 respectively forbade the pope to appoint people to vacant positions in the English Church without the consent of the local clergy and the approval of the king and forbade the appeal from the courts of England to the papal court. This tendency to reject church intervention in state affairs was an external force that helped the Protestants when they appeared on the scene.
It should be noted that the rulers of Europe would never have been able to successfully fight the papacy, if not for the support of the prosperous middle class created by trade, which was accompanied by the revival of cities after 1200. Merchants of the middle class cities and the prosperous middle class landowners supported the kings in their opposition to papal rule over their lands. The sovereignty was most likely rulers of nation states than the pope.
Strengthening Royal Power
The first large nation-states united by the power of a single monarch formed France, England and Spain. The ways to overcome feudal fragmentation in them differed. At the same time, in each of these countries some similar features of socio-economic and socio-political development appeared.
The most important prerequisite for the strengthening of central authority was the expansion of domains - land holdings owned personally by the king. This allowed him to earn significant income and maintain a large army, which reduced the degree of dependence of the royal court on the largest feudal lords.
The growth of royal possessions occurred due to dynastic marriages, confiscation of land on charges of their owners of heresy or violation of the vassal oath.
After the struggle against the so-called Albiguian heresy, which became widespread in the south of France, Louis VIII annexed the county of Toulouse to his possessions in 1229. In 1312, at the insistence of the king of France Philip IV The Opden Templars, accused of heresy, were dissolved. His land and property also passed to the crown.
In England, after it was conquered by knights from Normandy in 1066, the Duke Wilhelm, who became the King of England, passed the lands of the Anglo-Saxon nobility, who resisted him. In the XI century, the royal domain covered 1/7 of all the country's lands.
A certain role in centralizing the lands was played by the "black death" - the plague epidemic that hit upon Europe in the XIII - XIV centuries. Its population decreased by a third (in some areas - even half). Many lands lost their owners, emptied and ceased to be cultivated. This also contributed to their redistribution in favor of the central government. In France, the royal domen at the beginning of the 14th century was already 3/4 of the country's territory.
Gradually, a new management system was developed for expanding royal lands. The practice of transferring them to the subjects of kings "for service" has ceased. The principle of inalienability of the domain was adopted, i.e., royal estates could not be divided between several heirs of the monarch. The formation of a stratum of administrators, officials, judges serving in the king's office (not all of them came from the aristocracy), who received their duties payment. Subsequently, they formed the backbone of the apparatus of government, not associated with the feudal nobility and personally loyal to the monarch.
Significantly complicated social relations in society. With the growth of cities, handicraft production and trade, merchant guilds and workshops arose, uniting artisans on a professional basis. With the development of skill, the number of workshops increased. In Paris from the 13th to the 14th century their number increased from 100 to 350.
The main goal of creating the workshops was mutual support, protection of common interests, production secrets, and the fight against competitors. The charters of the workshops, for example, allowed only their members to engage in relevant types of craft. They determined the wages of apprentices, the number of products, and the time of work. The order of trade was also strictly regulated by guilds. Inside workshops and merchant guilds one city competition was excluded; they acted in concert. The top merchants and guild masters began to have a decisive influence on the management of cities.
The growth of the wealth of cities and the organization of the townspeople led to an aggravation of the confrontation between them and the feudal lords, who tried to maintain their power and, most importantly, the ability to tax citizens with increased taxes. Kings in this situation acted as arbiters in the conflicts that arose, increasing their influence. However, often the interests of the townspeople pushed them to confront the royal power.
In 1302, the inhabitants of the city of Bruges (Flanders) defeated the French garrison, the city militia at the Battle of Kurtre defeated the royal army. In 1306, the inhabitants of Paris revolted, indignant at the issue of coins with a low content of precious metals. King Philip IV had to seek protection from the Knights of the Knights Templar. subsequently defeated by him.
Establishment of mission representative offices
The concentration of land, wealth and power in the hands of the monarchs was often ensured by methods of violence and coercion. However, they were not predominant. The central authority of England, France and Spain XIII - XIV centuries. needed the support of large landowners. city \u200b\u200bdwellers and clergy. This contributed to the emergence of options for estate representation (the Cortes in Spain, the Parliament in England, the General States in France), influencing the policy of the monarchs.
So, in Spain, the kingdoms of Leon, Castile and Aragón (in 1137 they entered into a union, and finally unified only in 1479), who managed to avoid the Arab conquest in the VIII century, for more than 500 years, carried out the Reconquista - the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula Muslims (Moors). It was completed only in 1492 with the capture of General.
From the 11th century, the kings of Leon and Castile convened assemblies with the participation of ecclesiastical and secular nobility, coordinating with it legislative changes, tax policies, and plans of the Pekonkista. In 1188, Leon began to take into account the opinions of citizens. Since the 13th century, missions of estate representatives (cortes), divided into three chambers - representatives of the clergy, nobility, townspeople and wealthy peasants - gathered regularly.
In England, the establishment of estate representation became possible only after a long confrontation between the king and the nobility. Under John, called the Landless (reigned 1199-1216), high taxes, confiscation of land in favor of the crown, unsuccessful wars, the conflict of the king with the pope, who excommunicated him churches, caused a riot of barons and townspeople. The king was forced to yield to the barons and in 1215 signed the Magna Carta. It guaranteed the right of the barons to a fair and independent court of equal title, forbade the king arbitrarily, without the consent of the “general council of the kingdom," representing the feudal nobility, to violate the liberties of the cities, to raise taxes.
The king’s refusal to comply with the Charter led to civil war 1263-1267, which ended in a compromise. The royal authorities had to come to terms with the creation of an agent of a representative office - the parliament. Its upper chamber consisted of barons invited by the king and representatives of the higher clergy, two deputies from major cities and counties were elected to the lower one. The introduction of new taxes and the adoption of laws now required the consent of parliament, which itself could also take the initiative to amend the law.
In France, in the middle of the XIII century, there were also avenues of conditional representation (assemblies of barons of individual counties, provincial clergy meetings, etc.). At the national level, the need for a meeting of representatives of all classes appeared in 1302, when Pope Boniface VIII excommunicated King Philip IV from the church for refusing to abolish taxation of the clergy.
The general states consisted of three chambers representing the clergy, the nobility and the townspeople (two representatives from each city). A significant part of the clergy and nobility was not elected, but was invited by the king. The chambers sat separately and were considered equal, for the adoption of a decision it was necessary the unanimity of all the chambers.
With the support of most of the chambers, the king succeeded in condemning the pope as a heretic. After the death of Boniface VIII, the French bishop Clement V was elected to the papal throne, who in 1309 transferred his residence from Rome to Avignon, to the territory of France.
In France, unlike England, the general states did not become a permanent operative, they were convened by the king only in those cases when he needed to enlist the support of the main estates.
Hundred Years War, Peasant Uprising and National Identity
War 1337-1453gg. between England and France, which went down in history as the Centennial, began after the death of King Capel IV of France (reigned 1322-1328). He did not leave a male heir. Taking advantage of this, King Edward III of England (reigned 1327–1377), son of Charles IV’s sister Isabella, made a claim to the French throne. This requirement was rejected on the grounds that laws in France exclude female land inheritance. King of France was the cousin of Charles IV - Philip VI of Valois (reigned in 1328-1350).
A related quarrel grew into a war in which most of the monarchs of Europe took part. She went unsuccessfully for France.
The English army, better trained, strong with its archers, in 1346 inflicted a heavy defeat on the French knights at the Battle of Crescy. In 1356, the color of French chivalry perished in the battle of Poitiers, and the king of France was captured. For his release, the British demanded a huge ransom.
Battles alternated with lulls in hostilities, ceasefires, which lasted for years. Nevertheless, a war that demanded the exertion of all the forces of both major European states. exacerbated the contradictions inherent in medieval feudal society.
The hardships of the war in the form of additional taxes and new duties fell on the townspeople and especially the peasantry, the situation of which had already worsened significantly after the devastating plague epidemics. The number of free peasant farms was declining. Due to the death of many workers, it became more difficult to bear the burden of duties, especially to work on corvee, on the lands of feudal lords. Debts of peasants increased.
Northern France was swept by a peasant uprising. Called by Jacquerie, (“Jacques” in France is a name as common among peasants as “Ivan” in Russia.) The rebels, joined by the poorest citizens, destroyed the feudal lords' castles. destroyed documents on debts and obligations. They wanted to live without feudal lords and officials, under the rule of the “good” king. Only by tricking the leaders of the peasant army, the royal troops in 1358 were able to defeat it. Many areas of France and in subsequent decades became the scene of peasant unrest.
In England, in response to a tax increase in 1381, a peasant uprising led by W. Tyler also broke out in the counties of Essex and Kent. The rebels occupied London and presented their demands to the king - the equality of rights of all classes, the restoration of communal land tenure, the division of church lands.
During the negotiations, W. Tyler was killed. The peasant troops left without a leader were defeated by knights. However, the uprising was not without consequences.
The discontent of the peasants forced the authorities in England to reduce taxes. Many feudal lords ceased to force peasants to work out corvee. They began to lease their land. This increased the interest of peasants in the results of their labor. The growth of its productivity was also provided due to innovations - irrigation, construction of mills, breweries. The "new nobles," or the gentry, as they were called in England, received much more income from their lands than the old nobility avoiding change.
The contradictions between the central royal authority and the local nobility intensified. In France, part of the nobility, including the duke of Burgundy, who owned vast lands, recognized the king of England as his monarch. There was no question of any betrayal of the interests of France by the aristocracy. The ruling dynasty in England itself came from the dukes of Normandy (territory of France). In London, the nobility spoke French and Latin. English was the language of the common people. Such concepts as the interests of the country and its people did not exist in the initial period of the Hundred Years War. The interest of the country was identified with the interest of the dynasty, of which its inhabitants were slammed.
The situation began to change only at the final stage of the war. With the capture of the greater part of France by the British, the distribution of the lands of the French crown of the English nobility began, new taxes were introduced, the troops of the conquerors of the settlement.
Under these conditions, the peasantry, the petty nobility, the townspeople began to resist the British. Militia units arose that recognized the legitimate ruler of the French prince Charles. The hero of this time was Joan of Arc, who was convinced that God had entrusted her with the task of saving France.
According to a widespread legend, Jeanne was a simple peasant woman from Orleans, in whose mission Prince Charles believed. However, the surviving documents prove that the d'Arc family belonged to a poor feudal nobility, chivalry. According to the French historian R. Ambelen, Jeanne was probably just the illegitimate sister of Carl. It is hard to believe that the applicant for the throne entrusted the command of the army to a girl from the people or lower strata of the nobility.
The troops led and inspired by the "Orleans maiden" succeeded in 1428-1430. turning the tide of the war, defeating the British, Charles VII was crowned in Reims and was recognized as the legitimate king of France. In 1435, the Duke of Burgundy broke ties with the British and entered into an alliance with him. In 1453, the Hundred Years War ended. England lost most their possessions in France.
Having captivated Jeanne d'Arc, the Burgundians handed it over to the British. Jeanne was accused of witchcraft and in 1431 burned on the central square of Rouen.
The main result of the Hundred Years War was the appearance on the map of Europe of the first large, multinational state in its history, united not only by the community of faith and power of one monarch, but also by the awareness of its subjects as belonging to the same people who speak the same language.
In conditions of war, a rise in national self-consciousness was outlined in England. Since 1362 English began to be used in parliamentary debates, litigations. The nobility, connected by kinship and descent with France, the duchy of Normandy, was weakened by the defeat in the Hundred Years War and the feud that began after the defeat. It lasted several decades and went down in history as the Scarlet and White Rose War, in the color of the coats of arms of rival dynasties. With the accession of the Tudor dynasty (1485-1603), England, like France, finally established itself as a large, centralized state.
Feudal fragmentation in Central Europe
While in Western Europe large mono-ethnic monarchies took shape, in Central Europe the lands of Germany and Italy became more and more divided.
The long struggle between popes and emperors weakened both secular and spiritual power. Emperors could feel confident only with the support of other secular rulers - dynasties ruling the numerous kingdoms, duchies, counties that were part of the Holy Roman empire German nation, as well as free cities.
On the territory of the empire there were more than three hundred small goksidstvenny formations, the most significant of which were Austria, the Czech Republic, Saxony, Bavaria and Brandenburg. The cities played a special role, the largest union of free cities was the Hanseatic, it existed from the 12th to the 17th centuries.
During its heyday, this union included 160 cities.
The Rhine and Swabian unions included about 50 cities. Often there were wars between imperial princes and cities. They repeatedly opposed the emperors, declaring them displaced. In the XIV century, under Emperor Charles IV (reigned in 1Z46-1Z78), an attempt was made to streamline the state of affairs in the empire. According to his published “Golden Bull”, the king of Germany was elected spiritual and secular rulers by a majority of votes. With the approval of his father, he became emperor. In the fourteenth century, a representative group formed - the Reichstag, which included representatives of the imperial nobility, clergy and cities. It was an exclusively deliberative organization that did not have real power.
The emperors (from the fifteenth century it was the Austrian Habsburg dynasty) had neither a general imperial treasury nor a court. When conflicts arose, they depended on the support of German monarchs and cities. The weakness of the empire led to the fact that the formally included lands gradually came under the control of neighboring state governments. Denmark in the fifteenth century captured Schleswig and Holstein, France took Provence from the empire. Hungary annexed part of the Habsburg possessions.
On the whole, no nucleus emerged on German lands, which could have resulted in a strong, integral state formation. The same situation has developed on Italian lands, divided between the pope, secular sovereigns and city-states.
Questions and Tasks
1. Indicate the prerequisites for the strengthening of royal power in the XIII-XIV centuries. How has government management changed?
2. What factors of an economic and political nature contributed to the process of land centralization?
3. Fill in the table:
Table Opsana estate representation
| A country | Name of Opana | Structure | Legal status |
Make a conclusion about why the kings needed the support of estates.
4. Indicate the causes and consequences of the Hundred Years War. How has the war affected the development of society in England and in France?
5. Why in the territory Central Europe feudal fragmentation has not been overcome? What policies did the German emperors pursue?
The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the emergence of nation states in Central and Eastern Europe: Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia.
World War to the limit exacerbated social and national contradictions in Austria-Hungary. The struggle for the national liberation of Czechs, Slovaks, Croats and others was closely intertwined with the broad anti-war democratic movement and the workers' struggle for their rights. Unprecedented earlier, peasant uprisings against the dominance of the landlords in the countryside gained scope.
The collapse of Austria-Hungary, accelerated by the defeat in the war, the massive desertion of soldiers from the army (as a form of national and anti-war protest) coincided with the beginning of the bourgeois-democratic revolution, the first result of which was the overthrow of the Habsburg monarchical power.
In October 1918 there was a national definition of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Prague and Slovak National Committees announced the creation of the first independent state of the Czech Republic, and then the entry of independent Slovakia into a single Czechoslovak state. Convened on the basis of a provincial council, the People's Chamber, under the pressure of revolutionary popular uprisings, announced the separation of all South Slavic provinces from Austria-Hungary and proclaimed the independent Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (from 1929 - Yugoslavia), which included Montenegro, Serbia, part of Macedonia, Herzegovina, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Vojvodina, Dolmatia. The revolution in front of our eyes changed the political-geographical map of Europe. In November 1918, a republic was proclaimed in Hungary, then in Austria.
The victory of the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia created the prerequisites for the independence of Poland. By a decree of August 24, 1918, which proclaimed the right of peoples to self-determination, the Polish people recognized the inalienable right to self-determination and unity, which led to the creation of an independent Polish Republic.
When considering the political processes that took place in the first half of the XX century. in Eastern and Central European countries, it is necessary to take into account the fact that these processes were formed on the basis of authoritarian regimes of three empires: the Austro-Hungarian, German and Russian, under the rule of a special type of political culture, the ideal of which was a strong uncontrolled power that did not recognize or hardly recognizing democratic rights and freedoms.
With the possible exception of Czechoslovakia, here, as in Western Europe (as a result of previous bourgeois revolutions and subsequent political changes of the 19th century), liberal democratic ideology did not establish itself, a stable party system, a politically mature electorate did not take shape. This directly affected the fact that as a result of short-term democratic shifts in the 1920s, authoritarian or military-authoritarian regimes subsequently revived in these countries that lasted until the Second World War.
The democratization of state power, antifeudal transformations in the countryside in the 20s. found a partial solution in all these countries in social, economic and political reforms, the depth of which depended on a number of factors: the balance of social and political forces, the level of development of democratic, antifeudal and other social movements, the nature of pre-war regimes, the degree of direct influence of external circumstances, etc. In Hungary and Slovakia, for example, under the influence of the October Revolution in Russia, even Soviet power and revolutionary governments were established for a short time, industrialization was nationalized. s.
Democratic reforms have become the legislative basis for the adoption of constitutions in Eastern European countries. For example, the constitutional self-determination of the Czechoslovak Republic began with the approval in November 1918 of the Provisional Constitution, which contained provisions on the highest elected by universal suffrage, the legislature - the National Assembly, on the head of state - the president, on the government, as well as on the "temporary abandonment of all previously existing zemstvo and imperial laws." Subsequent legislative acts established the Supreme Court, 12 departments, ministries, and the Higher Administrative Court.
The 1920 constitution enshrined a parliamentary system based on the principle of separation of powers, according to which legislative power was entrusted to a bicameral parliament - the National Assembly, executive power - to the president and government (Council of Ministers), and judicial - to independent judges led by the Supreme Court.
The new constitutional laws in Czechoslovakia, as well as in other East European countries, were affected to one degree or another by the influence of the constitutions of other bourgeois countries that were in force at that time. In the Czechoslovak Constitution, the influence of the American constitution was manifested, for example, in the provision on the right of constitutional control assigned to the Constitutional Court specially established for this purpose, the influence of the Austrian Constitution in the provision on the Standing Committee, which was entrusted with the right to legislate between parliamentary sessions. Following the example of the Swiss Constitution, under the Constitution of Czechoslovakia, the president’s rights (for all their breadth) were limited to a certain extent to the parliament accountable to the government, which owned the right of legislative initiative. The president could return the law to parliament for revision with his comments.
The 1920 Constitution contained a list of democratic rights and freedoms: the right to elect and be elected by all citizens who reached the appropriate age (except military personnel), freedom of speech, press, assembly, conscience, which, however, were subject to significant restrictions in the event of a "state of siege".
The revival of the Polish state was legislatively enshrined first in the so-called Small Constitution, adopted in 1919, characteristic feature which is reflected in the norms on concentration of power in the hands of the Constituent Seimas and the "head of state." He became Yu. Pilsudsky, who, according to the Constitution, is the executor of decisions of the Sejm, but who has taken command of the army.
The Constituent Seimas, whose term of office was not limited, designed to develop the country's Basic Law, passed laws, agreed to appoint the government head of state who were responsible for their activities to the sejm.
The Constitution, which was then adopted by the Sejm in March 1921, was called the March Constitution. In the preamble of this Constitution, "gratitude to providence for liberation from one and a half centuries of oppression" was offered. The main principles of the Constitution were: the principle of representative democracy, separation of powers, responsible to the parliament of the government, as well as the principle of continuity of the "bright traditions" of the Polish state and its "homogeneity", that is, the unitary form of government. Legislative power was entrusted to a bicameral parliament consisting of a diet and a senate. The legislative powers of the Senate, however, were limited, he had the right only to amend the laws adopted by the Sejm, which could be rejected during the secondary discussion of the bill in the Saeima 1/20 of the vote.
The President of the Republic as the head of state represented the Republic of Poland in international affairs, appointed (taking into account the position of the majority of the Sejm) and dismissed the government. He had the right, with the consent of the Sejm, to declare war and conclude peace, to convene and dissolve the Sejm (with the consent of 3/5 members of the Senate), to appoint senior officials, to issue executive orders and decrees. For all the breadth of these powers (the president was responsible only for treason, violation of the Constitution and a criminal offense), he, however, had to act within certain democratic frameworks, which were established not only by the Sejm and the Senate, but also by the government. The Prime Minister under the Constitution had such an important power as the counter-signaling of acts of the president.
Section V of the Constitution of 1921 was devoted to "General Responsibilities and Rights of Citizens." The traditional list of democratic rights and freedoms was supplemented by some social rights: the right to protection of labor and motherhood (especially the labor of minors and women), the right to social security, the right to free education in schools, etc. Moreover, guarantees for the exercise of these rights should have been fixed in the current legislation that was either late or at variance in its content with constitutional norms.
Not so radical were the democratic changes in other countries. The new constitutional laws of Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Romania introduced democratic changes mainly in the electoral law, proclaimed a number of democratic rights and freedoms, but retained a monarchical form of government. In the Wittowan Constitution of Yugoslavia of 1921 (it was adopted on St. Witt's Day), the provisions on the significant powers of the king and on the deprivation of women's suffrage were an obvious anachronism. The Romanian Constitution of 1923 was not much different from the old Constitution of 1866. By consolidating the monarchical form of government, it left the landowner tenure virtually untouched, while preserving the privileges of the nobility.
The Constitution of Romania, formally enshrining the principle of popular sovereignty, defined Romania as a "constitutional monarchical state." According to Art. 34 of the Constitution, the legislative power in the country was exercised by the king and national representation in the person of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The Chamber of Deputies was elected on the basis of a high age qualification - 21 years for voters and 25 years for voters. The age limit for senators increased to 40 years. Moreover, the senate consisted not only of elected senators, but also senators "by right." Elections were held in colleges (members of the "chambers of commerce, industry, labor, agriculture", universities) and in districts. Senators "by right" became persons "occupying a high position in the state and the church": members of the royal family, metropolitans, bishops, generals, former prime ministers, chairmen of the chambers of higher courts, etc. (Articles 72, 73).
The constitution entrusted great powers to the hereditary king, who appointed and dismissed the ministers, approved and promulgated laws, had the right to cancel and mitigate punishment in criminal cases, to issue decrees "necessary for the enforcement of laws," etc.
The authoritarian character of the Constitution could not be changed either by the civil rights and freedoms formally enshrined in it, modeled on Western democratic constitutions: words, unions, the press, provisions on criminal procedural guarantees, and jury trials. These rights were actually crossed out by the introduction in 1923 of a repressive law on the protection of the state, a state of emergency systematically introduced in the pre-war years, etc. In the context of growing social tension, the movement of national minorities for their rights, in order to ensure a strong majority in parliament in 1926 a new anti-democratic electoral law is introduced, which provides the party with the majority of votes in the election, the absolute majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
Along with democratic transformations in the state sphere, agrarian reforms were carried out everywhere, which, however, were half-hearted, did not affect substantially large land tenure and did not solve the problems of the landless peasantry.
According to the Law on Agrarian Reform of 1919 in Czechoslovakia, the state acquired the right to purchase surplus land for redemption so that farmers left an average of 250 to 500 hectares, but the procedure for transferring land to peasants was not provided.
In the Serbian-Croatian-Slovenian state, only the lands of the Habsburgs, Austrian and Hungarian landowners were completely alienated. Surpluses (in excess of 150-400 hectares of land in Croatia, 150-400 hectares in Vojvodina) were to be handed over by landowners for large compensation to the agrarian reform fund, the implementation of which lasted for 20 years.
In Hungary and Romania for many years agriculture retained semi-feudal features, including corvee and shareholding. According to the law of 1921 on agrarian reform in Romania, surplus landlords in excess of 500 hectares were subject to alienation for redemption, and the peasants were required to pay the landlords a ransom, 30-40 times the rent. Land reforms of 1919-1920 were more radical. in Bulgaria, where the maximum land tenure was set at 30 ha.
In the multinational East European countries, acute national problems were not resolved either. The national feuds did not stop in Yugoslavia and Romania, the relations of Czechs and Slovaks in Czechoslovakia were not settled. The Constitution of 1921 simply passed over the national problem in silence, based on the erroneous theory of the existence of a single Czechoslovak nation.
Persistent crisis in the economy, the global economic crisis of 1929-1933 accompanied by a new aggravation of social class, national contradictions, deepening political instability, the ruling circles saw a way out of them in curtailing democratic state and legal institutions and in tightening political regimes. Throughout the region, there has been a clear trend in the crisis of parliamentarism, which did not have strong traditions and a social base, the interference of the state-bureaucratic apparatus in all spheres of political life, the infringement or direct rejection of constitutional rights and freedoms. These trends at the final stage of the global economic crisis led to the establishment of a dictatorial military-authoritarian regime in Bulgaria, to consolidate authoritarian principles and institutions in the newly adopted constitutions of Yugoslavia 1931, Poland 1935, Romania 1938, narrowing the rights of representative bodies, expanding powers of the executive branch, army and the entire administrative apparatus.
The ruling circles of these countries, together with the borrowing of fascist ideology, tried to adopt the management methods from the fascist regimes of Germany and Italy, create a one-party system, etc. However, these orders were not fully established on East European historical soil, the pro-fascist parties were unable to gain a mass base. This was their qualitative difference from the West European fascist, totalitarian-autocratic regimes, which at a certain stage and under certain conditions were able to mobilize the politically active majority of the population to support the fascist system, to recognize the cult of the charismatic leader.
Changes in the democratic provisions of the constitutions were expressed in Czechoslovakia in 1927, for example, in that the president was entrusted not only with extraordinary powers, but also with the right to amend the constitution. In 1926, in Hungary, universal suffrage was abolished, the upper house of the parliament (Senate), which included representatives of the generals, judges, persons appointed by the ruling dictator Horthy, and others, was restored anti-democratic by the methods of formation and the nature of its activities.
In Poland, a coup d'etat in 1926 led to the approval of an authoritarian regime, which was subsequently enshrined in the 1935 Constitution, which was a kind of antipode to the March Constitution of 1921. An anti-democratic addition was introduced to the Polish Constitution in 1926, according to which the president received the right (art. . 44) issue "in case of state need" executive orders "having the force of law."
According to the Constitution of 1935, the president, responsible only to “God and history”, was the source and bearer of state power. An undemocratic, extremely complex system of election of the head of state was introduced, which was determined by him, as well as the procedure for nominating a candidate for this post, not excluding the nomination of the president himself. The activity of the Sejm and the Senate, which was 1/3 appointed by the President, was subordinate, since the latter belonged not only to the right to issue decrees having the force of law, a suspensive veto, convening and dissolution of the Sejm and the Senate, but, moreover, the pre-emptive right constitutional change initiatives.
As a result of coups d'etat of the late 20s-30s. authoritarian regimes were also established in Yugoslavia and Hungary. And what is especially characteristic of pre-war regimes is their almost complete dependence, economic and political, on fascist states: the German Reich and Italy.
Hundred Years War.AT XIV-XV centuries (later Middle Ages) in Europe are undergoing great changes. One of the biggest conflicts of the time was the Hundred Years War between England and France, which had a long history. In the West Frankish kingdom (France) in 987, the count of Paris Hugo Capet was elected king, who became famous for his struggle with the Normans and became the founder capetian dynasty.The power of the first Capetians was weak, France fell into the possession of large feudal lords. The royal power in England then turned out to be much stronger. Wilgelm the conquerorimmediately strengthened the central government in the kingdom conquered in 1066. His great grandson Henry II Plantagenet(1154–1189) significantly expanded its holdings in France. In England, he continued to strengthen the central authority, created a powerful army.
In France, King Louis VI (1108-1137) was able to suppress the resistance of the feudal lords in the royal domain (personal possession). An increase in the size of the domain occurred under his grandson, Philip II Augustus (1180-1223). In 1202-1204 he conquered the Normandy and most of their other possessions in France from the British. Strengthening central authority, the struggle with England continued in the reign Louis IX Saint(1226-1270) and Philip IV the Beautiful(1285-1314).
The kings of England and France sought, in contrast to the nobility, to rely on representatives of the estates. This caused the convocation of the first estate representative institutions- of parliamentin England (1265) and States generalin France (1302). In England in 1215 it was proclaimed Magna Carta,aimed at protecting free people from the arbitrariness of the authorities.
At the beginning of the XIV century. in France, the male line of the Capetian dynasty was suppressed. The English king Edward III, a descendant of the Capetians on the female side, declared his rights to the French throne. But the crown was transferred to the representative of the side branch of the Capetings - Philip VI Valois. The Hundred Years War (1337 - 1453) soon broke out. For a long time she was successful for England. The British defeated the French army in 1346 at Crescy and in 1356 at Poitiers. However, in the second half of the XIV century. King Charles V of France succeeded in crowding out the British. But France itself at the beginning of the XV century. shocked the war between the Dukes of Burgundy and Orleans .. The Duke of Burgundy entered into an alliance with England. In 1415, the British army resumed the war. At the Battle of Agincourt, the French feudal army was defeated. The British captured the north of France, including Paris. The union of both states was proclaimed. Their common king was to be the son of an English king from the daughter of the French king Charles VI. However, the 15-year-old son of Charles VI fled to Orleans, who remained free from the British, and proclaimed himself king of France, Charles VII.
In 1428, the British besieged Orleans. In this difficult moment for France, there was a turning point associated with the activities of a peasant girl Joan of Arcled the French forces. In 1429, four days after the appearance of Jeanne, the British, having lost their fortifications, lifted the siege of Orleans. Jeanne continued the war, but in 1430 was captured and burned by the British in 1431. Jeanne d'Arc's speech predetermined the outcome of the war. By 1453, the French army reformed by Charles VII completed the expulsion of the British from France.
Reconquista.The main content of the history of the Pyrenees in the Middle Ages was the Reconquista (reconquest). The Christian states of the north (Leon and Castile, Aragon, Catalonia) gradually advanced their borders to the south. Period XI -XIII centuries was the time of decisive successes of the Reconquista. In 1085, Toledo fell under the blows of the Castilians. At the beginning of the XII century. Aragonese captured Zaragoza, in 1147 Lisbon was taken. In 1212, King of Castile Alphonse VIII, who led the troops of all states, defeated Muslims in battle of Las Navas de Tolosa.B30 -50s XIII century after the final unification of Leon and Castile, Cordoba and Seville were recaptured. Only the Granada remained in the hands of the Muslims, which was captured by the troops of Castile and Aragon in 1492. That is how the Reconquista ended. Two kingdoms formed on the site of Muslim possessions - Spainand Portugal.
Hussite wars.An important event of the late Middle Ages was the Hussite wars. Their center was the Czech Republic, which was part of the Holy Roman Empire, being one of its most developed parts. The name of the war received by name Jan Huswho came up with the idea of \u200b\u200btransforming the Catholic Church. In his sermons read in Czech, Jan Hus accused the church of excessive wealth and meddling in secular affairs. He also spoke out against German dominance in the Czech Republic. In 1415, Hus was burned by the decision of the church council in Constance.
The execution of Hus caused a storm of indignation in the Czech Republic. The number of supporters of his teachings grew rapidly. Hussitesbecame townspeople, peasants, knights, part of the large feudal lords. In 1419, the war of Catholics and Hussites began. During the war, the Hussites split into two camps. Moderatedemanded the deprivation of the church of his property and the submission of the clergy to secular power. Radical Hussites - taborites(their center was on Mount Tabor) they tried to create a just society based on divine commandments. The army of taborites led by Jan ижižkalearned to defeat the knightly cavalry. In 1420, the pope declared a crusade against heretic Hussites. The Crusader was headed by the emperor himself. This campaign, as well as all subsequent ones, failed. The taborites themselves went on the offensive. Later, the opponents of the Hussites were able to take advantage of the contradictions between the Taborites and the moderate. The combined forces of Catholics and moderate in 1434 defeated the taborites in battle of Lipan.
During the Hussite Wars, German influence in the Czech Republic weakened. By the end of the XV century. The Czech Republic was the only European country where Catholics and Hussite heretics coexisted peacefully. This ensures the rapid development of the country.
The beginning of the Ottoman conquests. The fall of Byzantium. ATbyzantium fell later in the Middle Ages, and a new aggressive power of the Ottoman Turks appeared in its place. The Ottoman Empire arose in the West of Asia Minor from the possessions of the Sultan of Osman (1258-1324). $ 1 of Byzantium at this time was a sharp internal struggle. The Ottomans, helping one of the candidates for the throne, made a number of trips to Europe. For this they received a fortress in 1352. From this yremen Ottomans begin conquest in the Balkans. The Turkish population is also being transported to Europe. The Ottomans captured a number of Byzantine territories, after defeating the Serbs in the Kosovo field in 1389, they subjugated Serbia and Bulgaria.
In 1402, the Ottomans were defeated by the ruler of Samarkand, Timur. But the Gurks managed to quickly regain their strength. Their new conquests are associated with the Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror.In April 1453, a Turkish army of 150 thousand people appeared under the walls of Constantinople. They were opposed by less than 10 thousand Greeks and mercenaries. The assault on the city took place in May 1453. Most of its defenders fell in battle. Among them was the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI Paleolog. Mehmed II declared the city his capital under the name Istanbul.
Then the Turks captured Serbia. In 1456, Moldova became the vassal of Turkey. The Venetians were defeated. In 1480, Turkish troops landed in Italy, but could not gain a foothold there. After the death of Mehmed II, the conquests in the Balkans continued. The vassal of the sultan was the Crimean Khanate. Hungary was later captured. Poland, Austria, Russia, and other countries were subjected to devastating raids. Turks began captures in Asia and North Africa.
Changes in the internal life of European states.In addition to wars, the Europeans had to survive in the late Middle Ages and other disasters. In 1347, a plague epidemic ("black death") hit the continent. The greatest damage to the plague caused the common people. So, the population of France has almost halved.
Population decline has led to a decrease in food demand. Peasants began to grow more industrial crops, which were then sold to urban artisans. The freer the peasant was, the more successfully he acted in the market, the more income he received and the more he could bring profit to his lord. Therefore, after the epidemic in many countries accelerated the liberation of the peasants from serfdom.In addition, the reduction in the number of workers increased their value, made the feudal lords with great respect for the peasants. However, most of the lords set up huge ransoms for the liberation of the peasants. The answer was rebellion.
Especially large demonstrations by the peasants took place in France and England, where the situation worsened in connection with the Hundred Years War. In northern France in 1358 an uprising broke out, called Jacquerie(The nobles contemptuously called peasants Jacques). The rebels burned feudal castles, exterminated their owners. Jacquerie was brutally crushed. In England, in the spring of 1381, a peasant uprising broke out. The roofer became its leader Wat Tyler.Peasants killed tax collectors, smashed estates and monasteries. Peasants supported the urban lower classes. Entering London, Tyler’s troops dealt with the hated nobles. At a meeting with the king, the rebels put forward demands for the abolition of serfdom, corvee, etc. The uprising was also crushed. Despite the defeats, peasant uprisings accelerated the liberation of the peasants.
The folding of centralized states in France and England.In France, a decisive step towards strengthening central authority was made by the king Louis XI (\\ 46 \\ -1483). During long wars, the king defeated the powerful Karl the Boldduke of Burgundy. Part of Burgundy, Provence, Brittany were annexed to the king's possessions. Many areas, cities have lost their privileges. Deprecated General States. The number of officials has increased. The creation of a standing army, the service of which was paid by the king, made the feudal lords (the nobility) more and more dependent on him. To know, although partially retained its possessions, was deprived of its former independence. In the XVI century, France entered as a major
In England, there were also internal strife, which ended with an increase in the power of the king. In 1455, a Scarlet and White Rose war broke out between supporters of two branches of the ruling dynasty: Lancaster and York. It led to the death of a large part of large feudal lords. In 1485, the king came to power Henry VII Tudor(1485-1509). Under him, the central government was significantly strengthened. He achieved the dissolution of the troops of large feudal lords, executed many, and took the land to himself. Parliament was still meeting, but everything was decided by the will of the king. England, like France, turned into centralized state.In such a state, the entire territory is really subordinated to the central government, and management is carried out with the help of officials.
From 13-16 centuries. - the time of the formation of centralized states in Europe.
Two trends in socio-political life:
· For the preservation of medieval society with a priority of Catholic values \u200b\u200b(the Roman Empire - its greatest prosperity under Charles 5);
· The formation of national-territorial states of a secular type with a national worldview, autonomy of the individual, the formation of civil society. Restriction of power of law by law - England, Sweden.
France:
The centralization process from the 12th to the end of the 15th centuries.
Causes: socio-economic.
Small and medium feudal lords were interested in centralization. They divided their possessions into plots and transferred them to peasants. Transferred to cash rent.
The cities were interested in centralization in order to free themselves from the power of the lord - a large feudal lord, and supported the king. He gave the cities a letter of self-government.
· 1302 - the king, seeking allies in his country, convenes the General States.
1337 - a century-long war begins between England and France (until 1453)
· 1358 - peasant war - “Jacquerie”
By the beginning of the 14th century, a class monarchy was being formed in France, and unification was completed at the end of the 15th century under Louis 11.
England:
The fragmentation process was interrupted by the Norman conquest.
· 1066 - Norman conquest by William the Conqueror;
1154-1189 - Henry 2 founded the Plantagenet dynasty;
· 1215 - Magna Carta;
· 1265 - parliament;
· 1381 - the revolt of Wat Tyler - peasant movement;
1455-1485 - war of the Scarlet and White Rose;
1485-1509 - Henry 4 founded the new Tudor dynasty.
At the beginning of the 14th century, parliament
upper common
The centralized state, as in France, was formed as an estate monarchy.
Spain:
In the 7th century The Iberian island was conquered by the Arab Caliphate.
Reconquista - the reverse conquest of the territories by peasants, Arabs, Muslims.
The processes of unification took place from the 11th to the 15th centuries. (1492 - completion).
At the beginning of the 13th century appeared cortes - meeting of estate representatives.
The centralized state is formed in the form of an estate monarchy. The union ends as a dynastic marriage:
1479 - marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon. The creation of the Spanish kingdom is an estate monarchy.
Germany:
The process of German unification took place around local centers. The power of a single centralized state arises from many states led by princes.
· Charles 1 was elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire under the name Charles 4;
· 1356 - “Golden Bula” - the procedure for the election of emperors of the Holy Roman Empire;
· In the first half of the 15th century, the imperial throne passed to the Habsburg dynasty. They owned Austria and Western Europe;
· In 1291, the Swiss Confederations (cantons) began to take shape.
Italy:
The formation of a centralized state - many states:
· Monarchy - Duchy of Savoy, Kingdom of Naples;
· Republic - Venice;
Tyranny (end of 14-beginning of 15) - Milan, Florence, Bologna.
10. Formation of the Russian centralized state: prerequisites, stages, meaning.
Prerequisites:
· Restoration and development of the economy, which was the economic basis of the struggle for the unification and independence of Russian lands;
· Strengthening the nobility, which received land from the Grand Duke for service and for the duration of service and, thus, was interested in strong state power;
· The formation of new cities (Vladimir, Pereslavl, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Dmitrov, etc.), interested in restoring a single and large state;
· The formation of a new system of state power, based on a sharp reduction in feudal privileges, changes in vassal relations, the emergence of a new hierarchy of feudal ranks, etc .;
· The weakening and disintegration of the Golden Horde.
Stages of land unification around Moscow:
1. The end of the 13th-1st half of the 14th century: the strengthening of the Moscow principality and the beginning of the unification of Russian lands led by Moscow.
The founder of the dynasty of Moscow princes was the youngest son Alexander Nevsky– Daniil Alexandrovich (1276-1303 gg.). Under him, the territory of the Moscow principality is growing rapidly. In 1302, according to the will of the Ryazan prince, his possessions passed to Moscow. In 1303, Mozhaisk was annexed from the Principality of Smolensk Principality to Moscow. Thus, the territory of the Principality of Moscow doubled in three years and became one of the largest in North-Eastern Russia. After the death of Daniil Alexandrovich, his eldest son ruled Yuri Danilovich (1303-1325 gg.).
The struggle of Moscow and Tver for the princely throne ends with the victory of the Moscow principality. Ivan Danilovich Kalita (1325-1340), having defeated the uprising in Tver (1327), in 1328 - received a label for a great reign. The Grand Duke managed to achieve a close alliance between the princely power of Moscow and the church. Metropolitan Peter for a long time and often lived in Moscow, and his successor Theognost finally moved there. 1326 - transfer of the metropolitan department to Moscow from Vladimir. Moscow has become the religious and ideological center of Russia.
Ivan Danilovich was a smart, consistent, albeit tough politician in achieving his goals. Under him, Moscow became the richest principality of Russia. Hence the prince’s nickname is Kalita (“money amount”, “purse”).
The importance of the reign of Ivan Kalita (in the Horde - Khan Uzbek) for the Russian state:
· The role of Moscow as a center for the unification of all Russian lands has intensified;
· He achieved the necessary respite from the Horde invasions, which made it possible to boost the economy and accumulate strength to fight the Mongol-Tatars;
· Got the right to collect tribute from the Russian principalities and deliver it to the horde;
· Without resorting to weapons, he significantly expanded his possessions (subjugated the principalities: Galich, Uglich, Belozersky).