The Difference between the political system in England/Britain and other European states in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Introduction
A political system refers to the process that is used to develop Government decisions. The political system in Britain and the other European states differed enormously beginning with the different methods of ruling they had. Both governments had different policies that governed their states. The differences between their political systems were mostly defined by the reigning rulers at the time, the government, and the different revolutions that took place.
Great Britain and Europe’s government had major differences concerning the absolute states. The British governmental structure was signalized by the division of authority between the king and the parliament whereby the parliament was more superior. The parliament had the mandate to develop policies, impose levies, pass the financial plan, and indirectly impact the ministers who worked for the king (Merriman 450). In the eighteenth century, the British government was governed by two groups. The people in both of the groups were landowners and had the same economic interests and intermarried frequently.
In the eighteenth century, most of the European nations were governed by the monarchs. In the occurrences of the French revolution, the revolutionist made France a monarchy making the king have little authority (Merriman 451). The theory of popular authority became real as individuals assisted to bring down the absolute rule. Enlightened absolute affected the partisan growth of the European nations in the eighteenth century. The idea of natural rights were privileges that were not to be concealed from anyone. These were rights that included the right to worship, right to the law, freedom of the press, and speech among others.
In the eighteenth century, the industrial revolution in Britain made it one of the richest countries in the world. The changes that were made in the methods of farming and breeding of stock led to a growth in food production. More people could be fed by agriculture whereby items were sold at lower prices (Merriman 450). Contrary to other people in the rest of Europe where even the general British families didn’t have to use their money to purchase for foodstuffs, giving them the prospects of buying manufactured commodities. Britain had a ready stock of resources for financing the new production factories and machines. Britain owned a central bank with properly developed credit facilities. This was also an addition of the income and profits they got from the industry. The English revolts of the seventeenth century had helped to develop the industries in Britain. The government in Britain played a very important role in regards to industrialization.
In the eighteenth century, Britain was first Europe’s country to be industrialized. Governments used tariffs to facilitate industrialization (Merriman 454). In the eighteenth century, low priced commodities flooded the continental markets. To protect their markets that were emerging, the French responded with high tariffs. This is because low-cost goods from Britain would overrun the market and destroy the small industries that had just started to grow. The European states could not be able to compete with Britain unless the protective tariffs were put in place.
The crippling economic crisis that faced the monarchy caused the French revolution. French had been at war with Britain and the financial support that France provided the revolutionary colonists against Britain had been financed by loans that were arranged by the minister of finance. Some of the expenses that were encountered were used to maintain the army and the navy and were also used to pay debts. That made the monarchy live beyond its means and it could not get more funds. The economic crisis of the monarchy was connected to the nature of its monetary system (Merriman 455). The absolute monarchy in France did not efficiently collect taxes as the British government did. The bank of England in Britain provided the government with loans at a low interest through the national debt. There was no central bank in France making the monarchy depend more on high interests and suffered a difficult evaluation of financial obligations. The French general debt was higher than that of Britain and it continued to go up as the monarchy looked for financial solutions.
The protestant amendment had established the law of state having control over the churches solving the differences between the state and the church. In the eighteenth century, protestant churches from the state grew all over Europe but there still in other European countries there were protestant minorities. In the seventeenth century, the Catholic Church exerted a lot of power in the catholic European states and the church continued to become wealthy (Merriman 466). In many of the catholic countries, the highest ministers are the ones that received revenues from the tithes of the followers. There was a large gap between the upper and the lower ministers. In the eighteenth century, the many catholic government's states started to seek more control over the churches in their countries.
It is claimed that coffeehouses only existed in London. It is a place where people went to discuss social and political issues (Pincus 801). The coffee house society was gender-specific and the women were kept out. The public sphere arose as a result of contradicting interests between limiting interests in finance and trade capitalism. Members of parliament presume that the coffeehouses had limited mental horizons by not knowing much and had little care for Europe and the entire world. This is because the interactions made there were limited and only included local discussions.
Later in the seventeenth century, the public spheres emerged again but this time it had no gender or class exclusion and were defended by religious and political judges Coffeehouses began to do well in England and this made other states emulate them making it a place where people went to interact and read newspapers. It was a place where news spread very fast and contained all sorts of political discussions including g the issues that the British ere facing (Pincus 821). Evidence shows that Britons went in plenty to the coffeehouses because it was a place that they could gather information, and political gossip, malign or celebrate the government. The coffeehouse did well in Britain because it provided the planning for the unfolding of the public sphere.
Conclusion
The differences between Britain and the other European states were characterized by time, kings, and the revolutionists. Revolutions were made throughout the centuries and were made to improve the existing policies. The revolutions included the French revolution that was brought about by the economic crises. There also was the Industrial revolution which was concerned with making goods and food available to the people. It also ensured that the methods of farming and livestock breeding benefited the owners and the country as a whole. There was the existence of coffeehouses that were places where people discussed politics, interacted, and read newspapers.
Works Cited
Merriman John. A History of Modern Europe: Revolutionary Europe 1789-1850. W.W Norton & company, New York London, 2019
Pincus, Steve. “‘Coffee Politicians Does Create’: Coffeehouses and Restoration Political Culture.” The Journal of Modern History, vol. 67, no. 4, 1995, pp. 807–834. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2124756. Accessed 16 May 2020.
