Old Regime is the concept with which the revolutionary French pejoratively called the system of government prior to the French Revolution , which occurred in 1789 , more precisely that of Louis XVI, although the name would soon be extended to the rest of the European monarchies that presented a regime more or less similar to the French one.
System of government that preceded the French Revolution in France and the rest of Europe and that was characterized by the exercise of absolute power embodied in the monarch
This social, political and economic model that preceded the French Revolution prevailed in most of the European nations between the 16th and 18th centuries.
On the political level, this regime was characterized by absolute power exercised by a monarch, which was popularly known as Monarchical Absolutism.
The king embodied the maximum power that came from the mandate that God had given him and it was precisely God who legitimized in some way his authority over the people.
Courts or parliaments existed but all these organs were always subject to the will of the king on duty.
The Enlightenment lays the foundations of liberal thought and marks the beginning of the end of the Old Regime
In the 18th century, with the arrival of enlightened thought promoted by many European intellectuals, the foundations were laid for the disappearance of this system and the imposition not only of a new ideology but also of a new system that would have as its pillars the division of powers , individual freedom, a critical spirit, and the sovereignty of the people.
How the economy and society functioned at the behest of this regime
In economic terms, the ownership of the land, which was the main factor of production at that time, was subject to ties , that is, in the hands of the nobility, the assets of the Catholic Church and of the Religious Orders were in hands of the clergy, and communal lands depended on the town halls; on the other hand, if the trade was not controlled by the guilds, it was controlled by some trade association, which controlled both quality and quantity of production.
And on the industry side, it was hampered and stopped by excessive regulations and taxes; there was practically no economic freedom or even competitionbecause everything was controlled by unions, corporations or the state itself .
The society of the Old regime was organized into three classes: the privileged: the clergy and the nobility, and the underprivileged called Third Estate , made up of most of the population , which included farmers, merchants and artisans.
This question of privileges for some generated that not all had the same rights in the same situation. The privileged sector was the one that had a voice and vote while the underprivileged, who were in some way the economic engine of the nation , did not have commercial freedom in many cases, nor the possibility of participating in political decisions.
The French Revolution changes the political, social and economic course
For example, the French Revolution, which precisely proposed individual liberties as a flag, especially impregnated and influenced by the Ideas of the Enlightenment, was strongly supported by this establishment of the Third State so relegated in terms of rights and benefits.
In any case, compared to previous times and although the estates are closed, it is not impossible that due to ennoblement or having joined the clergy, one could go from being a non-privileged to a privileged one.
And with regard to the exercise of power, the holder of the crown was the one who possessed all the powers, executive, legislative and judicial, although in reality, in practice, it was necessary that he had the bureaucracy and its representatives that were they would take care of the government in his name.
The Bastille , which was the fortress of the king in Paris but in reality later began to be used as a prison, is considered a symbol of the Old Regime and therefore its seizure is considered as the concrete beginning of the revolution that took the Old Regime and brought the new one in which democratic ideas would eventually prevail in the government system.
The storming of the Bastille, the symbol of the end of the regime
The Bastille traditionally knew how to be a fortress that was responsible for protecting the eastern coast of the city of Paris, the French capital, and due to this position it played a very important role in the country's internal conflicts and was also used as a state prison by the Kings.
On July 14, 1789, within the framework of the event known as the French Revolution, it was taken over by the French revolutionaries and from then on it became an emblematic symbol of the French republican system.
Its fall meant the definitive end of the so-called Old Regime, and the beginning of a new political process in France.
Over time it was demolished and replaced by a new construction called Place de la Bastille.