Definition of Old Regime

Old Regime is he concept with which the revolutionary French pejoratively called the system of government prior to the French Revolution, occurred in the year 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 Revolution French 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 somehow legitimized his authority over the town.

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 the thought enlightenment 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 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, land ownership, which was the main factor of production at that time, was subject to bindings, that is to say, in the hands of the nobility, the goods of the Catholic Church and of the Religious Orders were in the hands of the clergy, and the communal lands depended on the municipalities; on the other hand, the Commerce if it was not controlled by guilds it was due to 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; practically there was no economic freedom or even competence because everything was controlled by guilds, corporations or the state itself.

The society of the Old Regime was organized in three estates: 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 in some way were the economic engine of the nationThey did not have commercial freedom in many cases, nor did they have the possibility of participating in political decisions.

The French Revolution changes the political, social and economic course

By case it is that the French Revolution that just proposed as flag the individual liberties, especially impregnated and influenced by the Ideas of the Enlightenment, it was greatly 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 by ennoblement or by having entered the clergy one could go from being a non-privileged to a privileged.

And as regards 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 for it to have the bureaucracy and its representatives who would take care of establishing the government in its name of him.

Bastille, which was the fortress of the king in Paris but in reality later began to be used as a prison, it is considered a symbol of the Old Regime and therefore its take is considered as the concrete beginning of the revolution that led to the Old Regime and brought the new one in which democratic ideas would end up imposing themselves on the system of government.

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 for This position 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 by the French revolutionaries and from then on it became an emblematic symbol of the republican system French.
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 with a new one building denominated like Place of the Bastille.

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