And we have done a mind map:
The map talks about the ancien regime.
It was the principal social, economic and political system from the 15th
century to 18th century.
Society
There was an important inequality that affected to some groups of the
society, specially, the poor ones.
Society under the Ancien Régime was divided into two groups: the
privileged and the unprivileged. The privileged ones were less than a 5% of the
population. The rest of population were unprivileged.
Feudal society were the privileged. They were the nobility and the
clergy.
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The nobility owned most of the land and the public
positions. They didn’t pay taxes but received them from the peasants.
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The clergy had large areas of land to manage and
collected tithes.
The unprivileged was made up of the bourgeoisie, the urban working class
and the farmers or peasants.
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The bourgeoisie were craftsmen, merchants and bankers.
They had gained in wealth during the 18th century but not political influence.
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The urban working class were made up of poorer
craftsmen, servants, soldiers and workers.
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Farmers or peasants were the largest group of the
population.
The political
system was the absolute monarchy. It
is a monarchy that is not limited or restrained by laws or a constitution. The
monarch has absolute power by divine right and it controls the 3 branches of
the state (executive, judicial, legislative).
In the same way. It were some institutions that limited the monarch's
power. As the parlament in England, the estates general in France and 'las
cortes' of Spain.
But, it was a change. The people cares to the monarch. This change was
called Enlightenment despotism. So the monarch did improves in the education,
the culture, the health and the economy of his people inspired by the
Enlightenment.
Demography:
There was a population growth in the 18th century. The population in
Europe grew from 100 million to 200 million people.
This growth was possible because of a period of peace that made greater
agricultural production and also helped to have fewer epidemics, such us Black
Death.
This resulted in a lower death rate and an increase in the birth rate.
This population growth caused some things:
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It increased the demand of agricultural products
because there were more people.
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This also caused an increase in the agricultural
production.
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Finally, all this series of events helped to stimulate
the economy.
Economy:
The agriculture was the most important economic activity.
It was mainly subsistence farming, based on a three-field crop rotation
system, this was that farmland is divided into three parts, two of these are
cultivated and the third was left fallow. This produced just enough food.
Subsistence crisis: the situation for rural families became very
difficult. The prices, hunger and misery increased.
The demand for goods and services increased and resulted in intense
economic growth.
The movement of products was made possible the transport and
comunication networks.
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