Everything about Monarchism totally explained
Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a
monarchy as a
form of government in a nation. A
monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government out of principle, independent from the person, the
king, who happens to be the head of the
kingdom or deposed by a revolution being the case, at a particular moment in time. It focuses on the system, and must be distinguished from a
royalist. Monarchism was an important political movement for many centuries, but by the twentieth century, monarchism has disappeared in its most aggressive forms in most developed nations, though it has had significant political impact on some underdeveloped nations well into the late twentieth century and into the twenty-first such as in
Iran in the
Iranian Revolution and
Nepal in the
Nepalese Civil War.
Background
In
1688, the British
Glorious Revolution and the overthrow of King
James II had established the principles of
constitutional monarchy, which would later be worked out by
Montesquieu and other thinkers. However,
absolute monarchy, theorized by
Hobbes in the
Leviathan (1651), remained a dominant principle. In the 18th century,
Voltaire and others encouraged "
enlightened absolutism", which was embraced by the
Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II and
Catherine II of Russia.
Absolutism continued to be the dominant political principle of
sovereignty until the 1789
French Revolution and the
regicide against
Louis XVI, which established the concept of
popular sovereignty upheld by
Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Monarchy became to be contested by the
Republican principe.
Counterrevolutionaries, such as
Joseph de Maistre or
Louis de Bonald, began to seek the restoration of the
Ancien Régime, divided in the three
estates of the realm, and the
divine right of kings. Following the ousting of
Napoleon I in 1814, the Coalition
restored the Bourbon Dynasty in pushing
Louis XVIII to the French throne. The ensuing period, called the
Restauration, was characterized by a sharp
conservative reaction and the re-establishment of the
Roman Catholic Church, supported by the
ultramontanism movement, as a power in
French politics. After the 1830
July Revolution and the overthrow of
Charles X, the
legitimist branch was defeated and the
Orleanists, gathered behind
Louis-Philippe, accepted the principle of
constitutional monarchy.
The
Spring of Nations in 1848 then set the signal for a new wave of
revolutions against the
European monarchies.
World War I and its aftermath saw the end of three major European monarchies, the Russian
Romanov dynasty, the German
Hohenzollern dynasty and the Austro-Hungarian
Habsburg dynasty. In
Russia, the
1917 February revolution resulted in the
abdication of
tsar Nicholas II and the establishment of
Bolshevik Russia and a civil war between the Bolshevik
Red Army and the monarchist
White Army from 1917 to 1921. The rise of the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919 saw an increase in support for monarchism, however efforts by Hungarian monarchists failed to bring back a royal head of state, and the monarchists settled for a
regent, Admiral
Miklós Horthy, to represent the monarchy until it could be restored. Horthy was regent from 1920 to 1944. In Germany a number of monarchists gathered around the
German National People's Party which demanded the return of the
Hohenzollern monarchy and an end to the
Weimar Republic. The party retained a large base of support until the rise of
Nazism in the 1930s.
With the arrival of communism in eastern Europe by 1945, the remaining eastern European monarchies such as the
Kingdom of Romania, the
Kingdom of Hungary, and the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia were all abolished and replaced by
socialist republics.
The aftermath of World War II also saw the return of monarchist and republican rivalry in Italy, in which a referendum was held on whether Italy should remain a monarchy or become a republic. The republican side won the referendum and the modern Republic of Italy was created.
Monarchism as a political force internationally has substantially diminished since the end of the Second World War, though it had an important role in the 1979
Iranian Revolution and had and continues to have a role in the political affairs of
Nepal, as society is divided between those who support the monarchy and those who support Maoist rebels intending to tear down the monarchy. Nepal is one of the last states to have had an absolute monarch, as King
Gyanendra of Nepal declared himself the absolute ruler of Nepal in 2005. One of the world's oldest monarchies (if not the oldest) was abolished in
Ethiopia in 1974 with the fall of Emperor
Haile Selassie.
Legitimists and Orleanists in France
In France,
Louis-Philippe abdicated on
February 24,
1848, opening the way to the
Second Republic (1848-52), which lasted until
Napoleon III's
December 2, 1851 coup d'état and the establishment of the
Second Empire (1852-1870). The royalist movement only came back in force following the 1870
defeat against Prussia and the crushing of the 1871
Paris Commune by Orleanist
Adolphe Thiers.
Legitimists and
Orleanists controlled the majority of the Assemblies, and supported
Patrice MacMahon, the duc of Magenta, as president of the
Ordre moral government. But the intransigeance of the
comte de Chambord, who refused to abandon the
white flag and its
fleur-de-lys against the republican
tricolore, and the
May 16, 1877 crisis forced the legitimists to abandon the political arena, while some of the more
liberal Orleanists "rallied" throughout the years to the
Third Republic (1870-1945). However, since the monarchy and
Catholicism were long entangled ("the alliance of the Throne and the Altar"), republican ideas were often tinged with
anti-clericalism, which led to some turmoil during
Radical Emile Combes' cabinet in the beginning of the 20th century.
The
Action Française, founded in 1898 during the
Dreyfus affair, remained an influential
far right movement throughout the 1930s, taking part in the
February 6, 1934 riots. Some royalists, such as
Georges Valois who founded the
Faisceau, became involved in
fascism after the 1926 Papal condemnation of the
Action Française by
Pius XI. Royalists were then active under the
Vichy regime, with the leader of the
Action Française Charles Maurras qualifying as "divine surprise" the overthrow of the Republic and the arrival to power of
Marshal Pétain. A few of them, such as
Henri d'Astier de la Vigerie, took part in the
Resistance out of
patriotic concerns. The
Action Française was then dissolved after the
war, but
Maurice Pujo founded it again in 1947. Some legitimists had become involved in the
traditionalist Catholic movement, which refused the 1962-65
Second Vatican Council and followed the 1970 foundation of the traditionalist Catholic
Society of St. Pius X by
Marcel Lefebvre.
Bertrand Renouvin made a breakaway movement from the
Action Française in 1971, the
Nouvelle Action Française which became the
Nouvelle Action Royaliste, while some legitimists joined
Jean-Marie Le Pen's
Front National, founded in 1972.
Constitutional monarchies
Constitutional monarchies form the majority of the current monarchies. Since the middle of the 19th century, some monarchists have stopped defending monarchy on the basis of abstract, universal principles applicable to all nations, or even on the grounds that a monarchy would be the best or most practical
government for the nation in question, but on local symbolic grounds that they'd be a particular nation's link to the past.
The
International Monarchist League, founded in 1943, which has been very influential in Canada and Australia, has always sought to promote monarchy on the grounds that it strengthens popular liberty, both in a democracy and in a dictatorship, because by definition the monarch isn't beholden to politicians.
Hence, post-19th century debates on whether to preserve a
monarchy or to adopt a
republican form of government have often been debates over national identity, with the
monarch generally serving as a symbol for other issues.
For example, in countries like
Belgium and
The Netherlands anti-monarchist talk is often centered around the perceived symbolism of a monarch contrasting with those nation's political culture of
egalitarianism. In
Belgium, another factor are the anti-Belgian sentiments of the separatist
Flemish movement.
In
Canada and
Australia, by contrast, debates over monarchy represent or represented debates whose driving force concerned each nation's relationship with the
United Kingdom and the cultural heritage that that represents. In a nation like
Saudi Arabia, finally, opposition to the monarchy may be synonmous with advocacy of
democracy or
Islamic fundamentalism. As monarchies take many different forms, so too do pro- and anti-monarchy debates.
Even a country such as the United States, which has been a republic from its foundation, has some monarchist adherents. The minority are restorationists, who advocate returning authority to
Elizabeth II as the current legitimate heir of
George III, presumably as a
constitutional monarchy similar to her powers in those
Commonwealth of Nations members that recognize her as Queen. However, the majority of American Monarchists believe that
America would best be led by an independent dynasty.
Otto von Habsburg advocates a form of constitutional monarchy based on primacy of the supreme judicial function, with hereditary succession, if suitability is problematic, mediated by a tribunal
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Monarchist groups - past and present
Worldwide
Africa
Parti National-Monarchiste Algérien (Algeria)
Abahuza (Burundi)
Parliamentary Monarchist Party (Burundi)
Ethiopian National Front
Moa Anbessa (Ethiopia)
Crown Council of Ethiopia (Ethiopia)
Libyan Constitutional Union
Asia
Southeast Asia Imperial & Royal League
Royal House of Afghanistan
Funcinpec (Cambodia)
Rastakhiz (Iran)
Constitutionalist Party of Iran (Iran)
Sarbazan and Janbakhtegan (Iran)
Iraqi Constitutional Monarchy (Iraq)
Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (Nepal)
Rashtriya Prajatantra Party-Chand (Nepal)
Vietnamese Constitutional Monarchist League (Vietnam)
Malchut Israel(Israel)
Europe
Movement of Legality Party (Albania)
Albanian Democratic Monarchist Movement Party (Albania)
Black and Yellow Alliance (Austria)
Belgian Union (Belgium)
National Movement Simeon the Second (Bulgaria)
Koruna česká (Czech Republic)
Estonian Royalist Party (Estonia)
Action Française (France)
Alliance Royale (France)
Rassemblement démocrate (France)
Nouvelle Action Royaliste (France)
Legitimists, Orleanists and Bonapartists (France)
Monarchiefreunde (Germany)
Bundes aufrechter Monarchisten (Germany)
Tradition und Leben (Germany)
Kaisertreue-Jugend (Germany)
Union of Georgian Traditionalists (Georgia)
National Alignment (Greece)
Orange Order (Ireland)
Monarchist Alliance (Italy)
Movimento Monarchico Italiano (Italy)
Unione Monarchica Italiana (Italy)
Klub Zachowawczo-Monarchistyczny (Poland)
Polska Liga Monarchistyczna (Poland)
Organizacja Monarchistów Polskich (American TFP in Poland)
Integralismo Lusitano (Portugal)
People's Monarchist Party (Portugal)
Royal Association (Portugal)
National Peasants' Party (Romania)
Russian Monarchist (Russia)
Russian Imperial Union-Order (Russia)
Russian Monarchist Movement (RMD) (Russia)
Slovenský Kruh Leva XIII. (Slovakia)
Förenade Monarkister Sweden
Rojalistiska Föreningen Sweden
Jacobites (United Kingdom)
Royal Stuart Society
Serbian Renewal Movement (Serbia)
Serbian Democratic Renewal Movement (Serbia)
Strafford Club (United Kingdom)
North America
Monarchist League of Canada (Canada)
Orange Order (Canada)
Monarchist Society of America (USA)
Royalist Party of America (USA)
Constantian Society (USA)
Latin America
Movimento Monárquico Brasileiro (Brazil)
Oceania
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (Australia)
Australian Monarchist League (Australia)
Orange Order (Australia)
Monarchist League of New Zealand (New Zealand)Further Information
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