Suchergebnisse

Benjamin Constant distinguished two kinds of government: unlawful government based on violence, and legitimate government based on the general will. In Europe monarchy was for over a thousand years considered the natural form of legitimate government. The sources of its legitimacy were the dynastic principle, religion, and the ability to protect against foreign aggression. At the end of the eighteenth century the revolutions in America and France called into question the traditional legitimacy of monarchy, but Volker Sellin shows that in response to this challenge monarchy opened up new sources of legitimacy by concluding alliances with constitutionalism, nationalism, and social reform. In some cases the age of revolution brought on a new type of leader, basing his claim to power on charisma.

The year 2014 saw the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's downfall - and the restauration of the French monarchy under the house of Bourbon. With this as a starting point, Volker Sellin shows how the European monarchies restored and prolonged their reigns by giving their countries constitutions. This new angle results in an astonishing history of the 19th century in Europe from Spain to Russia.

Warum nehmen Menschen es hin, dass andere Menschen Herrschaft über sie ausüben? Sie lassen sich beherrschen, solange sie die Herrschaft als legitim anerkennen. Ohne Legitimität wird Herrschaft zur Gewalt. Als legitime Form der Herrschaft galt in Europa über ein Jahrtausend lang die Monarchie. Erst Aufklärung und Revolution stellten die Legitimität der Monarchie in Frage. In einem europaweiten Vergleich, der meisterhaft Politik- und Kulturgeschichte verzahnt, zeigt Volker Sellin, wie die Monarchie es verstand, ihre Legitimität trotzdem fast überall noch über Generationen hinweg zu bewahren.