EVERYTHING FOR THE PEOPLE, BUT WITHOUT THE PEOPLE: MEANING AND ORIGIN - HISTORY - 2025

«Everything for the people but without the people«, whose original phrase in French is "Tout pour le peuple, rien par le peuple" is a phrase that originated in France, and refers to the idea of ​​an almost absolute power sustained by a ruler, who provides his people with what they need but without giving him greater social or political powers that can decentralize his regime.

The phrase has been inaccurately attributed to many rulers who openly expressed their despotic ideology. However, it has been commonly related to various kings in different nations, but at the same time. From King Louis XV of France to King Carlos III of Spain, passing through Queen Catherine II of Russia.

Louis XV.

The historical root of this phrase is related to enlightened despotism, also known as Benevolent Absolutism, a form of government where the king has all the power and does not need to justify his actions and where the people should not criticize or judge said actions.

The basic principle of this political movement was to support a pleasant lifestyle within a society, but without giving power or really important decisions to its inhabitants.

Thus, the monarchs provided health, basic education, a barely stable economy and cultural development, but always denied the opinions or ideas of the people.

Everything for the people, but without the people: more than a simple phrase

Enlightened despotism became the preferred form of government in the 18th century. By then the monarchs established legal, social and educational reforms inspired by the ideologies of a pioneering movement called "The Enlightenment."

Among the most prominent enlightened despots were Frederick II (the Great), Pedro I (the Great), Catherine II (the Great), Maria Teresa, Joseph II, and Leopold II. They typically instituted administrative reforms, religious tolerance, and economic development, but did not propose reforms that would undermine their sovereignty or disrupt the social order.

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The leading thinkers of the Enlightenment era are credited for developing theories of government critical to the creation and evolution of modern civil society driven by the democratic state.

Enlightened despotism, also called enlightened absolutism, was one of the first doctrines to result from the governmental ideals of the Enlightenment.

The concept was formally described by the German historian Wilhelm Roscher in 1847 and remains controversial among scholars.

Enlightened despots held that royal power emanated not from a divine right, but from a social contract by which a despot had the power to rule rather than any other government.

In effect, the monarchs of enlightened absolutism strengthened their authority by improving the lives of their subjects.

This philosophy implied that the sovereign knew better the interests of his subjects than they themselves. The monarch who assumed responsibility for the issues prevented his political participation.

The difference between a despot and an enlightened despot is based on an extensive analysis of the degree to which they embraced the Age of Enlightenment.

However, historians dispute the actual implementation of enlightened despotism. They distinguish between the personal "enlightenment" of the ruler versus that of his regime.

The main enlightened despots

Due to the importance of their acts as rulers:

Frederick II of Prussia

He was the most transcendental despot of Prussia and revolutionized prison customs, disabled the persecution and suffering that his father practiced on the nobles, established schools to promote education, promote cultural and profitable manufacturing, and decreed religious philosophy.

Catherine II the Great

Monarchical Russia reigned from 1729 to 1796. In his time he built schools and sanitariums, transformed and updated some capitals, systematized the Public Administration and put obstacles to the Church.

Joseph II of Germany

The King of Germany repealed slavery and ended torture, made the property that belonged to the church his own, created schools, clinics and homes for the elderly, granted the free exercise of worship to all religions, and established tributes on the priestly class of the Catholic Church and the aristocracy.

Marquis of Pombal

He was a Portuguese who prepared and directed bureaucratic, financial and general changes that stimulated the development of commerce. He also authorized the exemption of taxes for exports, instituted the Royal Bank, exiled the Jesuits who lived in his nation and revived the militia.

Most of the innovations brought about by enlightened tyrants were short-lived. Most of the changes they implemented were then abolished by the kings who ruled after them.

End of despotism thanks to the revolution

Despotism was implanted throughout Europe around the second half of the 18th century. It was a combination of absolutist elements of the political regime of the time with new notions from the illustrative ideology.

However, many thinkers of the time debated the origin of power at a distance from the crown. In search of a rational explanation for the ignorance of the people in social affairs, characters like Rousseau, tried to make the people rebel against the government, explaining that the power came from the people and not from the king.

To achieve this, the leaders adopted a semblance of authority that sought the protection of the people and artistic, pedagogical, productive, manufacturing and scientific progress.

However, the views of the people were ignored, leading to the slogan "everything for the people, but without the people."

The torture was removed and the death sentence was almost extinguished. The church saw its power as subordinate to the state, the bureaucracy expanded, and state entities were centralized.

Enlightenment despotism had darkly sought to fortify the empire of kings without disturbing the organization of authority and freedoms of each social class. The social structure of the old regime was imitated so as not to have to deal with the aristocracy.

Despite the cunning of the rulers, the deterioration of the political area for the portion of the most powerful people in the economic sphere, the bourgeoisie, who had to bear the greatest fiscal burden, produced the death of the system and led to the birth of the dictatorship. monarchical that began to take shape with the French Revolution in 1789.

References

1. José María Queipo de Llano (Count of Toreno), History of the uprising, war and revolution in Spain, 1872 edition (appeared in 1836-1838), pg. 48.
2. Adolphus Richter & Co.. (1834). The Foreign Quarterly Review, Volume 14. Google Books: Treuttel and Würtz, Treuttel, Jun, and Richter.
3. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. (Jan 8, 2014). Enlightened despotism. Jul 11, 2017, from Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Website: britannica.com
4. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. (Jun 27, 2017). Enlightenment. Jul 11, 2017, from Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Website: britannica.com
5. Source: Boundless. "Enlightened Despotism." Boundless World History Boundless, Nov 20, Retrieved Jul 11, 2017 from boundless.com
6. The Editors of Didactic Encyclopedia. (May 30, 2013). What is the meaning of Enlightened despotism? Concept and Definition of Enlightened despotism. Jul 11, 2017, from Didactic Encyclopedia Website: edukalife.blogspot.com.