Monarchism
Beginning with the establishment of dynastic rule by Yu the Great c. 2070 BC, and ending with the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor in AD 1912, Chinese historiography came to organize itself around the succession of monarchical dynasties.
[a][b] Besides those established by the dominant Han ethnic group or its spiritual Huaxia predecessors, dynasties throughout Chinese history were also founded by non-Han peoples.
[19][20] During the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333, the shōguns were the de facto rulers of Japan, with the emperor and the imperial court acting as figureheads.
[25] The last separate monarchy to take root in Europe, Albania began its recognised modern existence as a principality (1914) and became a kingdom after a republican interlude in 1925–1928.
Following Karl's death in 1922, his claim to the Kingdom of Hungary was inherited by Otto von Habsburg (1912–2011), although no further attempts were made to take the Hungarian throne.
[citation needed] France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions.
[29] The aftermath of World War II saw the return of monarchist/republican rivalry in Italy, where a referendum was held on whether the state should remain a monarchy or become a republic.
Parts of the White movement, and in particular émigrés and their Supreme Monarchical Council [ru] (founded in 1921 and now based in Canada) continued to advocate for monarchy as "the sole path to the rebirth of Russia".
Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna is widely considered the valid heir to the throne, in the event that a restoration occurs.
In 1938, the autocratic government of Franco claimed to have reconstituted the Spanish monarchy in absentia (and in this case ultimately yielded to a restoration, in the person of King Juan Carlos).
In 1687–88, the Glorious Revolution and the overthrow of King James II established the principles of constitutional monarchy, which would later be worked out by Locke and other thinkers.
These were divided between the annexationists, made up mostly of illustrious Spanish-descendant families and members of the conservative party who supported the idea of being part of an empire, and the liberals who wanted Central America to be a separate nation under a republican system.
Today, some Mexican monarchist organizations advocate for Maximilian von Götzen-Iturbide or Carlos Felipe de Habsburgo to be instated as the Emperor of Mexico.
Additionally, the American colonists received the financial support of Louis XVI and Charles III of Spain during the war.
Various proposals to create an American monarchy were considered, including the Prussian scheme which would have made Prince Henry of Prussia king of the United States.
Since then, the idea has possessed low support, but has been advocated by some public figures such as Ralph Adams Cram, Solange Hertz, Leland B. Yeager, Michael Auslin, Charles A. Coulombe, and Curtis Yarvin.
Prior to this period, Brazil had been a royal colony which had also served briefly as the seat of government for the Portuguese Empire following the occupation of that country by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1808.
However, Pedro II had little interest in preserving the monarchy and passively accepted its overthrow by a military coup d'état in 1889 resulting in the establishment of a dictatorship known as the First Brazilian Republic.
In Thailand, for instance, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who reigned from 1946 to 2016, played a critical role in the nation's political agenda and in various military coups.
Otto von Habsburg advocated a form of constitutional monarchy based on the primacy of the supreme judicial function, with hereditary succession, mediation by a tribunal is warranted if suitability is problematic.
An elected Head of State is incentivised to increase his own wealth for leaving office after a few years whereas a monarch has no reason to corrupt because he would be cheating himself.
Advisors to the assembly tend to be well-versed more in the acquisition of their own wealth than of knowledge; are likely to give their advices in long discourses which often excite men into action but do not govern them in it, moved by the flame of passion instead of enlightenment.
[g] The International Monarchist League, founded in 1943, 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 is not beholden to politicians.
[39] Feeny notes that European monarchies—such as the Danish, Belgian, Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian, and British—have ruled over countries that are among the most stable, prosperous, and free in the world.
[39]Socialist writer George Orwell argued a similar point, that constitutional monarchy is effective at preventing the development of fascism.
A French journalist said to me once that the monarchy was one of the things that have saved Britain from Fascism...It is at any rate possible that while this division of function exists a Hitler or a Stalin cannot come to power.
I have often advocated that a Labour government, i.e. one that meant business, would abolish titles while retaining the Royal Family.’[40]Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn took a different approach, arguing that liberty and equality are contradictions.
In Liberty or Equality, he writes: There is little doubt that the American Congress or the French Chambers have a power over their nations which would rouse the envy of a Louis XIV or a George III, were they alive today.
Not only prohibition, but also the income tax declaration, selective service, obligatory schooling, the fingerprinting of blameless citizens, premarital blood tests—none of these totalitarian measures would even the royal absolutism of the seventeenth century have dared to introduce.
[43]Oxford political scientists Petra Schleiter and Edward Morgan-Jones wrote that in monarchies, it is more common to hold elections than non-electoral replacements.
