ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the general constitutional development in Europe during the Restoration period. The fall of the French Empire in spring 1814 made the question of how to deal with the revolutionary and Napoleonic legacy a most pressing one; in particular the question of how the issue of ‘sovereignty’ should be tackled and regimes legitimised and put on a solid basis. Perhaps the main challenge in this regard was how to reconcile European princes’ claim to preserve their monarchical sovereignty with post-revolutionary societies’ expectations, especially their hopes for a constitutional state guaranteeing civil liberties and allowing for political participation. It is demonstrated that while there was a range of potential constitutional alternatives available in post-1814 Europe, it was ‘constitutional monarchism’ – the innovative attempt to merge what was later termed the ‘monarchical principle’ with constitutional government – that was to become the dominant constitutional model of the Restoration period and beyond. The immanent antagonism between crown and parliament, however, hampered the long-term institutionalisation of ‘constitutional monarchism’, and eventually made it a transitional phenomenon only.
