Transformation of European States: From Feudal to Modern

In this paper I discuss the morphological evolution of the European states. In Europe, processes of evolution toward modern states began in the late middle ages and continued throughout the modern times. Different nations may have had different experiences in their processes but they all took the same direction and went through similar stages of evolution, which displayed a distinct characteristic of order. Thus we see the four steps in the evolution: feudalism, absolute monarchy, aristocratic dominance, and the “popular” formula. To me the orderly proceeding is a phenomenon of high importance claiming for serious studies. By looking back to the history of European countries I try to explain the phenomenon and discuss the mechanism in it.Formation of modern states in Europe demonstrates a conspicuous feature of stage-by-stage development during the transition from feudalism to capitalism. This stage-by-stage development is striking not only in that the political form of every stage represents the need of the then society but also in that almost every state in Europe has experienced the same stage-by-stage development, moving from one stage to the next according to a certain sequence. Despite the different pace and different modes in different countries, the sequence of the stages is almost the same. This propels us to wonder whether there is inevitable logic in this phenomenon. If so, what can we draw from it? The present paper is an attempt to dig into this phenomenon and make some interpretations of its possible implications.