After last week's brief departure into the Far and Middle Eastern Chingizid dynasty, we return today to the end of our study of dynastic periods. Dynasties reached their zenith in the high Middle Ages, maintained that height until the 1700s, and then began a long crash that has lasted to this day. There are a grand total of twenty-six dynastic monarchies in the world today when only a hundred years ago there were many hundred monarchies still in existence. Their fall was sudden, decisive, and expected when viewed in hindsight.
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Map of Current Monarchies, c. 2008 |
World War I began the last real turn for dynasties. By the 1950s, much of the monarchical world appeared as it does today. There are still no real rules for which countries retain monarchies, except that North and South America lack any hereditary monarchies aside from ones in the British Commonwealth (discussed later). Each country has retained its monarchy for different reasons and through different means, but the result has been roughly the same: all hereditary monarchies except three are constitutional in nature and the monarch serves more a titular than an actual role.
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| Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman |
The Middle East has probably the highest concentration of monarchs. Oddly, many are in place because of western support or even because a western power installed the king. Iraq lost its installed monarch in the late 1950s while Persia/Iran's monarch was deposed in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia all have a king, shiekh or sultan. The Arabian Peninsula was always ruled by the Ottoman sultan but was able to unify following the Ottoman Empire's demise in the 1920s. The smaller states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar were all hereditary states prior to World War I and have since become constitutional with the exception of Oman. They retain their monarchs in reduced, albeit not entirely titular, roles for reasons of national solidarity. The Emirate of Transjordan was created by the western powers in the 1920s out of Palestine and the eastern side of the Jordan River. In 1946 it was granted its independence and the state selected for its king the ruler of the former British mandate, King Abdullah I. Abdullah's brother was elected the king of Iraq soon after but was killed by Saddam Hussein's predecessor in a coup.
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| King Mohammed VI of Morocco |
Africa retains a number of local monarchies, but there are only three monarchs who rule entire countries. Lesotho, Morocco and Swaziland constitute those three monarchies and of them, only Swaziland's is absolute. Swaziland and Lesotho were for much of their histories British protectorates incorporated into South Africa. Both became independent in the 1960s and were able to remain separate from South Africa (which surrounds them). Their monarchs, while largely titular (more so in Lesotho), are major rallying symbols for national propaganda and help maintain conservative values in the region. Morocco has retained a monarchy since the Umayyad caliphate left the region around 900 AD. Despite the region's long and varied history, its Berber peoples look upon their king as a figurehead for their famed past and sign of hope for the future.
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| King Norodom of Cambodia |
Asia and Oceana have the second largest concentration of the world's monarchies and it is largely because they were able to avoid direct European conquest in the previous centuries, retaining their monarchs while becoming vassals of European imperialists. Brunei, Cambodia, Japan, Malaysia, Samoa, Thailand, and Tonga all still have monarchs and all have become constitutional in the past sixty years. Japan was heavily pressured to remove its monarch after World War II but was able to keep him in exchange for adopting a constitution written much in the same way as the United States'. Brunei, Samoa, and Tonga are all so small that, when they were released from European control in the 1960s (which was only nominal at best anyway) they went straight back to their traditional rulers while using European-style governments. Thailand (Siam) was never completely controlled by a European power and never truly lost its monarchy. Malaysia was often subjected to control by its neighbors, namely Thailand/Siam and Indonesia, but Britain in the 1880s accepted the king of Malaysia as a formal monarch and his family has been the recognized national dynasty ever since. Lastly, Cambodia was for much of its history a vassal of Thailand and continued to be even as the French controlled Siamese politics. France slowly separated the two regions but continued to control the Cambodian dynasty until its eventual withdraw from the region in the 1950s. The monarchy fell apart in the 1970s during the Vietnam War and was only restored in 1993 under the former monarch. It has since continued as a constitutional monarchy.
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| King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden |
The largest concentration of monarchies today lies in Europe and its medieval dynasties. A grand total of ten monarchies exist in Europe and there are monarchist movements in many former monarchical states. In total, Belgium, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom all retain monarchs. All of them are constitutional and serve mostly titular functions (as required by the European Union constitution). Many of the current monarchies are linked as well. Denmark and Norway derive from the same family (Oldenburg) and were for most of their histories linked until a referendum in Norway declared the state's independence from Denmark. With Sweden, the three Scandinavian states maintain their monarchs because of their rich histories and for purposes of national unity. Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg are also related, all being part of the Benelux Low Countries region of Europe. Up until 1830, the three countries constituted the United Netherlands, but Belgium rebelled and chose a new monarch and Luxembourg soon after was inherited through a different line due to different succession laws. They also retain their monarchs for nationalist purposes and to unite otherwise heterogeneous regions. Liechtenstein and Monaco are some of the micro states of Europe and largely exist because their monarchies still exist. Were Monaco ever to lose its monarchy, it would become a part of France (part of an agreement made with Napoleon). Liechtenstein is a small remainder of the once-great Holy Roman Empire and has just managed to thrive since its dissolution in 1806. Spain went through a period of forty years without a monarch while under the regime of Francisco Franco, but upon Franco's death, the monarchy was restored, albeit with many constitutional changes. The kindly constitutional king Juan Carlos remains king largely because the country still remembers the totalitarian regime of Franco.
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| Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth |
Finally, the United Kingdom. No other monarch in the world can claim as many titles as the British monarch due to the continued existence of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Once a large organization of many large and small countries, the Commonwealth consists now of only fifteen mostly small countries, excepting Australia and Canada. The British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is entirely a figurehead in every country she is said to rule. There are large movements in most countries to end the constitutional monarchy. Britain, too, has movements against her but none have yet succeeded in their goals. In all, the British monarch rules Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu. The majority of these Commonwealth countries continue to call Elizabeth their queen because the countries help each other progress toward a more developed future. It is mostly an economic union although it has other purposes as well such as easier immigration/emigration. Since calling the British monarch queen hardly affects their independent local governments, most Commonwealth countries have done so. In any case, the queen has no control over her domains and each country is an independent constitutional and democratic monarchy.
The future of monarchies is uncertain. While just around 30 remain today, many former monarchies have large monarchist movements while all current monarchies have anti-monarchy movements. What that means for the future is unclear. What is certain is that some form of monarchy will continue into the 21st century and therefore shape the direction of world politics. Whether they will have a resurgence or become a historical relic we cannot guess, but my hunch would be that monarchies will survive for quite a while longer in some form or another. They've lasted this long, haven't they?
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