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Criticism of monarchy has occurred since ancient times. It can be targeted against the general form of government—monarchy—or more specifically, to particular monarchical governments as controlled by hereditary royal families. In some cases, this criticism can be curtailed by legal restrictions and be considered criminal speech, as in lèse-majesté.
Monarchies in Europe and their underlying concepts, such as the Divine Right of Kings, became increasingly criticized during the Age of Enlightenment, which notably paved the way to the French Revolution and the proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy in France. Earlier, the American Revolution had seen the Patriots suppress the Loyalists and expel all royal officials.
In contemporary times, monarchies are present in the world in many forms with different degrees of royal power and involvement in civil affairs:
- Absolute monarchies in Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Eswatini, the emirates of the UAE, and the Vatican City;
- Constitutional monarchies in the United Kingdom and its sovereign's Commonwealth Realms, and in Bahrain, Belgium, Denmark, Japan, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Morocco, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates.
The twentieth century, beginning with the 1917 February Revolution in Russia and accelerated by two world wars, saw many European countries replace their monarchies with republics, while others replaced their absolute monarchies with constitutional monarchies. Reverse movements have also occurred, with brief returns of the monarchy in France under the Bourbon Restoration, the July Monarchy, and the Second French Empire, the Stuarts after the English Civil War and the Bourbons in Spain after the Franco dictatorship.