Ancien régime
In the
history of France, the phrase
ancien régime (
French:
old régime or
old order) commonly refers to the
social and
political system established in
France under the old
absolute monarchy, subsequently swept away by the
French Revolution of
1789 with the fall of
Louis XVI.
The phrase generally applies to France, for no other country, with perhaps the exception of Japan, has had in modern times so clearly marked a division between "the old order" and the new.
Stub text from 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Please update as needed.