In Rousseau's The Social Contract, two circumstances could cause a government to transform: the contraction of government and the dissolution of the state.
Government contraction meant rulers shifting from democracy to aristocracy, or from aristocracy to monarchy. The example Rousseau gave was the Republic of Venice.
Over its history of more than twelve hundred years, the Republic of Venice had remained at the second stage, something unprecedented in the entire history of human civilization.
Unless a government had exhausted its vitality and no longer possessed the strength to maintain its original form, it would absolutely not change its type.
Britain's constitutional monarchy and America's presidential system had both emerged from compromises and concessions by Britain's aristocratic class.
The feudal systems of France and the Qing Dynasty had both fallen apart because their aristocratic classes lacked the strength to sustain them.
At such a time, the aristocracy should have reformed and strengthened itself. Otherwise, the nation it supported would meet a fate of destruction. This was what Rousseau called the dissolution of the state.
When a state dissolved, there was usually a tyrant. This tyrant did not necessarily slaughter countless people, but no longer governed according to law. Louis XVI rejected constitutional monarchy, while Empress Dowager Cixi stopped Emperor Guangxu's "reforms" and protected the interests of the stubborn feudal forces.
The processes by which French and Qing feudalism collapsed were different: one was "freedom in turmoil," the other "peace in slavery."
France had been influenced by the Enlightenment, while the people of the Qing Dynasty had been weakened. Not only was illiteracy widespread, even the educated knew only "obedience." This was the lingering poison left by Yongzheng. Officials were no longer allowed to restrain the emperor's conduct as they once had. The Manchus were masters and tyrants riding atop the Han