20th and 21st centuries
In
many
European
countries,
the
nobility
has
lost
its
political
power
as
an
independent
class
due
to
the
development
of
republics,
constitutional
monarchies,
socialist
or
communist
systems.
However,
due
to
its
continuing
social
prestige,
it
is
still
represented
more
often
than
average
in
representative
leadership
positions
(more
than
in
actual
positions
of
power).
Until
the
20th
century,
it
represented
a
relatively
closed
social
class,
and
today
it
often
still
represents
at
least
a
style-determining
social
milieu
(comparable
to
the
various
layers
of
the
bourgeoisie)
with
its
own
lifestyles,
ways
of
behaving
and
differentiated
class
ethos.
The
associations
of
the
nobility,
such
as
the
umbrella
organization
Cilane
and
the
individual
aristocratic
associations in European countries, are used by some of the nobility as interest groups.
The
situation
of
the
nobility
in
the
various
European
countries
is
very
heterogeneous
today
–
a
consequence
of
the
very
different historical processes in the countries:
In
some
countries
in
Western
and
Northern
Europe,
the
nobility
has
experienced
continuity,
despite
all
the
changes
and
the
gradual
sharing
and
giving
up
of
its
political
power
(e.g.
Great
Britain
and
Northern
Ireland,
the
Netherlands,
Belgium,
Luxembourg,
Norway,
Sweden,
Denmark,
Liechtenstein,
Monaco,
Spain).
In
these
countries,
monarch
families
are
the
representatives
at
the
head
of
the
state,
although
in
some
cases
without
or
with
very
limited
power
(see,
for
example,
the
constitutional
bodies
of
the
United
Kingdom).
Nobles
in
Great
Britain
and
Northern
Ireland
sit
in
the
House
of
Lords,
advancement
to
the
nobility
through
ennoblement
is
still
possible
in
some
countries
(e.g.
Great
Britain
and
Northern
Ireland,
Belgium,
Spain),
and
they
are
still
organized
in
associations
(e.g.
the
Swedish
Riddarhuset);
nobles
naturally
form
part
of
the
elite there.
In
other
European
countries,
however,
a
clear
break
has
taken
place.
Among
them
are
countries
that
became
republics,
e.g.
France,
Germany
(1918/1919)
and
Italy.
In
these
countries,
the
nobility
mostly
lost
all
of
its
political
power
in
one
fell
swoop,
but
in
some
cases
still
had
a
certain
social
weight,
while
at
the
same
time
increasingly
opening
up
to
the
upper
and
educated
middle classes in terms of marriages.
In
some
countries,
the
nobility
was
completely
abolished,
as
in
Austria
(Nobility
Abolition
Act
1919).
Nobles
became
normal
citizens
and
were
prohibited
from
using
a
noble
title.
However,
there
was
no
interference
with
property
rights,
except
for
the
ruling family (Habsburg Laws).
Finally,
in
some
other
countries,
especially
in
the
east,
the
nobility
experienced
an
even
sharper
break
with
the
establishment
of
socialist
or
communist
dictatorships
(Soviet
Union,
SBZ/GDR,
Poland,
etc.).
Here,
the
nobility
was
in
some
cases
completely stripped of its property, expelled, interned or shot.
In
Germany,
the
observance
of
the
law
of
nobility,
which
goes
back
to
the
principles
of
Salic
law,
still
plays
a
role
today,
especially
in
the
regularly
published
volume
series
of
the
Genealogical
Handbook
of
the
Nobility
and
in
the
monthly
magazine
Deutsches
Adelsblatt,
under
the
supervision
of
a
"German
Nobility
Law
Committee",
since
the
design
options
of
today's
name
law
(adoptions,
passing
on
the
name
by
women
who
have
married
out,
adopted
husbands,
illegitimate
children,
etc.)
produce
numerous
name
bearers
who
do
not
belong
to
the
"historical
nobility"
("pseudo-nobility").
In
Austria,
on
the
other
hand,
such
a
"flood
of
titles"
was
prevented
by
the
deletion
of
all
titles
in
1919;
here,
the
only
thing
that
counts
is
knowing
which
families and which of the associated name bearers belong or belonged to the nobility.
