With peace coming to the continent in 1871, Europe settled down to the practical application of the slogan "liberty, equality, and fraternity;" that is, as it was interpreted by the bourgeoisie. Gone was the despotic king, except, of course, in the more backward countries, and the privileged aristocracy had been superseded by, or merged with, the middle class, whose most energetic member, the entrepreneur, had made the discovery that the theory of individual liberty was very useful in handling the new economic conditions arising out of the industrial revolution.