The Chinese communes referred to in this 1961 cartoon are most closely associated with the Great Leap Forward.
Agricultural development led early societies to settle. Settlements required growing food and a lasting source of water. That's why these early civilizations were born around rivers. The proximity of rivers facilitated access to fertile soil and, logically, to water.
Once a civilization has a stable source of food it can start growing surplus of it, which creates the possibility of trade. That is, stable food production is a base for the complexification of a society that can lead to the creation of other jobs, like the merchant.
It also enables a society to complexify its social structures, to build cities, to develop religion and culture which creates more jobs.
Answer:
Absolutism is a form of rule in monarchies that consists of the government of a ruler acting on his own authority without essential political responsibilities for democratic institutions. This form of political organization predominated in Europe during the 1600s and 1700s, until the beginning of the liberal revolutions, and led to the formation and consolidation of the nation states of modern Europe.
Today absolutism is practically non-existent in the world with few exceptions, since all nations have embraced, in one way or another, the concept of democracy for their political and social organization. Examples of currently existing absolutist forms of government are the reigns of the King of Saudi Arabia and the Pope in the Vatican State, each derived from religious principles.
