Abstract
The concept of liberalism underwent many changes with respect to both temporal and geographical circumstances and its fundamental characteristics gradually evolved. The goal of this paper is to illustrate the inception and groundwork of the European understanding of the concept in 18th and 19th centuries and also the European develpment, which led to the general adoption of some measures that are designed to protect the weaker party but at the same time preserve the market system as such.
In contrast to that stands the development of the American branch of liberalism, which acquired a different meaning following the 1920's and today stands for an interventionist public policy and criticism of capitalism.. As a consequence, contemporary American authors use the term libertarianism or classical liberalism for the original European branch.
The paper demonstrates its theses on the examples of basic ideas of the main proponents of the tradition.