The Enlightenment and the French Revolution

The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was an intellectual movement in the 1700s that emphasized reason and challenged traditional ideas.
Thinkers applied reason to discover natural laws governing human behavior and solve societal problems.
Key Enlightenment thinkers:
- John Locke: Advocated for natural rights to life, liberty, and property. Believed government's purpose was the protection of these rights, and citizens had the right to overthrow it if it failed to do so.
- Baron de Montesquieu: Promoted the separation of powers into legislative, executive, and judicial branches to prevent tyranny through a system of checks and balances.
- Voltaire: Championed free speech and criticized government and religious intolerance.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Argued in The Social Contract that people are born good but corrupted by society. He believed in the "general will" and that citizens must give up self-interests for the common good.

Enlightenment ideas led people to question established beliefs and customs.
Governments and Church leaders censored Enlightenment thinkers to defend established systems.

Some absolute rulers, known as enlightened despots, adopted Enlightenment ideas to reform society.
- Frederick the Great of Prussia: Saw himself as the "first servant of the state." Tolerated religions, reduced torture, and allowed a free press but ultimately increased his own power.
- Joseph II of Austria: Modernized the government, implemented legal reforms, practiced religious toleration, ended censorship, and abolished serfdom, but many reforms were later overturned.
- Catherine the Great of Russia: Corresponded with Enlightenment thinkers, built schools and hospitals, promoted education for women, and granted some religious tolerance, but grew more repressive later in her reign.

Enlightenment ideas influenced the abolitionist movement.
William Wilberforce: Led the fight to end the slave trade and slavery in the British Empire.

Inspired by Enlightenment ideas, the French Revolution aimed to reform the social order and challenge absolute monarchy.

Absolute Monarchy: Louis XVI denied basic rights and had absolute power.
Social Inequality: The estate system privileged the clergy and nobility (First and Second Estates), while the Third Estate (bourgeoisie, city workers, and peasants) bore a heavy tax burden.
Economic Injustices: Foreign wars and extravagant spending led to debt and high food prices.
Enlightenment Ideas: Thinkers questioned the traditional social order and called for democratic reforms.
English and American Examples: England's Glorious Revolution and the American Revolution inspired the French.

National Assembly: The Third Estate formed the National Assembly and vowed to write a new constitution (Tennis Court Oath).
Seizure of the Bastille: Citizens stormed the Bastille prison, symbolizing the end of absolutism.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: The National Assembly adopted this declaration, which guaranteed equality under the law for male citizens.
Radicals in Power: Radicals took control, ended the monarchy, and executed Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
Reign of Terror: Led by Robespierre, the Committee of Public Safety executed thousands of suspected enemies of the revolution.
Moderates Return: The Directory, a five-man government, took power but was weak and inefficient.

Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power through military success, overthrowing the Directory in a coup d'état.
He implemented policies that included economy control, government-run public schools, and the Napoleonic Code.
The Napoleonic Code included Enlightenment ideas, such as the legal equality of citizens and religious toleration.

Napoleon's empire collapsed due to nationalism in conquered states and his disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812.
He was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and exiled.

Women had limited rights in the Old Regime.
Mary Wollstonecraft: Argued for women's education and equal rights in A Vindication of the Rights of Women.
Olympe de Gouges: Wrote Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen.
The Napoleonic Code did not lead to positive change for women.