Enlightenment and the French Revolution

In short: The Enlightenment (17th/18th century) demanded that people use their own reason and placed reason above tradition and authority. Its ideas shaped the French Revolution of 1789.

In more detail: Immanuel Kant summarised it in 1784: Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity.

In detail

• Thinkers: Locke, Montesquieu (separation of powers), Voltaire, Rousseau (popular sovereignty), Kant.
• French Revolution: Storming of the Bastille (14 July 1789), Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, abolition of the society of estates.
• Slogans: Liberty, equality, fraternity.
• Terror: The Reign of Terror (1793–94) executed thousands; Napoleon took power in 1799.
• Consequences: Ideas of human rights, constitutions and nation states spread (industrielle-revolution).
• Today: Fundamental rights, separation of powers and freedom of expression stand in democratic constitutions.