French Revolution Enlightenment Analysis

The French Revolution was an extraordinary and violent revolt by the French people against their absolutist monarchy. By the people taking action they were able to free themselves from the heavy strains of peasantry and change their country for the better. In addition to this revolution there was another force sweeping Europe, the enlightenment. This was a period in time where man was beginning to shift away from the blind faith of religion and gravitate towards logic and science based thinking, ideals and lifestyles. In this time period France was able to pull influence from the enlightenment and use it to fuel their revolution. The enlightenment was a massive movement that ushered its influence throughout France helping to form a new era through the French Revolution. In this period France was ruled by King Louis XIV, an absolutist monarch born into power. However, despite Louis’s status of a king the people of France reviled him. He was seen as indecisive, introverted and everything a king was not supposed to be. Crops were failing across the country, leading to high bread prices and starvation among the poor, and King Louis’s decision to help the thirteen colonies with …show more content…
As explained by volume 2 of Western Civilizations, “Montesquieu suggested that there were three basic forms of government: republics, monarchies, and despotisms. A republic was governed by many individuals...allowed individual citizens to transcend their particular interests...rule in the common good ”. This was a major influence towards the French Revolution because it introduced the idea of a republic, which would later be used while forming a new government. It also helped to reinforce that a monarchy was not the best idea, as Montesquieu described its soul as honor based, “giving individuals an incentive to behave with loyalty towards