Compare Enlightened Despotism with the French Revolution Essay Example for Free

Compare Enlightened Despotism with the French Revolution Essay The Enlightenment, an historical period of the 18th and early 19th centuries influenced actions of absolute rulers. This movement also provided a framework for the French Revolutions. Enlightened despots believed that political change could best come from the ruler. Where as the French Revolution did many things, unleashed new forces, destroy old ideas, offered new promises. Not the Revolution itself, of course, but the people who made it. However, Enlightened despots were encouraged by the philosophers to make good laws to promote human happiness. Despots acted abruptly and desired quicker results. They were impatient with all that stood in the way of their reforms. In addition, they justified their authority on the grounds of usefulness, not divine right? Frederick II (Frederick the Great), the most famous Prussian absolute monarch and a military genius, pursued an aggressive foreign policy. In 1740 he seized from Austria the province of Silesia. His action culminated in a major European conflict, the Seven Years War (1756-1763), in which he was pitted against a powerful Europe. Enlightened monarchs embraced the principles of the Enlightenment, especially its emphasis upon rationality, and applied them to their kingdoms. They tended to allow religious toleration, freedom of speech and the press, and the right to hold private property. Most fostered the arts, sciences, and education. Enlightened Absolutists believe that they had the right to govern by birth. Emperor Joseph II can be said to have fully embraced the Enlightened concept of the social contract. In contrast Catherine II entirely rejected the concept of the social contract while taking up many ideas of the Enlightenment. The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a pivotal period in the history of France and Europe. The Revolution is widely seen as a major turning point in European history-from the age of absolutism, to the age of the citizenry, as the dominant political force. Many interrelated political and socioeconomic factors contributed to the French Revolution. It fell to the ambitions of a rising bourgeoisie, allied with aggrieved peasants, wage earners, and individuals of all classes who had come under the influence of the ideas of the Enlightment. It was and remains a system of ideas that are usually goal- directed. Most ideologies are, therefore, fundamentally political, bright descriptions of the means and methods by which the instruments of revolution, party, or government ought to be used for the purpose of social change. The French Revolution was the first major social revolution, of far greater dimensions and of deeper purpose. Elected to the Committee of Public Safety in July 1793, Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) soon came to dominate that group, hence dominate the revolutionary government. He exhibited himself as a ruthless individual, incorruptible, dictatorial, impersonal, and determined to sweep away all who opposed the Revolution. He urged the war on against the monarchical powers of France, and he encouraged the Reign of Terror. The major causes of   French Revolution include the following: A poor economic situation and an unmanageable national debt were both caused and exacerbated by the burden of a grossly inequitable system of taxation and Frances funding of the American revolution, A resentment of royal absolutism; An aspiration for liberty and republicanism; A resentment of Manorialism (seigneurialism) by peasants, wage-earners, and to a lesser extent, the bourgeoisie; The rise of enlightenment ideals; Food scarcity in the months immediately before the revolution; High unemployment and high bread prices resulting in the inability to purchase food; A resentment of noble privilege and dominance in public life by the ambitious professional classes. In principle and by legislation, French revolution made the individual citizen the center of a new social order. The social order should, therefore, be designed to maximize this freedom, this personal liberty. References Spielvogel Western Civilization Volume II: Since 1500 (2003) p.493, 517. Scott, H. M, Enlightened Absolutism: Reform and Reformers in Late Eighteenth Century Europe (1990), ISBN 0472101730.