2.4.1 Social Factors — The Enlightenment

Tradition Gives Way to the Enlightenment Period


To be a French commoner in the Third Estate in 1789 meant a life with little chance for improvement, and that was the way it had been in France for centuries. Tradition! Life in France went on as it always had. However, traditions began to change as the Enlightenment period developed in France.

The Enlightenment period was an intellectual movement. People questioned traditional authorities and proposed society could be developed using rational thinking with more equal access for all citizens. Given their current status, the Enlightenment period drew many French commoners who were tired of their lack of progress and movement in French society. This movement led to casual gatherings of members of the Third Estate and the growth of the bourgeoisie. At the gatherings, the treatment from the King and the other estates was discussed, as was the lack of say in government affairs afforded to Third Estate members. Resentment of the overall status of the Third Estate in France was growing.

Watch

View an overview of the shift from tradition to change in the video "What Was the Enlightenment?" below.



Go to your textbook, Understanding Nationalism, and read page 44. This page will further your understanding of the situation in France before the Revolution.
Continue to take notes using the 2.4 Notebook Organizer (Word, PDF, Google Doc) about what you have read and viewed. When you are done, return here to continue.

The Enlightenment

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Public Domain
During The Enlightenment, many of the ideas leading to a change in the feudal system in Europe arose. Starting in the 17th century (1600s), scientific knowledge progressed and spread across Europe. Scientists and philosophers began to show previously unexplained phenomena could be explained through scientific laws and reasoning. For example, objects do not fall to the ground because of magical forces, but because of the law of gravity.

François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire)

Public Domain

By the 18th century (1700s), philosophers began using the same scientific reasoning on society. They found the old ways of the feudal system were not good for the common people. Famous thinkers, such as Rousseau and Voltaire, reasoned

  • all people should have personal freedoms, such as freedom of speech and religious freedom,
  • political improvements should be made to ensure all people are equal and have a say in government, and
  • economic improvements should be made that would give all people the same opportunities.
Enlightenment philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries challenged the old feudal system. Enlightenment philosophers called for European monarchs to change their governments so their subjects would have more freedoms and better standards of living. Such ideas gave way to the ideologies of liberalism and egalitarianism.

Status Quo?

Especially as ideas in the Enlightenment period increased in popularity, some monarchs did try to become "enlightened", but only a few. Monarchs and rulers did not want to give up the absolute power they claimed by divine right. The Catholic Church (the main religion in Europe at this time) upheld the divine right of kings. This meant the Church influenced all Europeans to obey their monarchs, which meant  European society was stuck in a feudal society that had changed very little for hundreds of years.

For instance, Russian Empress Catherine the Great (right) was Russia's longest ruling female monarch, and although she regularly corresponded with Voltaire (a famous Enlightenment thinker), she (as many European monarchs) felt threatened by the growing ideas in the French Revolution. She, and many others, did not want to give up their privileges as a monarch.

Catherine the Great

Public Domain

Reflect


The Enlightenment period pointed out the inequalities of the feudal system and provided a sense of hope and change for the Third Estate, which was the largest group in France at the time.

  1. In light of France's traditional feudal structure, how could French society be changed to actually benefit the Third Estate?

  2. There are modern examples of when new ideas and movements helped change a nation's sense of identity. Some examples include the United States 1950s/60s Civil Rights movement, China's Cultural Revolution, or Indian Independence from Britain. What ideas fueled change in these nations? What Canadian ideas or movements can you think of that has changed our nation's identity?


Take point form notes in the 2.4 Notebook Organizer to record your responses to the Reflect section.

Due to the repeated failure to enact change by the First and Second Estates and the monarchy, the only way to achieve change in France seemed to be through a revolution. Enlightenment ideas became very powerful in the development of nationalism during the French Revolution.