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FRANCE IN REVOLUTION- IN WHAT WAYS DID THE ENLIGHTENMENT UNDERMINE THE

CONCEPT OF ABSOLUTISM?

The impact of Enlightenment on Monarchical absolutism and in events leading up to the French
Revolution were considerable.
It was these ideologies that most affected the thinking of the people and led to the downfall of
absolute monarchy in France. However, we cannot attribute them with being the sole or even
the most important cause which threw France under the wheels of revolution.
With the death of Louis IX in 1270, Frances dynasties had rallied to implement an efficient,
centralized monarchy, riding on Papal shoulders. Philip IV tried to project himself as the
benevolent despot by establishing the Etats Genereaux, or the Estates General, a Legislative
body called at the behest of the King, and an entirely defunct body.
By the end of the 17th Century, France was established as an absolute monarchy, and all paths
led to the caprices and desires of either the monarchy or the elite class of nobility. The reigns of
Louis XIII and XIV saw the zenith of absolute monarchy in France.
The causes of the revolution in France can be attributed to multiple factors: 1. International:
struggle for hegemony and the Empire outstrips the fiscal resources of the state 2. Political
conflict: conflict between the Monarchy and Aristocrats over the reform of the tax system led to
paralysis and bankruptcy. 3. The Enlightenment: one variant reinforces traditional aristocratic
constitutionalism, as in Montesquieus Spirit of the Laws (1748); Rousseau introduces new
notions of good government in his Social Contract (1762), with the argument for popular
sovereignty 4. Social antagonisms between two rising groups: the aristocracy and the
bourgeoisie 5. Ineffective ruler: Louis XVI 6. Economic hardship, especially the agrarian crisis of
1788-89 generates popular discontent and disorders caused by food shortages (Chambers &
Lejjena, 2012) 1.

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History stresses that while the Age of Reason and the philosophes may have undermined
the absolutism of the monarchy in France, it was never their intention to promulgate rebellion,
rather they aimed at a general awareness in the people. Rightfully so, since at this time, the
general public, comprising the Third Estate was overburdened with taxes which were
replenishing royal coffers in the wake of international warfare and the aristocratic greed.
During the ancient regime, successive royal governments were affected by deep-rooted
problems, and they influenced the way France was governed, particularly the taxation system;
the carefully ordered, yet deeply divided structure of the French society; the gradual spread of
ideas that started to challenge this structure (Rees & Townson, 2015)2.
French historians are of the opinion that Enlightenment traditionally took place between
1715 and the beginning of the French Revolution. In the mid-18th century, Paris became the
center of an explosion of philosophic and scientific activity, challenging traditional doctrines and
dogmas. The philosophic movement was led by Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who
argued for a society based upon reason rather than faith and Catholic doctrine, for a new civil
order based on natural law, and for science based on experiments and observation.
Political, economic, and social problems that were rife in France during the 18th century led
to the French Revolution and the upset of the monarchy. The political problem was the
absolutism of the French monarchy itself, while the economic problem was the collapse of the
French economic structure, more so the taxation burden on the lower classes. The social
problem was that the society was divided into three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the
commoners, with wide disparities. The commoners were the class reeling under poverty and
taxes, and this was the class the philosophers wanted to awaken: Dare to know! Have the
courage to use your own intelligence!(Immanuel Kant)
John Locke, Jean -Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, Montesquieu, and many more were the
ones who then affected the French Revolution using their philosophies. The political

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philosopher Montesquieu introduced the idea of a separation of powers in a government. While
the Philosophes of the French Enlightenment were not revolutionaries, and many were
members of the nobility, their ideas played an important part in undermining the legitimacy of the
Old Regime and shaping the French Revolution (Petitfils, 2005)3.
The Enlightenment's highest achievement was the development of a tightly organized
philosophy, purportedly based on scientific principles and contradicting every argument for
absolute monarchy as it generally existed in the eighteenth century. The case against
absolutism, as presented by the philosophes and their foreign sympathizers, condemned divineright monarchy, aristocracy by birth, state churches, and mercantilism. Each was found to be
irrational, unnatural, and therefore basically evil. Locke at the opening of the period, and
Rousseau at its end answered the divine-right doctrine with the opposing theory of a "social
contract." He also purported that when its authority was used for other purposes, the contract
was broken, and the people were justified in forming another government 4.
It was never the intention of the French philosophes to suggest policy; it was certainly their
intention to question, argue, and reason. Their ideas were complex, as were the geographical,
social, and political contexts in which they wrote. Even amongst themselves, they were divided
on the issue of a totalitarian government by the monarch, or a parliamentarian one by the
peoples representatives. Due to these diverse ideologies, the Enlightenment was a confused
and opinioned period, and it logically followed that the people also became divided in their
following and interpretations of the theories. Enlightened thinkers sought to liberate man from
the constraints of the absolute monarch and the Church. Descartes sought to reason and think
about everything before blind acceptance, and thus the Divine Right of Kings was challenged.
Under the reign of Louis XVI, an ineffective and weak king, matters in France came to a
head. By 1789, the country was in an economic shambles, and the Third Estate was trying to
scrape itself off the ground. The unhappiness of the commoners with their government and the

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disparity with the other classes resulted in outbreaks. The philosophers advice was at last being
taken seriously by the masses, although this was not the result they had envisioned.
Robespierre took it to the extremes by fostering the Reign of Terror, and the storming of the
Bastille. General Lafayette, a key player in the American War of Independence, brought back
insurgent advice to contribute to the flames of revolt in France.
Within the course of a decade, the French monarchy was shorn of its political power, a
framework was created for a universal understanding of basic human and civil rights, and
countless French citizens across class backgrounds acted to achieve political power in an era of
repression and economic uncertainty5. The August Decrees of 1789 did away with all the
malpractices of the ancient regime, and prepared the ground for the creation of a constitution6 in
1795.
The French Revolution consisted of three phases: the Liberal Revolution, the French
Republic, and the Napoleonic era. In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the revolution by a
coup d etat, and while suffering from misplaced megalomania, nevertheless curbed his lofty
ambitions to the extent where he was instrumental in initiating numerous reforms. Additionally,
during his tenure as a benevolent despot, he did in fact try and incorporate the enlightenment
practices for the betterment of the common man. Thereby he formed a powerful centralized
government which was still despotic in nature, but highly restrained with a view to citizens
rights.
By keeping in mind the peculiar characteristics of the French Polity, we can deduce that
while the enlightened ideologies were major contributors to France being in the throes of revolt
from 1774-1799, they cannot logically be attributed as the sole cause. Rightfully inferred, they
culled enough response from the masses to put brakes on what could otherwise have been an
unending absolute monarchy.

Bibliography
1

Chambers, Julian and Kathy Lejjena, 2012. Prezi

Rees, Dylan and Duncan Townson. Access to History: France in revolution 1774-1815, fifth
edition, 2015.
3

Petitfils, Jean- Christaine, 2005, pp. 99105

Locke, John. Second Essay on Civil Government (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1955), pp. 2, 6365, 71, 127-128, 154-170; Baron de Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws (New York: Hafner
Publishing, 1949), pp. 151-158.
5

http://www.history.com/

http://www.unishivaji.ac.in/