What role did the French philosophers play in bringing about the French Revolution?
Answers
The philosophers like Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, John Locke were the main cause for the French Revolution. They judged the entire power of the king in their state. They made the people understand the reality by creating many writings.
Answer: i. These ideas of a society based on freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all, were put forward by philosophers such as
John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau. In his Two Treatises of Government, Locke sought to disprove the doctrine of the
the divine and absolute right of the monarch.
ii. Rousseau carried the idea forward, proposing a form of government based on a social contract between people and their
representatives.
iii. In The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the government between the legislative, the
executive, and the judiciary. This model of government was put into force in the USA after the thirteen colonies declared their
independence from Britain. iv. The American Constitution and its guarantee of individual rights influenced political thinkers in
France. The ideas of these philosophers were discussed intensively in salons and coffee houses and spread among people
through books and newspapers.
iv. These were frequently read aloud in groups for the benefit of those who could not read and write. The news that Louis XVI
planned to impose further taxes to be able to meet the expenses of the state generated anger and protest against the system
of privileges.