Impact of The Age of Enlightenment in Europe

The Age of Enlightenment, also known as “Age of Reason”, was a movement that saw a leap in philosophy, logic, and reasoning that happened in the 1700s. This age shaped the whole world today, and perhaps, helped develop liberalism, a philosophy that affirms all men are equal and subject to the same law (1).

The separation of church and state, economic progress, and constitutional change are the result of this wonderful era. There were many causes of this age including:

• Poverty
• Unequal distribution of wealth
• The rise of bread costs

However, the most apparent cause is the Thirty Years’ War (2), which was a war in central Europe that lasted between 1618 to 1648, which resulted in 8 million deaths (3) (around 10% of the global population). John Locke, a well known person in England, promoted and suggested a representative government (2), which is a form of government where people elect representatives to make laws behalf of the people.

In 1688, English protestants overthrew king James II (a catholic) and appointed William and Mary (protestant monarchs) (2). At the end of this movement, several reforms were made that guaranteed the English people much more rights and personal freedom.

Looking a bit south of England, you’ll find France. In France, compared to other countries, the enlightenment revolution happened a bit late. This is because of the philosophers that were born after the revolution. Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau were one of the most influential philosophers in the French enlightenment (4). The French enlightenment happened between 1750 and 1789 (1). During that time, people were languished by the oppressive government. The enlightenment played a very crucial role because it driven people to start the French revolution.

The enlightenment transformed French’s form of government from a monarch to a republic. King Louis XVI was beheaded after the revolution due to his poor leadership. Before the revolution, poor people were taxed the most while the richest where exempted from the taxation. However, but rather unfortunately, the enlightenment died after the French revolution. The outcomes of the French revolution were negative. The new governments were oppressive and unjust, committing horrible crimes against other people if they didn’t agree with their new policies. In the early 1800s, a dictator with a name of Napoleon Bonaparte, took control of the French government and brought positive changes (4).

In conclusion, The Age of Enlightenment saw a great leap in philosophy and logic. In response to the great philosophers, successful revolutions supporting the citizens’ rights were made – but not the French revolution. Unfortunately, the Age of Enlightenment died after the French revolution. This age helped bring birth to liberalism, and perhaps, shape the world around us today – hundreds and hundreds of years later.

Sources

1. “Age of Enlightenment.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Nov. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment.
2. SparkNotes, SparkNotes, https://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/enlightenment/summary/.
3. “Representative-Government.” Representative-Government Dictionary Definition | Representative-Government Defined, https://www.yourdictionary.com/representative-government.
4. “Sutori.” Sutori, https://www.sutori.com/story/enlightenment-and-the-french-revolution--CyCp9tSgcbm4PHiTxrpLsbnV.