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Pros And Cons Of The Enlightened Despots

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Europe during the late 1600s through the 1700s was filled with new thinkers, known as “philosophes”, and new ideas. The philosophes were not held back by the beliefs of tradition or superstition. They believed in science, progress, liberty, and the freedom of speech. From these new ideas, which (for the most part) originated in Paris, France, came a period known as “the Enlightenment” and thus from this period emerged a new group of rulers known as the “Enlightened Despots”. A despot was an absolute ruler who usually exercised their power in a cruel or harsh manner. These “Enlightened Despots” were despots who ruled by the Enlightenment principles of reason, natural law, happiness, progress, and liberty. However, even though they were called the …show more content…

The Enlightenment introduced new forms of government and political thinking such as the ideas of Hobbes and Locke. If the despots really had been enlightened they would have started to introduce these new forms, and give all of their subjects representation, not just the nobles. Joseph II is perhaps the best argument that the Enlightened Despots did make political reforms in favor of the people. While it is true that Joseph attempted to reform in favor of the serfs, it is also true that he acted far too quickly and essentially shoved political and social reforms down his subjects’ throats. This caused peasants to riot and many of his reforms were abolished. Joseph II ended up dying as a hated man. Catherine the Great did not even try to make reforms in favor of the people. In 1785 she freed her nobles of both military service and taxes. In 1781, despite making some positive political reforms, such as getting rid of his rigid class system, Frederick the Great found it necessary to employ soldiers to spy on his citizens to make sure they did not have illegal roasted

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Over the course of time, many leaders attempted to control their nation and increase their own power in order to dictate their citizens. Some examples of such leaders are, Louis XIV of France and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union. During the age of absolutism, Louis XIV also known as, the “Sun King” became the ruler of France through the theory of divine right, which allowed him to rule his people as an absolute ruler. He controlled his people by implementing a centralized government and forcing the 3rd estate to pay unfair taxes. Joseph Stalin, who was another ruler, who went down in history as one of the most ruthless dictators the world has ever known.

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He will promote men not through corruption but by their actual ability through merit. It also displays the idea of a government for the people by the people, all people contributing to government was another major enlightenment idea that was reflected in the reign of

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Enlightenment was a time period that revolved around philosophy, science, and society, and is less focused on religion. Enlightenment includes a concept proposed by the philosopher John Locke that all humans, when they are born, are entitled to basic human rights. The Enlightenment also includes the thought that things in the universe are constant, leading away from such a strong reliance on God. The concept of Enlightenment inspired many proceeding declarations, including the USA’s declaration because it encouraged equality to all men. John Locke was an Enlightenment thinker who proposed that as humans, we are entitled to basic rights and that when we are born we are blank canvases and are thereafter altered by our surroundings.

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11.4 - Long Essay LEQ Practice the Enlightenment Prompt: Describe and analyze the influence of the Enlightenment on both elite culture and popular culture in the eighteenth century. Throughout the centuries, Europe has been an ever changing and evolving culture that shifts and morphs to fit the mold of the social normalities present at the time. Whether it be the Renaissance, the Reformation, or the World Wars, Europe has frequently changed as a society and culture throughout the ages. In particular, one of the most prevalent and enormous culture shifts was that of the Enlightenment.

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At the time only the upper classes had a say in governments, the upper class treated the lower class very harsh and unfair. The majority of the enlightenment thinkers belonged to the lower class. With the majority of the population being lower class this system made no sense. Once people began to realize that the majority should have rule over the government they began to rebel and led to wars like the American Revolution and French Revolution. New governments evolved with time from these revolutions.

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The Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the Enlightenment both desired to improve European society, however the level of religious tolerance during the Glorious Revolution differed from the Enlightenment. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the Enlightenment both desired to improve European society’s disposition to inherit natural rights. The level of religious tolerance during the Glorious Revolution, which favored Protestant beliefs over Catholicism, differed from the Enlightenment. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the Enlightenment both desired to improve European society’s disposition to inherit natural rights by implementing the enlightened ideal of liberty. In 1688 King William III promised to “secure the whole nation” of all their

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For centuries, philosophers have provided us with a greater understanding of the world around us, providing suggestions as to how we might reflect upon, criticise, or improve the societies in which we live. This has allowed us to speculate on many topics, such as politics, ethics, and morality. Among many others, two of the most influential thinkers to this day are Nicolo Machiavelli and Immanuel Kant. Their writings, The Prince and An Answer to the Question “What is Enlightenment?” provide insight as to how societies should be ruled and set up in order for all people within them to be content.

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Different factors had a part to play in starting or even propelling ‘the Age of Enlightenment’, including the rule of the Church and State which experienced a power struggle among them, in addition to the Western discovery of latest societies with noticeably exclusive cultural traditions and norms. Many intellectuals felt unhappy with the fixed social styles amongst their very own collectives, and angry at their governments' refusal to provide non-public rights. The lasting political effect of the Enlightenment can't be overstated. At the least three fundamental political revolutions came about throughout this time period in Britain, America, and France.

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The Intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment occupies an important position in the growth of Western civilization. How it totally affected society, especially French society is a subject of debate, from the beginning of the Revolution to today. In fact, two schools of interpretation are involved. The first school is the conservative school, Edmund Burke is the best example.

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The Enlightenment was a period of time that stressed the importance of reason and individual ideas. Many philosophers published works criticizing a country’s monarch or divulging the flaws they saw in a system within the government, such as the justice system. The Enlightenment also stressed the importance of education, and as a result of this, literacy rates experienced a major upward trend. Now able to read the philosopher’s works, a larger sum of people now were educated on the corruptions within their government. This caused a questioning of traditional practices, and people began to believe they could revise their government.

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The Age of Absolutism is defined as a time period in Europe in which monarchs gained all of the power and wealth over the state for themselves, expanding the idea of single rule. The Enlightenment, on the other hand, is defined as a movement during the 18th century that rejected traditional social, religious, and political ideas, and introduced a desire to construct governments free of tyranny (or single rule). Document 3, a primary source written by King Louis XIV of France in 1660, is describing the idea of monarchy stating,“ The more you grant . . . [to the assembled people], the more it claims . . . The interest of the state must come first” (Document 3).

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People that were more poor, got a chance to earn more money. Another enlightenment idea that he supported was education and art, and he built free public schools so all children were able to get educated. Some might argue that he crowned himself king and his brother King of Spain, which means that he did not get rid of the monarchy even though that was one of the main ideas during Enlightenment. But Napoleon had plebiscites, people that were allowed to vote, and

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The Enlightenment gave people power to make the changes they wanted for independence and politics using intellect and reason, their natural right. The norm of a society that is modelled today became reason over

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According to our studies, the Enlightenment was a movement that prioritized the human capacity for reason as the highest form of human attainment (Lecture Insert Cite). The Enlightenment originally began in Europe and found it 's way to the colonies. Before the Enlightenment, people had always believed that the social class in which they were born into would be the one in which they would die. People would follow their leader 's words without daring to question them and believed that when they died they would either face eternal salvation or eternal damnation. There was no room for thought.

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The Enlightenment was a period during the 1600 and 1700s where authority, power, government and law was questioned by philosophers. The causes of the Enlightenment was the Thirty Years’ War, centuries of mistreatment at the hands of monarchies and the church, greater exploration of the world, and European thinkers’ interest in the world (scientific study). A large part of the Enlightenment was natural law, which was the belief that people should live their lives and organize their society on the basis of rules and precepts laid down by nature or God; the principles of the Enlightenment in the 1600s through the 1700s influenced the development of the USA by advocating religious and social freedom, freeing the people from oppression, and providing

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