The French Revolution and the Enlightenment | A Level History

Summary

En esta lección de historia, se analiza el impacto de las ideas de la Ilustración en la Revolución Francesa, destacando a filósofos como Rousseau, Montesquieu y Voltaire, quienes cuestionaron la monarquía, el absolutismo y la religión. También se examina cómo los salones aristocráticos y la prensa difundieron estas ideas entre la sociedad francesa, influyendo en el pensamiento revolucionario. Además, se aborda el efecto del apoyo francés a la Revolución Americana, lo que fortaleció los sentimientos de libertad y democracia en Francia, contribuyendo al descontento con la monarquía absolutista y al eventual estallido de la Revolución Francesa.

Takeaways

• 💡 El enfoque principal de la lección es la influencia de la Ilustración en la Revolución Francesa.
• 📚 Las ideas de la Ilustración promovieron debates sobre una sociedad más igualitaria y rechazaron el feudalismo y la monarquía absolutista.
• 🧐 Aunque la Ilustración abarca un período amplio, se sitúa generalmente entre 1740 y 1789 en Europa.
• 📖 Filósofos como Rousseau, Montesquieu y Voltaire fueron figuras clave en la crítica a la monarquía, la religión y el absolutismo.
• 🤔 Montesquieu defendía que la aristocracia debía limitar el poder de la monarquía, pero no apoyaba una democracia plena.
• ⚖️ Rousseau era más radical, defendiendo que la soberanía debía residir en el pueblo y no en una monarquía absolutista.
• 💬 Los salones en Francia facilitaron la discusión de ideas ilustradas entre aristócratas y ministros, influyendo en la política.
• 📰 El crecimiento de publicaciones y medios ayudó a difundir las ideas ilustradas a toda la sociedad francesa.
• 🌍 La Revolución Americana también influyó en la Revolución Francesa, al inspirar a los franceses a cuestionar su propio sistema absolutista.
• 🔗 La entrada de Francia en la Guerra de Independencia de los Estados Unidos aumentó la simpatía de los franceses por las ideas de libertad y democracia.

Q & A

¿Cuál es el tema principal de la lección discutida en el guion?

El tema principal de la lección es la Revolución Francesa, enfocándose en los influyentes filósofos de la Ilustración que contribuyeron a los eventos que llevaron a la revolución.

¿Qué importancia tiene la Ilustración en el contexto de la Revolución Francesa?

La Ilustración fue fundamental porque introdujo ideas que promovieron debates sobre la igualdad y desafiaron los sistemas feudales y monárquicos, lo que ayudó a sentar las bases para la Revolución Francesa.

¿Quiénes son algunos de los principales pensadores de la Ilustración mencionados en el guion?

Algunos de los principales pensadores mencionados son Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Montesquieu y Voltaire, quienes fueron críticos de la religión, la monarquía y el absolutismo.

¿Cuál fue la crítica principal de Montesquieu hacia la monarquía?

Montesquieu criticó el absolutismo monárquico, argumentando que el poder de la monarquía debería ser limitado, pero creía que debía ser controlado por la aristocracia en lugar de por el pueblo.

¿Qué posición adoptó Voltaire sobre la religión y la monarquía?

Voltaire fue crítico de la intolerancia religiosa y del poder absoluto de la monarquía, aunque reconocía la importancia de la religión para mantener los valores y la ética de la sociedad.

¿En qué se diferencia Rousseau de otros pensadores de la Ilustración como Montesquieu y Voltaire?

Rousseau fue más radical al abogar por que el pueblo, en lugar de la aristocracia, tuviera el derecho de derrocar una monarquía absolutista y argumentaba que la soberanía debía residir en el pueblo.

¿Qué papel jugaron los salones en la difusión de las ideas de la Ilustración en Francia?

Los salones, organizados por la aristocracia, fueron espacios donde se discutían ideas filosóficas, literarias y políticas, lo que facilitó la difusión de las ideas de la Ilustración entre las élites y ministros del rey.

¿Cómo contribuyó la Revolución Americana a la Revolución Francesa?

La Revolución Americana influyó en Francia al generar simpatía por los ideales de libertad, democracia e independencia, lo que motivó a muchos franceses a cuestionar el absolutismo monárquico en su propio país.

¿Qué efecto tuvieron los periódicos en la propagación de las ideas de la Ilustración?

El crecimiento de los periódicos permitió una mayor difusión de las ideas de la Ilustración entre la sociedad en general, pasando de tres periódicos en 1700 a más de 80 en 1785, lo que ayudó a popularizar las ideas revolucionarias.

¿Por qué es difícil establecer un inicio y un final claros para la Ilustración?

Es difícil establecer límites claros para la Ilustración porque se trata de un movimiento cultural y filosófico cuyas ideas se desarrollaron gradualmente en distintos momentos y lugares de Europa, sin un punto de inicio o final claramente definido.

Outlines

00:00

📝 Introducción a las influencias de la Revolución Francesa

El párrafo introduce el tema de la lección: las influencias que llevaron a la Revolución Francesa, destacando el impacto de la Ilustración. Aunque el enfoque principal está en las ideas ilustradas, el autor menciona que hubo otros factores importantes. Las teorías de la Ilustración desafiaron el feudalismo y la monarquía, promoviendo una sociedad más igualitaria, lo que resultó fundamental para los debates que provocaron la Revolución.

05:01

📚 Filósofos de la Ilustración y su impacto en Francia

Se discute el papel de los filósofos de la Ilustración, como Rousseau, Montesquieu y Voltaire, y cómo sus críticas hacia la religión, la monarquía y el absolutismo influyeron en la sociedad francesa. Montesquieu criticó el absolutismo pero proponía que la aristocracia controlara al monarca, mientras que Rousseau, más radical, defendía que el pueblo debía derrocar a la monarquía en caso de tiranía.

10:01

🎉 El papel de los salones en la difusión de ideas ilustradas

El impacto de los salones aristocráticos, donde se debatían temas filosóficos, políticos y literarios, es analizado. Estos encuentros influyeron en las decisiones políticas al incluir a miembros del gobierno. Además, se menciona el crecimiento de publicaciones de prensa que ayudaron a difundir las ideas de la Ilustración entre la población en general, contribuyendo a un mayor acceso a estas ideas.

🇺🇸 El impacto de la Revolución Americana en Francia

Finalmente, se aborda la influencia de la Revolución Americana en Francia. La participación de Francia en la guerra contra el Imperio Británico en apoyo de las colonias americanas generó simpatía en Francia por los ideales de libertad y democracia. Esto, combinado con el contexto de la Ilustración, llevó a muchos franceses a cuestionar cada vez más su propia monarquía absolutista.

Keywords

💡Revolución Francesa

La Revolución Francesa fue un movimiento social y político que ocurrió a finales del siglo XVIII y que buscó acabar con la monarquía absoluta y las estructuras feudales de Francia. En el video, se menciona como un evento influenciado en gran medida por las ideas de la Ilustración y otros factores, como la Revolución Americana, que alimentaron el deseo de libertad y democracia en la sociedad francesa.

💡Ilustración

La Ilustración fue un movimiento intelectual y cultural del siglo XVIII que promovió el uso de la razón, la ciencia y el pensamiento crítico sobre la tradición y la autoridad. En el video, se menciona como un factor crucial que influyó en el origen de la Revolución Francesa, ya que cuestionaba la monarquía absoluta, la religión y el feudalismo, alentando la búsqueda de una sociedad más igualitaria.

💡Monarquía absolutista

La monarquía absolutista es un sistema de gobierno en el cual el monarca tiene poder total y no está limitado por leyes o constituciones. Durante la Revolución Francesa, este sistema fue severamente criticado, especialmente por filósofos como Montesquieu y Rousseau, quienes proponían alternativas más democráticas o controladas por el pueblo o la aristocracia.

💡Salones

Los salones eran reuniones sociales organizadas por la aristocracia francesa en las que se discutían ideas literarias, filosóficas y políticas. En el video se destaca cómo estos salones permitieron la difusión de las ideas ilustradas entre la élite francesa, lo que contribuyó a moldear el pensamiento crítico hacia la monarquía y la sociedad de la época.

💡Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Rousseau fue uno de los filósofos más influyentes de la Ilustración. En el video se menciona que sus ideas eran las más radicales entre los pensadores de su época, abogando por que la soberanía debía residir en el pueblo y que un monarca absolutista podría ser derrocado en caso de tiranía. Sus ideas inspiraron las demandas de cambio durante la Revolución Francesa.

💡Montesquieu

Montesquieu fue un filósofo francés que criticaba la monarquía absolutista, proponiendo que el poder debería ser controlado por la aristocracia, en lugar de ser ejercido de manera total por un monarca. En el video, se menciona que aunque Montesquieu no promovía la democracia moderna, sí sentó las bases para cuestionar el absolutismo monárquico, influyendo en la Revolución Francesa.

💡Voltaire

Voltaire fue un filósofo de la Ilustración conocido por sus críticas a la religión organizada y la intolerancia religiosa. En el video se menciona que, aunque era crítico de la religión, Voltaire reconocía su importancia para mantener el orden social y los valores éticos, lo que refleja las complejidades de su pensamiento en el contexto del debate pre-revolucionario.

💡Revolución Americana

La Revolución Americana fue un conflicto en el cual las colonias estadounidenses se independizaron de Gran Bretaña. En el video se describe cómo este evento influyó en la Revolución Francesa, ya que los franceses, al apoyar la independencia americana, se inspiraron en las ideas de libertad, democracia y resistencia contra la tiranía, reforzando el deseo de cambio en Francia.

💡Soberanía

La soberanía se refiere al poder supremo o autoridad final en una sociedad. Rousseau, mencionado en el video, argumentaba que la soberanía debía residir en el pueblo, no en un monarca. Este concepto fue crucial en los debates que llevaron a la Revolución Francesa, ya que contrastaba directamente con la idea del 'derecho divino de los reyes'.

💡Medios de comunicación

Durante el período previo a la Revolución Francesa, la proliferación de periódicos y publicaciones jugó un papel clave en la difusión de las ideas de la Ilustración. En el video se menciona cómo la cantidad de publicaciones creció significativamente, lo que permitió que los conceptos revolucionarios llegaran a un público más amplio, acelerando el cambio social.

Highlights

The lesson discusses the significant impact of Enlightenment ideas on the French Revolution.

Enlightenment sparked debates and a shift toward a more egalitarian society, rejecting feudalism and monarchy.

Philosophers like Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Voltaire were central to Enlightenment thought, all critical of religion, monarchy, and absolutism.

Montesquieu critiqued royal absolutism and suggested that the aristocracy should hold the monarchy accountable.

Voltaire was critical of religion and intolerance, though he acknowledged religion’s role in maintaining societal values.

Rousseau was the most radical of the three, advocating that sovereignty lies with the people and supporting the overthrow of monarchy in cases of totalitarianism.

Rousseau's ideas on sovereignty contrasted with the divine right of kings, emphasizing that power should reside with the people.

Salons, where aristocrats gathered to discuss Enlightenment ideas, played a significant role in spreading revolutionary thought.

The media also spread Enlightenment ideas, with the number of newspapers increasing from 3 in 1700 to over 80 by 1785.

The American Revolution, supported by France, influenced French society and added to the growing sentiment for freedom and democracy.

French involvement in the American Revolution fostered sympathy for the colonists, which fed into the dissatisfaction with absolutist monarchy in France.

Enlightenment ideas promoted skepticism toward absolutism, influencing both the aristocracy and broader society.

Salons were influential in bringing together intellectuals and political figures, impacting decisions in government.

The Enlightenment didn't have a clear start or end, much like the Renaissance, as it was a cultural and intellectual movement.

The growth of literacy and media consumption during the Enlightenment contributed to the dissemination of revolutionary ideas across society.

Transcripts

welcome back everybody to a level

history we're carrying on talking about

the French Revolution and in this lesson

we're going to talk mainly about the

influencers that really um had a

significant impact on the the the events

that brought about the French Revolution

so I've titled this lesson the

enlightenment or the impact of the

Enlightenment and we will talk about

Enlightenment ideas for a majority of

this lesson but

I think to suggest that it is just the

enlightenment that we're going to focus

on does sort of brush over some of the

interesting aspects that are not related

to the enlightenment that also had an

impact on the origins of the French

Revolution

and we know that in order to understand

the motivations and the reasons for the

motivations behind the French Revolution

itself we have to have a basic idea of

Enlightenment theories because these

sparked the debates and these sparked

the general shift towards a more

egalitarian society or at least in the

case of the French Revolution an attempt

at an

egalitarian society

and more of a rejection of these sort of

feudalistic monarchal ideas that we have

seen in Europe for the past thousand

plus years and so this lesson we're

going to examine Enlightenment

philosophy not in any particular great

detail you don't have to be a

philosopher or a graduate with a

Philosophy degree to understand in

detail the uh the kind of nuances of

these different thinkers just need to

have a general idea of what some of

these thinkers believed the names of

some of these thinkers and how these

thinkers impacted the French Revolution

we're also going to talk about the

influence of the Enlightenment more

broadly on French society the

introduction and growth of what became

known as salons where we see people

discussing uh Enlightenment ideas and

ideas that seem to be positioning

themselves against this idea of an

absolutist monarchal authority

and then we're going to finally examine

a less so an enlightenment idea but a a

physical event that takes place uh

around the time before just before the

French Revolution this being the

American war of independence and the

American Revolution and so how did this

have an impact on the French

so let's begin by talking about the

enlightenment the enlightenment itself

is a broad term incredibly broad term to

describe a number of ideas that spread

across Europe between around the years

eight uh 1740 and 1789. the reason why

it's such a broad term is because ideas

like these don't really have a a

significant cutoff period or a

significant starting period just like

where it's difficult to to pinpoint the

exact time when the Renaissance began

and when they're in asons finished and

and and the same thing can be said about

the enlightenment because these things

are cultural ideas these are

philosophical ideas these are social

ideas that tend to just shift the

attention of a number of different

thinkers and throughout the years in

which they are writing and so therefore

the enlightenment can share that similar

kind of uh prescriptive

um essential prescriptive understanding

so the enlightenment saw a number of

theological uh theoretical and well as

philosophical ideas that challenged a

number of traditional views that really

challenged the central thesis of French

um government and French society so they

challenge views relating to monarchy

they challenge views related to

absolutism they even challenged views

relating to religion now we know already

the impact and the importance of uh of

the first estate within French society

that being the clergy and the religious

aspects of the French society that still

existed

now due to the position of France and

Europe as well as the Enlightenment

thinkers from the specific region of

France these would have a significant

amount of influence specifically over

French society now while the

enlightenment had impact across everyone

in Europe including including Great

Britain including um including states

that would eventually become Germany to

an extent in in the Russian Empire it

was the French society the way we see

the majority of the impact of the

Enlightenment itself so when we examine

the enlightenment specifically the

enlightenment in France we can see a

number of things start to come through

so it was exhibited mainly through the

practice of philosophy and this is

important because we have a number of

very important very influential

enlightenment philosophers that all come

from France and all right about France

and within France and we have very

example Rousseau Montesquieu and

Voltaire all three are incredibly

influential philosophers if anybody ever

looks to study philosophy in the future

you will be reading Russo Montesquieu

and volunteer in a great amount of

detail trust me on that one and

the thing that ties all of these

philosophers together are their critical

views of religion monarchy and

absolutism all of these things of course

being Paramount to The Establishment and

the structure of society that existed in

France at the time so

the degrees to which they had critical

views of monarchy religion and

absolutism is something to be debated

and it is something that people go back

and forth on but to the extent to which

they all had at least somewhat of

critical understandings of these ideas

that is something that is absolutely

without question so they all for example

were very uh critical of different ideas

specifically Montesquieu was critical of

the idea of Royal absolutism within his

writings

um and suggested that a limitation

ought not to come from the people

however but from the aristocracy so

while Montesquieu was critical of

absolutism within monarchy but he was

not necessarily somebody who supported

the idea of a democracy to um to to hold

the royalty to account rather he

believed that the aristocracy ought to

hold the royalty to account instead

of course this is not exactly

um the the kind of uh the kind of ideas

that we would understand to be

um Democratic today although you could

argue that they're more democratic than

Royal absolutism in its pureish form But

continuing on we have Voltaire who was

very critical of religion and

intolerance that comes as a result of

the impact of religion so and again we

talk about the fact that while these

people were critical of certain ideas

they were also

um recognizing the ideas importance and

the existence of religion and the

existence of monarchy as having a

certain Paramount of importance so let's

it shouldn't be seen as understanding

Rousseau Montesquieu and Voltaire as uh

individuals who were essentially

anti-monarchy in in its the most purest

form or anti-religious in its purest

form

um and just essential essentially just a

group of anarchists that existed no this

isn't the case while they were critical

of these ideas they did understand that

there was a place for them to an extent

within Society so while Voltaire was

critical of religion and intolerance he

was still someone who believed that

religion is important for the upholding

of societal values and societal ethics

more broadly

Rousseau on the other hand was of the

three the most radical Jean-Jacques

Rousseau and he believed that an

absolute monarchy was akin to a

despotism and so therefore

um should be and ought to be overthrown

by the people in the event of

totalitarianism so you can see here very

very clearly that he almost took what

Montesquieu believed and he almost took

what Voltaire believed and he went even

further than the two of them so our

Montesquieu believed that absolutist

monarchy was inherently unethical or

inherently um totalitarian he believed

that it ought to be the aristocracy to

to hold the monarchy to account and it

ought to be the aristocracy to overthrow

the monarchy if need be whereas

um Rousseau was far more democratic to

an extent he believed that the people of

France ought to overthrow the monarchy

in the event of totalitarianism

and so from this we find Rousseau's

philosophical reasoning behind the

nature of sovereignty he believed that

rather than the existence of a sovereign

residing within that one institution or

that one individual like with monarchy

and whereas

um in sovereignty traditionally being

understood as being something that is

given by God as part of this almost

divine right of kings Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that

sovereignty must lie with the people and

it must be the people that allows for

the sovereignty of these uh people who

are in power and so an absolute an

absolutist monarchy Falls in stark

contrast to all of these beliefs that

Rousseau had

so those are the theoretical ideas that

we can talk about for the enlightenment

there's more we can go into and if we if

we have time we'll do a a an additional

lesson unpacking even more of the

Enlightenment ideas

um but what about the actual impact that

this had on French society well we could

talk about the idea of salons being

something that was

um a way in which we could see the

spread of these pre-revolutionary ideas

and

this was essentially a salon was where a

member of the aristocracy would invite

others as guests and they would sit

around and they would discuss a number

of intellectual ideas so they would

discuss things related to literature to

history to philosophy to politics

etc etc very very upper class

um little uh parties if you will to an

extent and since some of these salons

included a number of the king's

ministers if you notice here I mentioned

that it is the members of the

aristocracy that created and invited

people into these salons

um it would mean that they would have

actually quite a significant amount of

influence on the broader uh political

processes in France because if you have

um people within France who are part of

the king's Ministry part of the king's

ministers and they were discussing

literature and philosophy and politics

with other Aristocrats

um that could have an influence over the

decisions that they make within the

government system

we also see on top of the impact of

salons the growing number of media

Publications that were able to dispense

Enlightenment ideas uh and dispense

Enlightenment ideas to the rest of

society more broadly so the impact of

salons was something that really we can

examine from the real top end of society

the real um second estate kind of

individuals but it was the newspapers

and the growth of media influencers that

led to the broader Society having a

great understanding of Enlightenment

ideas so for example newspapers went

from three in 1700 to over 80 by 1785 so

nearly um so nearly a new newspaper uh

publication being created every single

year for 85 years we see that this is

something that obviously the growth of

newspaper the growth of

um literacy and consumption of literacy

in terms of Enlightenment ideas we can

see how just how quickly these ideas are

gonna spread red

like I said at the beginning the final

thing I want to focus on is the impact

of the American Revolution itself so

the Enlightenment ideas were of course

more theoretical than the American

Revolution because the American

Revolution was actually something that

happened and it had a significant amount

of impact when it came to French society

so we talk about King Louis making the

decision in 1778 to enter the war of

independence against the British Empire

on the side of the American colonies now

you don't need to know the course of the

American Revolutionary War and the

American war of independence in any

particular great detail for this series

of lessons because we're focusing on

France but it just should be noted that

friend the French went to war on the

side of the um the attempting to be

independent colonies the 13 colonies of

the Americas and it was with the support

of France that the American colonies

were able to beat the British Empire in

the in the American war of independence

and and found this new United States now

many in France as a result partly of the

fact that the French were entering the

war on the side of the American colonies

and partly due to the fact that there

was a significant influence of the

Enlightenment ideas of freedom and

democracy and Liberty and many in France

were very sympathetic to the colonists

that they were very sympathetic to those

who were trying to fight for freedom and

Independence within the British Empire

and you could probably come to

understand that when you have people

being very sympathetic to Freedom

Liberty and democracy and these kinds of

liberal ideas while also living under an

absolutist monarchy they might start to

look at the monarchy with more and more

suspicion as time goes on and so that is

one of the also one of the um other

reasons why we see the devolving of the

French Revolution and beginning to take

shape