In the 1770s, Western Europe was under the influence of the Enlightenment.

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In the 1770s, Western Europe was under the influence of the Enlightenment. [See figure II for map of Western Europe] These 18th Century intellectual movements stimulated the outbreak of the French Revolution via spreading ideas of philosophical science and reason a propos the study of human culture and the natural world. At the core of the Enlightenment was the philosophes, a group of professional writers and scientists who advocated reform.20 These thinkers or philosophes of the Enlightenment persistently encouraged that the monarchy should promote the good of all France and not just the specific needs or interests of a particular elite. They challenged the absolute right to rule and promoted ideas for the abolition of the social class system. Their most important political value was liberty and they believed that a strong monarchy was liberty's best defense. These philosophes included Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jacques Necker, Montesquieu, A.R.J. Turgot, the Physiocrats and the Encyclopedists.

Voltaire (1694 - 1778) was one of the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment. Voltaire, (also known as "Le Voltaire" by his followers) was a French philosopher, historian and writer. He did more than any other man did in the 18th century to undermine the old society of France.21 Voltaire attacked all the defects in the French society. However, his main concern was the Catholic Church and Christianity, in general. Voltaire's main influence for his actions was his experience when he visited England. He praised the high degree of religious toleration in England and the absence of a privileged nobility of the French type. In 1734, Voltaire published "the Letters on the English" which was extremely successful in accomplishing its aim. That aim being to attack
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France's social, political and economic state through the exaggeration of English liberties.

Montesquieu (1689 - 1755), in a political sense, was one of the most influential of the French philosophers. His main matter of interest was to limit monarchial power to an extent where the privileges of the nobility were destroyed and the absolute power of the king was impeded. Montesquieu favored the idea of referendum and, like Voltaire, found the English legal system to be more suitable than that of the French. In 1782, Montesquieu published "The Spirit of The Laws" in which ...

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