Answer:
The Enlightenment provided an important intellectual basis for the beginning of the French Revolution. However, the Revolution was by no means a reaction of the Enlightenment.
It seems that many of the era’s philosophers reflected on many different aspects that mostly challenged the traditional institutions of the French monarchy. We tend to begin with John Locke, who came from the English political climate, as William and Mary quietly and peacefully overthrew the autocratic James II. Though Locke himself did not write specifically against the French crown, his belief in the power of private property and the rights of the individual vis-à-vis the government served as an important catalyst for the nascent French Enlightenment.
In the first half of the eighteenth century, Montesquieu dominated French political and social thought. His lettres persanes (Persian letters), published in 1721, was a sharp and witty criticism of the institution of Monarchy, an opportunity for praise of the republics of antiquity, and a condemnation of the Monarchy’s religious intolerance and economic inequalities. More famously known is his Spirit of Laws (1748). Aside from the multitude of generalizations found in this work, Montesquieu offers an important insight into the supposed glory of a republic, and the virtue from which it stems and that it propagates. Nevertheless, Montesquieu drew inspiration from the English monarchical system, and he elaborated greatly on the importance of separation of powers, so that the crown does not gain too much influence and resort to “despotism”.
England is at present the country in the world where there is the greatest freedom. I do not make an exception for any republic.
It seems that many other French philosophers had a similar mentality. There is no shortage of Voltaire’s praises for England and its supposed liberty (as a matter of fact, the Persian letters inspired Voltaire to write Letters on the English). Was England as free as they said? Even during the years leading to the French Revolution, there were still conscious religious divides. English Catholics had significant restrictions in society. They could not, for example, hold a post at a university. However, what most French philosophers could agree on was that the English socio-political mentality was instrumental in establishing their ideal society, which served to the detriment of the French monarchy.
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