Enlightenment era

Author: Compiled by Guy Times Life Publishing Company, Wang Dingming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The Enlightenment was the second cultural movement against theocracy and feudal absolutism carried out by the Western bourgeoisie after the Renaissance in the 18th century. It pursued political and academic freedom, promoted science and technology, and elevated reason as the foundation of thought and action. During the Enlightenment, people proposed a series of slogans such as "natural rights," "separation of powers," and "equality before the law" to oppose feudal autocratic tyranny and religious oppression. The Enlightenment was a continuation and development of the bourgeoisie's struggle against feudalism, asceticism, and the church during the Renaissance. It occurred in late 17th to 18th-century Europe and was a movement that propagated the political thought system of the bourgeoisie. As a profound ideological and cultural revolution, it shocked almost all fields of thought and culture, including natural sciences, philosophy, ethics, political science, economics, history, literature, and education, creating a new cultural atmosphere of the Enlightenment era. The Enlightenment initially began in England and later spread to France, Germany, Russia, the Netherlands, Belgium, and other countries. Compared to other countries, the French Enlightenment was the most influential, the most combative, and had the deepest impact, making it a model for the Enlightenment movements in Western Europe. The Enlightenment directly laid the ideological foundation for the French Revolution of 1789. The French Revolution overthrew the feudal autocratic system in France, promoted the development of capitalism in France, and shook the feudal system in Europe, driving the bourgeois revolutions in various European countries.