

To assure that no citizen dared to cross them, the leaders of the Committee of Public Safety published the “Law of Suspects”. This led to a time period called “The Reign of Terror,” in which no one was safe from the guillotine. Once they had succeeded in overthrowing the brutal monarchy that had treated them so poorly, the nation became crazed with the urge to prevent a recurrence of their former government at all costs.

The French people would see such ideas from Voltaire, and draw inspiration from them, inspiration that they used to fuel their Revolution.

This proves his belief in freedom of speech because this quote is essentially saying that even if one cannot take action, they should have the ability to speak freely of their wants and needs. Voltaire has been quoted to say, “We cannot always oblige but we can always speak obligingly” (en.), in his human right campaigns and various books. He stood in favor of of religious freedom and freedom of speech, and he criticised intolerance, prejudice and oppression. We Will Write a Custom Case Study Specifically Voltaire was one of the many brilliant men from this time period whose inspiring pieces of literature were an example of what France wished their nation to embody. Despite intentions, throughout the duration of the French Revolution, the people failed to uphold the newly established ideals of the Enlightenment. In France specifically, they were so haunted by their conditions, and inspired by the new ideas that they led a Revolution, believing they could positively change their nation. Many believed that they were being treated unfairly by those who ruled them, and these feelings were validated by the words of the philosophes. The foundation of such information emanated from the minds of ingenious scholars by the name philosophes.ĭue to the immense power of these peoples’ writings, discoveries and theories, commoners began to question their basic understandings of life, and evaluate their circumstances in terms of their role in government. The Enlightenment was a time of educational prosper in which new ideas and standards were developed through processes of logic and reason, allowing the expansion of influential knowledge across Europe.
