Enlightenment, Nationalism and Revolutions

Topics

Big Names of the Era

Vocabulary

Revolutions

The Enlightenment ideals caused people around the world to believe that there could be a better life with a different social structure. Many of them saw revolution as the only way to achieve it, and there were many revolutions during this time. Some succeeded, but many ultimately failed.

The driving ideals were progress, reason, and natural law.

Natural Law: (my definition) The minimal law that is required for a large number of humans to coexist and resolve their disputes without violence. It's the only law that can both prevent violence when followed, and requires violence when it is broken (as there is no other way to punish people who violate the social contract other than forcing them against their will).

Discussion