Enlightened Ideas + The French = Revolutio

During revolutions, ideas play a very important role in what will take place. This was no different for the French Revolution. The Enlightenment played a huge role in the French Revolution taking place and the ideas that were being fought for. Three enlightened thinkers played important roles in the revolution. 

1. The first phase of the French Revolution was led by Montesquieu. His thoughts on having a liberal constitutional monarchy with a divided sovereignty guided the revolution in its infant stage. The main difference between Montesquieu's thought and the revolutionaries was where the power would be divided. Montesquieu believed in the nobility and the monarchy sharing power yet the French revolutionaries thought that the non-nobility or the Third Estate should have a share in the power. 
2.  After the king fled to Varennes, the people realized that a divided sovereignty was unobtainable. Their ideas shifted to Rousseau and Republicanism. The people were attracted to the new idea of Rousseau's freedom. In his ideas, freedom was ruling oneself. This would mean that the nation would rule itself. Rousseau became like a god to the people. His idea of freedom took over French thought and would never truly disappear.  
3. The final phase of French thought during the Revolution was Voltaire. After Napoleon took over the government, French republicanism declined. Napoleon adopted Voltaire's idea of enlightened absolutism. The sovereignty of the state would be undivided and in the hands of the monarch. He also believed in suppressing the Church and institutions controlled by the nobility, since it would result in a strong central government. 

These three thinkers played a very important role in the Revolution. They were the guiding lights to what the people wanted to achieve. In my mind, Rousseau played the most important role in the Revolution. His idea of freedom was the dominant belief during this time. Without Rosseau's idea of Republicanism, the Revolution would have been less extreme. Rousseau offered the French a path to a new government.