ABSTRACT
The French Revolution was an important event in European and world history that many historians consider it to mark the beginning of the modern era. The causes of the French Revolution were varied. Indeed, the results of the French Revolution were shocking, especially to those most committed to its avowed principles of popular sovereignty, constitutionalism, individual rights, and representative government. All of these ideals were given lip service by Napoleon Bonaparte after he took power in France at the conclusion of the French Revolution in 1799, but in reality the government that he formed was a military dictatorship. The Enlightenment was a major European intellectual movement in the eighteenth century. Although ultimately the forces of tradition prevented enlightened thinkers from accomplishing many of their goals, the movement still had a huge historical impact.
