Jean- Jacques Rousseau, while not a native of France, was another writer who influenced the French Revolution. He advocated a government in the interests of the people. His Social Contract was particularly influential during the Terror of 1793-1794, under Robespierre and the Jacobins.26 His ideas about the General Will being the criterion of government made it possible for an individual to submit to the law on the basis that those laws were in his/her best interests. The duty of the government was to instill virtue in the people, and to teach them to put the good of the whole above their own personal desires.27
The Enlightenment, especially its most prominent contributors, was important because it created a climate of opinion in which revolution was possible. The philosophes had no unified theory; however, they were masters of criticism and dissent and were full of hope for change. They created in France a ‘political culture’ made up of a clientele of activists centered in the Paris salons, provincial academies, and in the Masonic order.28
While not directly generating the ideas of nationalism, certain aspects began to emerge in Enlightenment-era France, specifically that of la nation.
Because of the political and economic instability, nobles and clergy demanded the convocation of the Estates-General in 1787. When this demand was ignored, and the Parlement of Paris was exiled to the provinces, the regional parlementaires incited the local people to violent protest. This made it difficult for tax collectors to do their job and find resources for the state treasury. On top of this, the Assembly of the Clergy showed their support of the parlements and voted to give the King an insultingly small don gratuit.29 In August of 1788, the king announced that he would call a meeting of the Estates-General for May 1789.
