The French nobility had quite dynamic and changing beliefs from the period before the French Revolution until its end. These dynamic changes in thinking were caused largely by the enlightenment that opened the eyes of some nobles to the realization that religion and government actually burdened man heavily, and perhaps freedom would come as a product of the removal of such things from life. of people, a belief that we will see change radically in the coming years. In the period before the French Revolution many progressive nobles recognized the need for a change in their government, which would provide more freedom for their fellow men, and in this awareness they sought election to the Second Estate of the National Assembly so that they could work for change things for the better, but what happened when the French Revolution began quickly and radically changed the views of the progressive nobles. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayThe Age of Enlightenment or Age of Reason, as defined by some historians, brought with it a wave of philosophical thinkers, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau and François-Marie d'Arouet (or his simpler pseudonym Voltaire) shared the common belief that man was by nature born free, then imprisoned by the government and, even more profoundly, the owner of property. (Shank, J.B. “Voltaire.”) Although Rousseau seems to go deeper into these beliefs than Voltaire, as illustrated by this rather long passage in which Rousseau explains how modern man is enslaved by “needs.” from passions, which make us desire an object or an activity. In the state of nature, human needs are strictly limited to what ensures survival and reproduction, including food, sleep and sex. On the contrary, with the development of cooperation and division of labor in modern society, men's needs multiply to include many non-essential things, such as friends, entertainment, and luxury goods. As time goes by, these types of needs increasingly become part of everyday life, they become necessities. Although many of these needs are initially pleasant and even positive for humans, in modern society humans eventually become slaves to these superfluous needs, and the entire society is held together and shaped by their pursuit. As such, unnecessary needs are the foundation of modern "moral inequality", as the pursuit of needs inevitably means that some will be forced to work to satisfy the needs of others and some will dominate their peers when in a position to do so. . " (Spark Notes "JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU (1712–1778).") Analyzing this excerpt we see a strong similarity with the beliefs of communism, but we also see in the minds of the progressive nobles who read it in agreement. The nobles were more forced to side with this Enlightenment knowledge over the poor lower classes, as many could agree with the belief that needs amount to chains that could bind a man and will ultimately lead to the subjugation of the lower classes to satisfy the needs of those classes above them. A seemingly endless cycle through which the rich want more and more things shackled by their ever-increasing needs and the poor are shackled by their never-ending labor to satisfy the ever-increasing needs of those above them thus enslaving everyone This was a quite a radical thought for its time, and those progressive nobles who embraced it remained in France with the mind of changing thethings for the better while those nobles who refused to believe that the lower classes deserved such freedoms either fled the country or remained. until the official start of the revolution, at which time they fled for fear of the guillotine, or were captured by radical revolutionaries and beheaded. With the onset of the French Revolution a major shift in power occurred, where the third estate representing the much larger portion of the French population declared itself the Sovereign National Assembly and with this declaration many members of the other two former states switched allegiance to this new revolutionary group . The lower-class French citizens saw a chance in this sudden change in governing powers and quickly stormed the Bastille in search of weapons with which to fight their feudal contracts and eliminate their former landowners. As one might imagine, this quickly changed the minds of all progressive nobles who were forced to flee for their lives to other countries, or take their chances remaining in France in constant fear of the now lawless underclass over which they once ruled. Those who did not flee typically remained members of the newly formed National Assembly. ((Spark Notes "THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1789–1799).")) This led to a drastic change in the thinking of these progressive nobles, who were now attacked by the lower classes who followed Rousseau's philosophies, but interpreted his words to be a rallying cry for the revolution they became bloodthirsty animals mad for the revolution. These “animals” were the result of Rousseau's Enlightenment teachings, and it was becoming abundantly clear that France could not be saved by Rousseau's Enlightenment philosophies that fueled revolution and rebellion, but would instead cause the rise to power of several dictators radicals. Witnessing this seemingly backward logic caused the few remaining nobles to fear for their safety as witch hunts and mass executions swept across France. Those nobles still in France at the time of Robespierre's accession saw the creation of the Constitution of 1793 and under Robespierre's direction, France passed several new laws that helped create economic stability as Robespierre's army fought to remove foreign invaders . For a brief period after these events it seemed that France was on the road to recovery, but as many leaders do, Robespierre succumbed to fear of counterrevolutionaries which, ironically, led to a reign of terror in which 15,000 people were beheaded in a massacre of witches. hunting. These beheadings were quickly stopped with the capture and execution of Robespierre which followed the removal of the foreign invaders and the laws he put in place to stabilize the economy. (Spark Notes “THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1789–1799).”) What is most ironic about its demise is the fact that the counterrevolutionary sediment was only increased by the mass beheadings of suspected counterrevolutionaries. How did the remaining nobles react to Robespierre's reign of terror? Well, those who remained all agreed that he had to leave, but they did so rather quietly for fear of being next. Mass executions of “suspected counter-revolutionaries” could be justified as foreigners pressed deeper into French territory and the economy was in chaos, but as soon as things in France stabilized, this reign of terror was exposed to public opinion that he changed radically from supporting Robespierre to fearing the consequences of a continued reign of terror devoid of any justification other than paranoia. The noble class saw an opportunity in the.