Answer :
Final answer:
The Enlightenment significantly influenced political developments in 18th-century Europe, fostering the transition from absolutist monarchies to government systems based on Enlightenment ideals of reason, individual rights, and separation of powers. It laid the foundational concepts for modern democracy, most vividly displayed in the American and French Revolutions.
Explanation:
The Enlightenment was a pivotal philosophical movement in 18th-century Europe, engendering profound political and social transformations. Philosophers like Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu championed reason and secularism over faith and divine rights, which contested the prevailing absolutist monarchies of the time. Montesquieu's idea of the separation of powers particularly influenced modern governance, as evidenced by its incorporation into the United States Constitution.
The Enlightenment's core principles of liberty, progress, tolerance, and separation of church and state fueled a shift towards constitutional government. These ideals underpinned significant political documents such as the Declaration of Independence and later inspired the French Revolution, arguably one of the most important events born out of Enlightenment thinking.
Ultimately, Enlightenment ideas facilitated a transition from absolute monarchies to varied forms of government more attuned to the notions of natural rights and social contracts. This new wave of political thought and practice was linked to economic developments and foreshadowed the more democratic forms of governance that became prevalent in Europe and the world beyond.
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