Key Idea: By 1600, kings ruled by {{divine right|the belief a monarch's power comes directly from God}} and the Church had the final word on truth. By 1750, writers across Europe were arguing that reason — not tradition or faith — should test every belief and every law. That shift is the Enlightenment. This topic asks one question from three angles: where did these ideas come from, what did they demand of rulers, and did rulers actually change? You will meet two 'enlightened despots' — Catherine the Great of Russia and Frederick the Great of Prussia — who both used Enlightenment language while keeping (and often tightening) their grip on absolute power.
How this topic is tested
This is a Paper 3 regional depth study. You will answer two essays, each phrased as 'To what extent do you agree that…' and marked out of 15.
You are graded on evaluating an argument and reaching a substantiated judgement — not on listing facts, and NOT on citing historians by name (no historiography needed for top marks). A top-band essay: states a clear judgement early, weighs both sides of the claim with precise evidence (names, dates, specific reforms), and explains why one side is stronger rather than just describing both.
Must-know facts from every sub-topic
| Micro | What it covers | Key names/dates to know |
|---|---|---|
| 13.3.1 — Origins | Four causes of the Enlightenment: intellectual, political, religious, individual | Newton's Principia (1687); Peace of Westphalia (1648); Reformation (Luther, Calvin); Locke (social contract), Voltaire (toleration), Montesquieu (separation of powers), Rousseau (general will) |
| 13.3.1 — Europe changing | Economic, social, scientific and agricultural change feeding the Enlightenment | Bank of England (1694); Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776); salons/coffee houses; Diderot's Encyclopédie (1751); Norfolk crop rotation, enclosure |
| 13.3.1 — Debate | Was this really an 'Age of Reason'? How far did ideas actually spread? | Claim: Scientific Revolution was the main driver — balanced view says political/religious/social conditions supplied the motive and means; reach was strongest in Paris/London, weak in rural Eastern/Southern Europe |
| 13.3.2 — Ideas vs. thrones | What Enlightenment ideas demanded of monarchy: separation of powers, natural rights, laissez-faire economics | Montesquieu, Rousseau; the 'enlightened despot' compromise — rule via reason and reform, not just birthright |
| 13.3.2 — Women's rights | How far the Enlightenment included women | Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792); Rousseau argued women should be educated only to serve men; legal status of women barely changed anywhere |
| 13.3.2 — Catherine the Great | Used Enlightenment language to legitimize a throne she seized by coup | Seized power 1762 (overthrew Peter III); Legislative Commission & Nakaz (1767); Statute of Provincial Administration (1775); crushed Pugachev's revolt (1773–75); Charter of the Nobility (1785) |
| 13.3.3 — Frederick at home | Frederick the Great's domestic reforms in Prussia | Ruled 1740–1786; ended judicial torture by the 1750s; Allgemeines Landrecht law code (finished 1794); religious toleration; built Sanssouci, hosted Voltaire |
| 13.3.3 — Growing the state | Frederick's economic, agricultural and cultural policy | Potato promotion; Oder marshland drainage (from 1747); mercantilist tariffs and subsidies (e.g. KPM porcelain); serfdom abolished only on his own royal estates |
| 13.3.3 — Frederick abroad | Frederick's wars and diplomacy | Invaded Silesia 1740, starting the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48); Seven Years' War (1756–63, nearly destroyed Prussia); First Partition of Poland (1772, by diplomacy) |
Modelled exam question 1
"Enlightened despots like Catherine the Great and Frederick the Great changed the nature of absolute monarchy rather than merely its image." To what extent do you agree with this claim?
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Modelled exam question 2
To what extent do you agree that the Scientific Revolution was the single most important cause of the Enlightenment?
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Important: Do not write the Enlightenment, or enlightened despotism, as one smooth story of steady progress. IB examiners want contested, uneven, and specific — reach varied hugely by region and class, and every 'reform' (Catherine's, Frederick's) had a hard limit where the ruler chose force or noble privilege over principle. Always argue why, with named evidence, not just that something changed.
What sparked the Enlightenment? Four combined causes: the Scientific Revolution (reason + evidence, Newton's Principia 1687), absolutist political excess, the Reformation's century-old precedent for defying authority, and individual thinkers (Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau) who gave the movement its arguments.
What is an 'enlightened despot'? A monarch who keeps total personal power but justifies and exercises it using Enlightenment language — reason, tolerance, reform 'for the people's good' — rather than pure divine-right tradition.
Did the Enlightenment help women? Only partly. Wollstonecraft's Vindication (1792) used Enlightenment logic to demand equal rights, and women ran influential salons, but legal status (property, marriage, inheritance) barely changed anywhere, and Rousseau himself excluded women from full equality.
How did Catherine the Great use Enlightenment ideas? To legitimize a throne she took by coup (1762): the Legislative Commission and Nakaz (1767) built her reforming image, while the 1775 provincial reforms centralized real power — but she crushed Pugachev's revolt (1773–75) and then expanded noble privilege (1785) the moment reform threatened order.
What did Frederick the Great actually reform at home? He ended judicial torture, built a rational unified law code (finished 1794 as the Allgemeines Landrecht), gave religious toleration, promoted the potato and drained the Oder marshes — but left serfdom intact on noble-owned land.
How did Frederick's foreign policy contradict his 'enlightened' image? He invaded Silesia within months of becoming king (1740), triggering the War of the Austrian Succession, then fought the near-fatal Seven Years' War (1756–63) and gained territory in the 1772 Partition of Poland — old-style dynastic ambition, not reason and restraint.
Always name the four causal strands (intellectual, political, religious, individual) when asked about origins — ranking them shows top-level skill. For enlightened despots, use the same test both times: did reform survive contact with a real threat to noble power or royal control? If not, call it rebranding. Link Frederick's two halves explicitly — his efficient, reformed bureaucracy is what paid for his wars. Don't treat domestic and foreign policy as separate stories.