1. Enlightened despots, like Catherine the Great or Frederick the Great:
A. voluntarily gave up power.
B. persecuted Enlightenment philosophers.
C. were forcibly removed from power by rebellions.
D. pursued limited reforms based on Enlightenment ideas.
Enlightened despotism ultimately failed as a form of government because it maintained the privileges of the estates system, and did not introduce reforms to make all people free and equal before the law.