How did Claude Debussy use seventh chords differently from earlier composers?

Claude Debussy revolutionized the use of seventh chords by treating them as self-sufficient harmonies rather than as dissonances that required traditional resolution.1

In earlier musical practice, seventh chords were typically viewed as unstable elements that needed to resolve to more consonant chords. Debussy, however, moved away from this functional tonality. He frequently employed sequences of seventh chords moving in parallel, which created the effect of harmony combined with a dissonant descant. This technique blurred the sense of traditional harmonic movement and allowed the chords to exist for their own coloristic value rather than as steps in a conventional progression.1