The French Revolution was basically a war of the social classes. The middle class believed that in order to gain equality they had to get rid of the privileges that were stopping the progress of their rise in society. To do this they had to gain power within the government and make changes, such as, improving the tax system, creating a fair system of production where profits went to the producer, improving the whole economic system of the government, and plus many more. The revolution was a fight for equality; it was not a rebellion against poverty. Many of the French people had learned to with poverty for they had been living in poverty for centuries. Before the Revolution, only fair reforms, or changes, were wanted by the people. During the end of the seventeenth century, King Louis XIV's wars began diminishing the royal finances dramatically and only worsened during the eighteenth century. He was adding to the already inherited debt. This angered the people and they wanted action to be taken to improve this. Under the Old Regime in France, the king was the absolute monarchy. Louis XIV had central power in the royal government and they worked together to maintain the social structure. Social classes played an important role in the lives of the people. The social structure of France was divided into three groups: the First Estate, the Second Estate, and the Third Estate. The First Estate was the church people. The First Estate owned nearly ten percent of all land in France. They paid no taxes but to support church activities they collected a tithe. The Second Estate in French life was the nobility. They made up less than 2 percent of the population. They paid hardly any taxes. Nobles were generally the richest people of ... ... middle of paper ... ...tter. Works Cited Brian Levack et al., The West: Encounters & Transformations. Vol. 2, Concise edition, (NewYork: Pearson-Longman 2007) 401-410 Decree Upon the Clerical Oath (1790), in C. Warren Hollister, ed., Landmarks of the Western Heritage, 2 vols.(New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1967), 73-4. Declaration of the Rights of Men and Citizens (1789), in C. Warren Hollister, ed., Landmarks of the Western Heritage, 2 vols.(New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1967), 68-70. The Tennis Court Oath (1789), in C. Warren Hollister, ed., Landmarks of the Western Heritage, 2 vols.(New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1967), 64-65. The Abbe Sieyes, "What Is the Third Estate?"(1789), in Perry Rogers, ed., Aspects of Western Civilization: Problemsand Sources in History, vol. II (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000), 108-110.
The French revolution was a significantly dangerous time period because of the chaos and conflict that took place in the streets of France, resulting in the mass slaughter of thousands of innocent people. Within the revolution, there were many characters who took part in resolving the conflicts that had arisen. One thing that sparked the revolution was the shortage of food caused by a drought which lead to the bread prices going up since most were too poor to afford food at the new price people started revolting against their government in hopes to be heard and treated fairly while many were still dying of hunger. Within the revolution, there were figures such as George Danton, Jean Bailly and Reine Audu who contributed in the development and the recognition of the 3rd estate.
The social condition in France before the French Revolution was very poor. The society was divided into three estates: first estate, second estate, and third Estate. The first and the second estates were made up of the Clergy
Abbé Emmauel-Joeph Sieyès (1748-1836) a middle-class clergyman wrote a pamphlet, “What is the Third Estate”(1789) in which he wrote upon the present state of affairs and the Third Estate (Hunt, p. 107) The Third Estates message was simple. The few privileged noble order at current, was far from being useful to the nation (Hunt, p. 109). The effects of the monopoly ran current state of affairs was shackling and oppressing to all those whom fell out of the category of the noble order. Those, whom did not fall in the noble order, made up the Third Estate, which accounted for ninety nine percent of the population (Hunt, p. 109).
The French Revolution began after some of the great philosophers such as John Locke, Voltaire, and Rousseau were establishing contracts and trying to create a way for people to have a government without a king or at least without a king being in control. The king during that time was King Louie XVI and his queen was a young woman by the name Marie Antoinette. The royal couple was not well liked due to the careless spending and lack of concern for the citizens beneath them. France was on the verge of becoming bankrupt and the crops did very poorly leaving people suffering, starving and fighting for food.
The French Revolution was a period of political upheaval that occurred in France during the latter half of the 18th century. This revolution marked an end to the system of feudalism and the monarchy in France and a rise to democracy and new Enlightenment ideas. By 1789, when the revolution began, France was in a deep financial crisis due to the debt they had obtained over many years of reckless spending and France was nearly bankrupt. These financial issues fell almost completely on the bottom social class or the Third Estate which made up a majority of the country. Because of this financial trouble, the common people were heavily taxed, leaving many of them in poverty.
Historian Albert Mathiez states that “The middle class… was sensitive to their inferior legal position. The revolution came from them- the middle class. The working classes were incapable of starting or controlling the Revolution. They were just beginning to learn to read.” The middle class were not able to have a class on their own; they were still considered peasants. In the illustration it showed how much people and land each estate held, the Clergy was one percent of the population which owned ten percent of the land. Nobles were two percent of the people that owned thirty-five percent of the land. The middle class, peasants, and city workers were ninety-seven of the people owned fifty-five percent of the land. This means that if the third estate were to riot, this would cause havoc. There was a lot during that time; the website Macrohistory and World Timeline shows that “The population of France had grown to between 24 and 26 million, up from 19 million in 1700 without a concomitant growth in food production. Farmers around Paris consumed over 80 percent of what they grew, so if a harvest fell by around 10 percent, which was common, people went hungry. There was insufficient government planning and storage of grain for emergency shortages”. If there were approximately 26 million people, there would be 25,220,000 people in the third estate, 520,000 people in the second estate, and 260,000
Prior to the revolution, King Louis XVI was at the top of the ancien régime, the social, economic, and political structure in France, which means he had absolute power. When he received the throne in 1774, it came along with insoluble problems. The people were split into three estates which divided social class. The first estate consisted of 100,000 tax exempt nobles who owned 20% of the land. The second estate consisted of the 300,000 tax exempt clergy who owned 10% of the land. The third estate consisted of the remaining 23.5 million French people who were 90% peasants. The third estate was the only estate that paid taxes. Their taxes ensured the financial well-being of the clergy, state, and nobles (French Revolution Overview 6).
The first and main reason for the French Revolution was the terrible leadership of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. The peasants wanted to overthrow them as they made France bankrupt by overspending. He spent a little less that 228 million livres in the span of 15 years. King Louis had sent huge amounts of money, military equipment and soldiers to America during the American Revolution because he wanted to help them beat Britain. He also spent a lot of money to build his palace, the Versailles. Marie Antoinette also used huge sums of money for her lavish parties and to fulfill her extravagant tastes. Both of these combined created a further debt for France. King Louis wanted to increase the taxes of the Third Estate to pay off the debts, which made the peasants even angrier, which will be talked about in the next paragraph. King Louis came into power at the age of 20, and he put most of the financial duties to Turgot, one of the best statesmen. When he finally realized the French Revolution was a big problem, all his attempts to stop it were all in vain because he didn’t know what to do sin...
The first underlying cause of the French Revolution was the Old Regime. The people of France were divided into three estates. The first estate was composed of the highest church officials. They held about ten percent of all the land in France. They paid no direct taxes to the royal government. The second estate was made up of nobles. They were only two percent of France’s population, but owned twenty percent of the land. They paid no taxes (Krieger 483). The third estate accounted for ninety-eight percent of France’s population. The third estate was divided into three groups; the middle class, known as the bourgeoisie, the urban lower classes, and the peasant farmers. The third estate lost about half their income in taxes. They paid feudal dues, royal taxes, and also owed the corvee, a form of tax paid with work (Krieger 484).
There were many causes and events leading up to the French Revolution in 1789. Before the Revolution, France had been involved in many expensive wars, especially the American War of Independence, causing financial difficulties and debts which were increased through the expensive upkeep of the Royal Family and their courts. At this time the Age of Enlightenment was occurring and new ideas, challenging the Ancien Regime and the Absolute right to rule, were emerging. The monarch of the time, King Louis XVI, was a weak monarch who was incapable of making decisions and sticking to them. King Louis XIV was also incapable of using his powers in a way to spark fear and gain control of those under his power. As a result of the high debts held by the French Government, the King decided to start taxing the First and Second Estates. They objected causing the Third Estate to question why the first two estates were given choice in paying taxes when the Third Estate, who were so heavily taxed, paid all their taxes. These were the major causes leading up to and, in some cases, triggering, the French Revolution.
The French Revolution was a bloody civil war that lasted from the years 1789-1799. [1] The revolution arose out of hard economic times that had befallen France. Widespread famine and hunger, due to a grain shortage, rampaged through sections of the country. The economic crisis led to an increase in taxes on the lower classes, known as the third estate, to upkeep the lavish lifestyle of the nobility. [1] All of these are the known factors that led to the rise of the French Revolution.
Each social class in France has its own reasons for wanting a change in government. The aristocracy was upset by the king’s power, while the Bourgeoisie was upset by the privileges of the aristocracy. The peasants and urban workers were upset by their burdensome existence. The rigid, unjust social structure meant that citizens were looking for change because “all social classes.had become uncomfortable and unhappy with the status quo.” (Nardo, 13)
They said that not one official in power was corrupt, but that the whole system of government needed some change. Eventually, when the royal finances were expended in the 1780's, there began a time of greater criticism. This sparked the peasants notion of wanting change. Under the Old Regime in France, the king was the absolute monarch. Louis XIV had centralized power in the royal bureaucracy, the government departments which administered his policies. Together, Louis XIV and the bureaucracy worked to preserve royal authority and to maintain the social structure of the Old Regime.
Both the First and Second Estates had huge privileges which allowed them to lead a much more carefree life than those in the Third Estate. The First estate had financial privileges, such as being exempt from taxes such as the taille (the main French direct tax). Instead of paying taxes, the First Estate made an annual payment to the crown, known as a don gratuit or ‘free gift’. It was always much less than they would have paid in normal taxation and was under 5% of clerical income.
There are several factors that led to the Revolution. King Louis XV and King Louis XVI both led extremely extravagant lives. They spent a lot of the government's money on luxuries even while the government had some financial problems. One of the government's main jobs back then was to protect their country from, and manage wars. In the Seven Years War against England, France spent large sums of money on the war effort but they still lost the war and had to give up their colonies in North America. Many French citizens regarded this loss as a major humiliation.