The French Revolution began with a corrupt monarch, and ended with the death of thousands. In 1789 the bourgeoisie (middle class) and peasants revolted against King Louis XVI and nobility, citing various reasons as cause: including corruption and a poor economy. These people, making up 97% of the population, were known as the third estate. The original purpose of the revolution was to create a constitutional monarchy, but this idea quickly became lost in the radical ideas of the revolution. However, the revolution, despite best efforts, failed. France once again had a complete monarchy. Many factors contributed in causing the unrest, and ultimately full blown revolution among the people of France. But, arguably, the three main causes of …show more content…
The ignorance of King Louis XVI only fueled the people’s anger. They did not feel heard, and nothing was being done to aid them. Poor, hungry, and without a voice, it is unsurprising that the idea of a revolution took hold. Originally, the king held meetings with the Estates General, which functioned similar to a parliament. The population consisted of three “estates.” The clergy, or catholic church, the nobility, and the bourgeoisie and peasants. The first two estates represented about 3% of the population, and the third estate represented the other 97%. However, they were all given an equal amount of representatives. This meant that the first and second estates together outvoted the third estate, and meetings were inconsistent at best. Furthermore, excerpts from the Cahiers, a list of grievances, mention that “The meetings of the Estates General… shall be scheduled for definite times… in order to assure the third estate the influence it deserves because of its numbers… its votes in the assembly should be taken by head” (Document 3). This complaint suggested that the third estate have more representatives/votes in the Estates General, as the third estate represented the majority of the french population. Additionally, the people wanted more consistent meetings so that the king would be more involved with his country. Instead, King Louis XVI locked the third estate out of an Estates General meeting. So, the third estate moved into an indoor tennis court and swore
1). The First and Second Estates held all the power and the third estate was forced to pay for everything, which caused them to be very angry and have detestation towards the higher Estates, this outraged caused the Third Estate to rebel which was one of the causes of the French Revolution.
The French Revolution was the outcome of the huge national debt that came from the Seven Years’ War and supporting the American Revolution. Next France tried to remedy this debt by increasing taxes on the peasants and farmers who were already suffering from harvest failure. Finally out of desperation the Estates General was called together but since the system was unfair and broken the Third
The French Revolution of 1789 had many long-range causes. Political, social, and economic conditions in France mad many French people discontented. Most disaffected were merchants, artisans, workers, and peasants. The ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers brought new views of government and society. The American Revolution also influenced the coming of The French Revolution. Therefore, The French Revolution of 1789 had several causes not only due to political, but also due to social and economic issues and problems as well that made France ripe for revolution. The most important long-range causes of this revolution, however, were the ideas of the Enlightenment, the unfair taxes, the gap between the rich and poor, and the American Revolution
“Let them eat cake” is a very popular quote that you may have heard before. It was supposedly said by the Queen of France, Marie-Antoinette, during the late 18th century in the middle of an outbreak known as the French Revolution. There were many causes that lead to the Revolution, including the third estate´s predicament. They struggled with being denied basic rights, over taxation, and neglect from the monarchy.
During the 18th century, the flow of Enlightenment ideas helped spark many political movements. The French Revolution refers to a period in which citizens call for reforms due to the political, economic and social differences between them and the monarchy. The absence of political representation and empathy from the nobility, the financial crisis and the desire for equality between all the classes inspired the people of France to start a revolution. In France, the third estate had almost no political representation while the first and second estate had totally power over everything that happened.
One of the other ways in which the Revolution affected the rise of modernity was by asserting the importance of the middle class and masses. Before the revolution, France was made up of three estates: The First Estate was the Church, which made up 1-2% of the population, the Second Estate was the nobility which made up less than 2% of the population and the Third Estate was the commoners, which made up approximately 96% of the population. Whereas the First and Second estates enjoyed luxury, extensive privileges and great wealth, the Third Estate were the heavily taxed and poorly treated bourgeoisie, peasants and city workers. One of the reasons the revolution originated was the discontent among the lower and middle classes in France. Those in the Third Estate grew tired of the unjust laws and taxes they were forced to
The third estate, the class with the largest population in France during this era, was treated extremely poorly. The third estate was heavily taxed and barely had any land amongst themselves. They were forced to live together in a small amount of space. On top of that they were starving. They were hungry and so poor that they could barely afford the most basic of food, bread. The lords and nobles had no respect/compassion for the third estate. They completely disregarded the fact that those in the third estate were humans and treated them with no sympathy. Property tax was so heavy that no one could afford to pay (Document 1). This poor treatment and lack of compassion and basic decency from the first and second estate towards the third gave the initial momentum to the wheels of the revolution, long before it actually begun (Document
During their political and social system, Old regime, there was inequality in France. The 3rd estate did not receive as much of importance as the other 2 estates did. The members of the 3rd estate were very angry on the decisions taken account without their propositions for the government, so they decided to create one of their own. There were 3 main factors that led to the revolution. The enlightment period brought the ideas of equality; members of the 3rd estate liked this because they didn’t receive equality of their own. The French economy was failing, high taxes kept profits low and there was shortage of food supplies. They also were under the rule of Louis XVI, which was a weak leader with a wife that liked to spend money. Many worst things happened after the revolution, one of them was the Reign of
The French Revolution took place during the latter half of the 18th century. This revolution was inspired by the Americans who fought against Britain’s rule and overcame that government (document 5). Similar to the American Revolution, the French Revolution had similar reasons to revolt against their government. It may be hard to determine the main reasons for the Revolution, but the spark can be narrowed down to three main reasons. The first main reason is the negligence of the king to the civilians and the second is the under-representation of the Third Estate and over taxation, lack of food and the economic hardships.
Before the French Revolution, there were three estates, or classes: the nobility, the clergy and the commoners. The nobility and the clergy had many more privileges than the third estate and that is what caused the French Revolution. The Third estate was composed of the peasants, the workers and the bourgeoisie; unlike the other segments of the Third Estate, the bourgeoisie was able to communicate its grievances to the public during the period after the French Revolution: 1789-1799.
During the late eighteenth century, the people of France began to feel a sense of dissatisfaction towards the government due to a number of causes. Many scholars argue that the nobility and bourgeoisie, or middle class, had internal conflicts with each other or that the two classes had similar interests and formed an educated elite. In addition, France was very poor at the time and sported a massive financial debt due to the nation’s participation in the American Revolution. This in turn led to famine and popular unrest within the citizens of France. Although many monarchs, such as Louis XIV and those of Prussia and Austria, opposed the idea of a revolution, the citizens, influenced by Enlightenment ideas, realized that kings were unnecessary and overthrew
The first stage of the revolution was caused by a number of factors, both economic and social. First of all, toward the end of the 18th Century, France was in deep financial trouble. The country was nearly bankrupt, due to a combination of leftover national debt from previous kings, several bad harvests in a row, and the recent expenses related to helping the American Revolution. To make things worse, the tax system was out of date and no longer met the financial needs of the nation (Nicassio 481). Under this system, the population of France was divided into three Estates. The First Estate was composed of members of the clergy, the Second Estate represented the nobles, and the Third included everybody else. Traditionally, the First Estate would
The French Revolution was undoubtedly one of the most important eras in French history; It was a time of the oppressed classes using new ideas to gain rights. In the days before the start of the French Revolution in 1789, France had a very rigid system of social stratification being made up of the Three Estates. The First Estate being the nobility, making up just one percent of France’s population. France’s clergymen made up the Second Estate and two percent of the population. Following the Second Estate was the Third Estate which accounted for ninety-seven percent of France’s population and consisted of the bourgeoisie and merchants. Despite making up ninety-seven percent of the population, the Third Estate owned just sixty-five percent of
Turmoil in France: The Genesis of a Revolution One of the most important events in French history was the French Revolution. This revolution toppled the French monarchy and put a new government in its place. The Third Estate, peasants, the middle class, and commoners, were largely responsible for this revolution. These people were discontented by the political, social, and economic conditions of France and began the revolution because of it. There were many causes behind the French Revolution, however there are three causes that stand out as the most important.
While the third estate, the middle class of French society, held the majority, containing ninety seven percent of Frances’s population, actually had little to no power. This, combined with other factors in France and Haiti, caused them to revolt to solve their problems regarding inequality creating two revolutions that history would forever remember.