How Did The Third Estate Cause The French Revolution

The old Regime in France has three estates. The first estate consists of the clergy, the second is the nobility and the third is the middle class to peasantry. After all that happened during the Regime such as the French economic crisis, Storming the Bastille, The Political Crisis that revolted in Paris, The Great Fear, The National Assembly, Declaration off the Rights of men, and the Reforms of the National Assembly, the French Revolution entered a radical phase. France experienced one of the bloodiest regimes as leaders sought to extend and preserve the Revolution. In 1792, disastrous battles overseas quickly inflamed revolutionaries in Paris. Parisians stormed the royal palace and slaughtered the king’s guards. In reaction, the royal family fled to the Legislative Assembly. Radicals then elected a new legislative body called the National Convention. This convention extended suffrage to be to all male citizens, not just property owners. It also abolished the monarchy and established a republic. King Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a single vote. The Queen, Marie Antoinette was also executed. By 1799 the French Revolution dramatically changed France. It removed the

The French Revolution was a time of great social, political and economic tumult in the closing years of the Eighteenth Century. The motivators pushing French citizenry toward revolution are varied in scope and origin. They range from immediate economic woes to an antiquarian class structure. Modern historians still debate the value of the changes that the revolution brought to modern society. The middle class made gains that would never be rescinded, but do revolutions always end in tyranny? In the years before the revolution citizens were rigidly constrained by the estates of the realm. These social strata had been in place since the medieval ages. The people were divided into three groups; clergy, nobility and everyone else. The clergy

This meant that they were heavily taxed like the rest of the Third Estate, but many avaided taxes. Some of the bourgeois were envious of the nobility and had resentment towards the First and Second Estates, many against the Ancien Regime and well educated a large proportion of the bourgeois knew of the discoveries happening during the Age of Enlightenment. The Ancien Regime prioritised the people of France in order of Estates, with the King being above all, as a result of the system keeping 97% of the population in one category the system did not satisfy many of the bourgeois of the time resulting in them supporting the revolution.

The French Revolution was a time of period where social and political was a disruption in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799. This time of period affected Social Structure of France prior to the French Revolution. The factors that caused this revolution was due to having a bad government system, weak superiority, and inequality of the classes of people in France during the war. In this research, I will define and explain how Social Structure contributed to the French Revolution Resentment of royal authoritarianism. The three estates that social structure consists of are first estate which are the clergies, second estate known as the Nobleman, and third estate which are the Bourgeoisie, peasants, and workers. The Revolution did not omit sharp distinctions among the social groups, neither did it alter the distribution of wealth. This caused them to divide into these three groups called as estates.

During the period of the French Revolution, a quest towards gaining a country with equal rights for all, began flourishing. This was influenced by the want for freedom, equality, and independence. Most of the wealth during the French Revolution belonged to the 1st and 2nd estates, otherwise known as the clergy and the nobles, which made up 3% of the population. The 3rd estate, the rest of society, made up 97% of the population. Unfortunately, the people of the third estate did not receive all of the commodities as the first and second estates, and could not say or do anything about it.

The citizens of the 3rd estate and some citizens in the 2nd estate in France during 1789, were not happy at all. They were getting heavily taxed by Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette, and the Catholic Church. When they didn’t have the money to pay the taxes that was forced upon them. After all of the hard work they put in to growing crops, the crops were taken

During the 1700s, France’s government was run by a three system estate system. The First Estate was made up by the powerful clergy members, while the Second Estate was made with nobles. Peasants and working men made the Third Estate, also the largest estate. In this large estate there was a little class named the Bourgeoisie was a part of the Third Estate. Though the Bourgeoisie was highly educated and always had stable professions, they were not set aside from the peasants. The Third Estate was treated very poorly during the 1700s. Life was not suitable for the working class. The mistreatment and inequality led to the French Revolution. Inequality during this time period meant that things were not the same throughout each class. Unequal power between the estates, abuse of the Third Estate, and the taxes and price raises were the three reasons that outweighed the many political, social, and economic factors that led to the French Revolution.

The third estate’s citizens had the lowest income in France, yet they were the ones who were supporting the government. The burden of the countries taxes was nearly impossible for the third estate to carry. One peasant woman said that the taxes were “crushing” her and her fellow third estate members. (Document 2).The first and second estate made up the wealthiest portion of France, yet they paid next to nothing in taxes. This obviously and rightfully angered members of the third estate. Why should the only people who can afford to pay taxes be exempt from them? This kind of inequality resulted in violence from the third estate. As a form of rebellion, peasants attacked tax collectors whom they owed money. They also burned land registers and court records. This example, along with the formation of the National Assembly show that the first actions of the revolution were a result of not giving the third estate the voice that it’s members felt it

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

Firstly, the Royal Family was pivotal in creating an unfair estate system which caused inequalities contributing to the French Revolution. One example, the Third estates were the only Estate which had to pay taxes. The Third Estates taxes were increased 28% (Source C) and “Car les tailles et les droits nouns ecrasent,”

The Bourgeoisie was different from the other two groups in their success. They understood the excessive taxation was only for the third estate and the other two did not get taxed at al.. They also knew they did not have fair representation in the government. Even though they were richer than the rest of the Third Estate, they wanted to have equal representation. The monarch gave them double representation but that was also unfair and ineffective. In the end, they overthrew the government and came up with their own government. Initially, they received representation through the Estates-General. However, this was not enough for them either because the monarch had control over their meetings. They then formed the National Constituents Assembly and formed the Tennis Court Oath. This eventually led them to making the Declaration of the Rights of Man. They finally gained the equality they had been striving for and they could not be suppressed. They eventually led to the Directory and they had all of the issues they were concerned with addressed. They received the most exposure because they were the most intelligent of the Third Estate and they were able to take control of the government.

The final group of the Old Regime was the third estate. This was France’s workforce. These people made up ninety-seven percent of the population, but were only allotted seventy percent of the land. The third estate had sub-groups of its own. The first group was the Bourgeoisie. This translates into “city dwelling” but is commonly known as the middle class. Those that made p this group were doctors, lawyers, and merchants. These people were fairly well off and had a bit of extra money. The main difference between the Bourgeoisie and the others in the third estate was that the Bourgeoisies were educated, specifically in enlightenment ideas. They later helped to steer the French Revolution. The next group within the third estate was laborers and artisans. This group consisted of the skilled craftsman in society. Along with the others in the third estate, they had low wages and high taxes. The third group of the third estate was the peasants. Making up roughly eighty percent of the population, the peasants were at the bottom of society. They lost nearly half their wages to taxes even though they had miniscule wages in the first place. They were forced to pay a tax to the church (tithe) and could not influence society. They disliked the first estate because they were the tax collectors and the second estate because they were the government officials. They fought this by

During the year 1787 to 1789, France stroked by drought and frost making a large scale of slaughtering cattle and massive death. Furthermore, since the social burden caused by war debts, plus military incompetence under monarchy providing social services to veterans are dragged down. Meanwhile nobility luxury living greatly increased the economic debts on the civilian population. Before the French Revolution, France hold the Estates General in Palace of Versailles which convoked different classes together. Although, Louis XVI was reforming constantly to solve this financial crisis, nothing was changed. Thus, the protocal collapsed. After the Bastille, the Reign of Terror, and other fractions’ ruling, Louis XVIII restoration ended this turbulent revolution. Seemingly, the result is a success, overthrowing the former government. However, it is just a temporary success. On the other hand, the first class: priest united the second class: aristocracy to fight the third class who are humble man living in France. European pro-democracy forces is still relatively small, most people still support the nascent nation States kingship, the king's execution is too difficult to accepted. Since Louis XIV, the French royal family, is the center of the European royal, the royal family and the nobility in France and the domestic situation in France, the relationship between the royal family and the

The French Revolution pitted the Monarchy against the Revolutionaries in a power struggle, but even within the Revolutionary’s group, there were several subgroups vying for power such as, the Girondists (Girondins?) and the Jacobins. The Girondists were the moderate political party and wanted limited democracy for Revolutionary France, whereas, the Jacobins were the radical party that wanted pure democracy for France (Gallant 123) [cite this way?]. Both groups, however, wanted freedom from the dictatorial rule of the Monarchy and the Estate System (capitalized?) that controlled France before the Revolution took place. The Estate System split the citizens of France into three different groups: the First Estate with 10,000 people and the most power, the Second Estate with 400,000 people and moderate power, and the Third Estate with 25 million people and the least power. (Gallant 111) The unfair burdens placed upon the citizens of the Third Estate soon led to the French Revolution in July of 1789, in which democracy and equal rights were sought. At first the Girondists won the governmental spot, but this power struggle eventually led to the Jacobins to gain leadership from 1793-1794. During their short but impactful rule, there were several different types of propaganda that the Jacobins used as political policies to

The majority were already struggling with the cost of living, and the addition of extra taxes caused it to be near impossible for them to survive financially. This angered the third estate, and provided an incentive for the revolution. Therefore, it is evident that the social inequality that derived from the three estates system was the most significant cause of the French Revolution.