French Revolution

• History
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 2

Why France revolted

In 1789, a revolution tore France apart. Some causes had been building up for years. 

King Louis XVI was an absolute ruler.

• He and his nobles lived in luxury. Nobles did not have to pay most taxes. For ordinary people life was hard. They had to pay most taxes. 
  
• The Church supported the king. It told people to obey him as a ruler chosen by God. It, too, did not have to pay all taxes. Ordinary people had to give the Church part of their income as a tax. 
  
• From 1770, there were many bad harvests, which pushed up the price of grain (and therefore the price of bread). The population rose, pushing bread prices up even more. Bread was the main food of the poor.
  

King Louis XVI (16th)

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The Three Estates

(de 3 standen)

All the people in the country belonged 

to one of the 3 estates.

An estate is a group of people 

you belong to from birth.

An estate is hereditary.

You can not easily 

change into 

another

etstate

1st estate: clergy

2nd estate: nobles

The Third Estate

The Third Estate representatives in the Estates General was made up mainly of professional people such as doctors, lawyers, bankers and rich merchants. Many third estate people were just as rich as nobles.

These rich people in the third estate are called: bourgeoisie

Most 3rd Estate representatives in the Estates General were bourgeois people. 

Farmers and poorly paid city workers did not have time or money to come to Versailles to join the Estates General meeting that lasted several weeks.

So, despite the fact that bourgois people were just as rich as many nobles, they lacked the same rights as nobles. 

3rd estate: peasants

3rd estate: city workers

3rd estate: bourgeoisie

• In 18th century France, people were divided into 3 groups called "estates" (= standen)
• 1st estate: the clergy (= geestelijkheid)
• 2nd estate: nobility  / aristocracy (= adel)
• 3rd estate: the rest, but can be subdivided into:
•        - poor, uneducated people: city-workers and farmers
•        - wealthy, educated people: lawyers, bankers, merchants,               doctors. This group was called the Bourgeoisie

                    

Lesson 5.1  Problems in France

Looking at the rights and duties of the 3 estates, 

it becomes clear why the 3rd estate 

(90% of the people) were unhappy.

Source A: A cartoon about the Three Estates, published in the 1780s.

Which estates do the people in the source represent?

1. A : clergy B: nobility C: commons
2. A: commons B: clergy C: nobility
3. A: nobility B: commons C: clergy
4. A: nobility B: clergy C: commons

What do you think the stone on top of the figure lying on the ground is supposed to mean?

The stone symbolizes the taxes the third estate had to pay (which is a
heavy weight) and the first and second estate did not.

in 1789 the king called for a meeting of the Estates-General.

He had run out of money and he wanted to ask the representatives of the 3 estates to agree to his plans to raise the taxes.

In May, 1200 representatives gathered in Versailles 

to listen to the king.

The 3rd estate members wanted to make some radical changes though......

The meeting would lead to the start of the French Revolution

How to vote?

This is when trouble started..

The Estates-General sat for several weeks in May and June 1789 but came to an impasse over the first item on the agenda: whether they should vote by estate, giving the first two estates an advantage, which was the King's choice, or vote all together, giving the Third Estate the advantage.

first estate:        300 representatives

second estate:  300 representatives

third estate:       600 representatives

1 vote

1 vote

1 vote

2 votes

1 vote

The National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath

June 20, 1789

The National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath

June 20, 1789

The National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath

• We want a CONSTITUTION that gives us:
• - more power for the people
• - less power for the king
• - equal rights

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