Think about this: You are coming home from the bakery that is out of bread---AGAIN. You have no food to take to your starving children. You are desperate. Suddenly you turn a corner and come upon the king’s palace. King Louis and his wife are living there in luxury while your children and most of your fellow citizens are starving. You see a mob surrounding the palace, demanding food and relief from heavy taxes. They have turned violent.

In the 1700’s, France was the most advanced country of Europe. France was the center of the Enlightenment. France had a large population and a prosperous foreign trade. Why was there great unrest? High prices (inflation) High taxes Questions about government raised by ideas of Rousseau and Voltaire.

Feudalism still existed in France. 3 large social classes called estates 2 estates had privileges including access to high offices and exemptions from paying taxes. Roman Catholic Church---First Estate. Owned 10% of the land. Provided education and services to the poor and gave 2% of income to the government. Second Estate: rich nobles, 2% of population, owned 20% of the land and paid no taxes. First and Second Estates scorned Enlightenment ideas.

98% of the people belonged to the Third Estate. Third Estate=three groups First Group: bourgeoisie, merchants and artisans, well educated and believed strongly in the Enlightenment ideals of liberty and equality, paid high taxes and lacked privileges although many were very rich. Second group: French workers like cooks, servants, and others, poorer than bourgeoisie, paid low wages, often out of work and hungry, joined mobs Third group: peasants, largest group, 80% of France’s 26 million people, paid half of income to nobles, tithes to the church, and taxes to the king, resented the clergy and the nobles, heavily taxed (even for salt), eager for change

First Estate Second Estate Third Estate

Enlightenment Ideas: equality liberty democracy Economic Woes: prosperous economy failing, population expanding cost of living rose bad weather=crop failures resulting in food shortages price of bread doubled, people faced starvation France’s government sinks into debt extravagant spending by the king and queen King Louis XVI inherited debt but borrowed to help the American revolutionaries in war against Britain.

A weak leader: King Louis XVI was indecisive, let matters go paid little attention to government advisors preferred hunting to governing unpopular queen, spent money on clothes and jewels tried to tax Second Estate, resulted in Estates- General Marie Antoinette King Louis XVI

Louis XVI tried to make peace with the Third Estate Ordered Clergy and Nobles to join the National Assembly

Declaration of the Rights of Men: “…men are born and remain free and equal in rights” did not apply to women took over church lands and declared church officials and priests to be elected by property owners and paid as state officials peasants opposed the changes to the church and started to oppose reforms limited constitutional monarchy

sat on left side, left wing opposed the King and idea of monarchy Wanted sweeping changes in government sat in the center, centrists wanted some changes in government sat on right side, right wing limited monarchy wanted few changes in government