1. The French Revolution
Background

2. Ancien Regime The Old Regime – Ancien Regime – old order of 3 classes
The Clergy – First Estate
Had lots of wealth and privileges
Owned 10% of the land and didn’t pay taxes
High church officials were usually nobility

3. Nobles Nobles – Second Estate
Had top jobs in the government, army courts and Church
Some lived at Versailles and enjoyed its entertainment
Other didn’t have a lot of money and were struggling to survive with the increase in prices
Hated absolutism because they feared losing their power

4. 98% Of The Population Third Estate – 98% of the population
At the top were the bourgeoisie – middle class – bankers, merchants, lawyers, doctors, professors
Rural Peasants – most of the people in France belonged to this group – land owners, tenant farmers and day laborers
City Workers – poorest members – apprentices, servants

5. Discontent
The Third Estate didn’t have the privileges of the other two estates
The smallest rise in the price of bread meant starvation
Peasants paid taxes on everything and nobles wanted them to start paying off old fees and new taxes
Nobles could hunt but peasants couldn’t kill animals that ate their crops

6. Abbé Sieyès
Enlightenment ideas caused city workers to call for a change
Abbé Sieyès wrote a pamphlet encouraging the Third Estate to change things
“We do everything, we get nothing”

7. A Financial Crisis
Caused by deficit spending – spending more money than you earn
Louis XIV left France in financial crisis from wars and luxury
1789 – half of all tax money paid interest on France’s debts

8. Raise Taxes? Reduce Spending?
To solve this the government wanted to raise taxes and reduce spending
This upset the clergy & nobles because they would have to pay the taxes and they would get less privileges

9. A Crumbling Economy 1770’s – marked by an economic decline
1780’s – bad harvests and drought caused food prices to soar

10. Failure to Reform
Louis XV was more interested in pleasure than business

11. Jacques Necker Louis XVI made Jacques Necker his financial advisor
Necker wanted to reduce court spending, reform government and abolish tariffs to increase trade
When he proposed taxing the Clergy and Nobles, the king dismissed him at their wish

12. The King Takes Action
Due to being on the verge of bankruptcy, bread riots and the nobles denouncing him as a tyrant, Louis XVI called the Estates General to Versailles to solve France’s problems

13. The Cahiers The cahiers – list of grievances by all three estates
Fairer taxes, freedom of press and regular meeting of the Estates General
Cahiers showed how much resentment each estate had for the other and the king

14. The National Assembly
Each estate met separately and got one vote in the Estates General
Usually meant that the Third Estate got outvoted
The Third Estate, believing they represented the people broke away and formed their own house of government – the National Assembly

15. The Tennis Court Oath
When they got locked out of their meeting hall they went across the street and met at a tennis court and took the Tennis Court Oath
Wouldn’t disband until there was a French constitution
When some members of the clergy and nobles joined the National Assembly it forced Louis XVI to accept it

16. Storming the Bastille
More food shortages and continuing financial crises made things worse
On July 14, 1789 – the Bastille, a French prison was raided by Parisians and this became the symbolic beginning of the French Revolution