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French Revolution

Reasons for Revolution

1. Social Discrimination – The social ladder was divided into three parts.

Population of France

Third EstateSecond EstateFirst Estate

First Estate

• Leaders of the French church• They were exempt from most taxes

Second Estate

• Nobles and aristocrats• Also exempt from taxes• Charged rent to

peasants who farmed their land and charged fees for the use of their mills, wine presses and bakeries.

Third Estate

• Contained a wide variety of citizens– Middle class, artisans,

townsmen and peasants

• The wealthy produced little of the wealth• Those who produced the nation’s wealth were

taxed heavily

2. Economic Collapse– France was nearly bankrupt

• King Louis XVI called for the Estates-General

• This was the only political body with the authority to reform the tax system.

• It consisted of representatives from the First and Second Estates elected by the king and from the Third elected by the people.

3. Political Incompetence• King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette proved to

be totally unqualified to lead the nation

• When the Estates-General met things went bad– The Third Estate demanded one vote per

representative– First and Second Estate refused and the Third

Estate walked out

National Assembly

• The Third Estate formed this group• They signed the Tennis Court Oath• They simply wanted a constitution that would

guarantee basic rights to all French citizens

• The citizens began to panic• The crowd charges the Bastille on July 14• July 14 is celebrated as France’s Day of

Independence

• National Assembly signed the Declaration of the Rights of Man on August 26, 1789

• Many French nobles fled France and went to Austria.

• France declared war on Austria

Reign of Terror

• Called for the removal of opposition and had a period of mass execution

• A five-man committee known as the Directory headed up the new government