What were the causes of the french revolution?
Uploaded by JohnS1141163 on Feb 22, 2016
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité. These words make up the moto of France but in fact, in the 18th century, the French government was the exact opposite. Inefficient, unjust and corrupt. Many people became livid at the way France was governed. The French Revolution of 1789 had many causes. Political, social, intellectual and economic conditions in France contributed to the dissatisfaction of most French people of the third estate. The ideas of the philosophers lead to the Enlightenment, which brought new views to the people about the unfairness of the French government and the society. Their goals were to expose and destroy the inequalities of the ancient regime.
French society was divided into three estates. At the top was the Monarch, (at the time Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette) after them was the first estate. The first estate consisted of The clergy, The wealthy Bishops and Parish Priests. They were payed from 500,000 to 200 livres per year, yet they only made up 0.5% of the population of 18th century France. They also owned 10% of land. The second estate was made up mostly of Nobles. Major Nobility would be very rich but many Nobles didn’t make as much but they did own 35% of the land. Compared to the third estate, though, all nobles lead a life of luxury. The third estate involved and labourers, who could just about live of their work. Then were the urban workers and the middle class who were rapidly growing in numbers. Finally, there were the peasants who made the majority of the population. The third estate held 97% of the people who owned 55% of the land. The people-to-land proportion was unjust looking at the amount of people in each estate. The third estate held very little land compared to the amount of people it had. It was overcrowded. The first and the second estate were the privileged classes. The state you belonged to decided your general powers and rights.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, France was ruled by a government, the king had all the power. Anyone who criticized the government could be arrested and put in prison without trial. Louis XVI was king at the time of the French Revolution. He and his Austrian queen, Marie Antoinette, lived an extravagant life at the Palace, they did not really care about the state of their country. The first two estates worked together to...