Highlands Ranch High School - Mr. Sedivy
Highlands Ranch, Colorado

- World History -
The French Revolution and
The Napoleonic Era

The French Revolution

What had Louis XIV done to make the country be financially insecure? What about France's absolute Monarchy?

The Old Regime
It was called this after it disappeared. It was the old way of thinking - The king still wanted and expected power.

King Louis XV (1715 - 1774)
Louis XV was the great grandson of Louis XIV. He was lazy, unskilled, and unaware of the problems in France. He insisted on keeping and expanding privileges at the expense of the peasants. Nobility demanded more rights. Louis XV spent a lot of money on wars and extravagance.

Left: King Louis XVI. Right: Marie Antoinette.

Louis XVI (1775 - 1792)
Louis XVI was married to Marie Antoinette. He tried to make some financial reforms, but he realized that he couldn't solve France's problems alone. He asked the nobles to be taxed, but they refused. Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates General.

The marquis de Lafayette recommended that the king call a meeting
of the Estates General to solve the taxation issue.

The Estates General
The Estates General was obsolete because the three-class system no longer coincided with the real system of influence, property, or productive activity. They had last met in 1614 to advise the King. The Estates General represented three classes:

The First Estate - The Clergy
The First Estate was dominated by bishops and archbishops from the noble ranks. They were generally wealthy and exempt from taxes. They owned 10% of the land.

The Second Estate - The Nobility
The Second Estate was exempt from direct taxes. They owned 20% of the land.

The Third Estate - 98% of the Population
The Third Estate was made up of peasants, the middle class, and urban workers. The peasants paid high taxes. Many owned the land they farmed. They were not as concerned with political rights, but they wanted relief from taxes.

Traditional apparel of the members of the three estates:
The Second Estate, the Third Estate, and the First Estate.

The middle class (The Bourgeoisie) was better off than the peasants, but more discontented. They wanted fairer tax distribution and a share of the political power. They resented the nobles.

The urban workers (Proletariat) were powerful in Paris, but they were a relatively small group.

Left: Members of the Second Estate enjoyed economic and societal privileges.
Right: A period cartoon illustrates the common complaint of the Third Estate - peasants felt that they carried the financial weight of the clergy and nobility upon their backs.

Left: Marie Antoinette's big hair.
Right: An engraving satirizes the french nobility's penchant for big hair.
(Marie Antoinette even wore small figurines that reenacted scenes in her hair.)

Distribution of Power
In July 1788, the King declared that the Estates General would have the following representation:

First Estate - 300 reps
Second Estate - 300 reps
Third Estate - 600 reps

Le Petite Trianon, the country home of Marie Antoinette. She had spent a fortune
remodeling the home so that it would resemble a self-containing country village.