World Studies I

Review: the 3 Estates in France King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette 1st Estate – Catholic Church or Clergy 2nd Estate - Nobles 3rd Estate – Everybody Else! Bourgeoisie (Middle Class) and Peasants

Causes of the French Revolution Cause #1: Weak King and large debt Wasteful spending (jewelry, dresses, parties) Banks would not lend $ to King Louis XVI and peasants were already taxed too much, so… he started to tax the nobles! The nobles forced the King to call a meeting of the “Estates-General” – an assembly of representatives from all three estates. It hadn’t met for 175 years!!!

Pictures of Queen Marie Antoinette The picture to the right shows one of the Queen’s elaborate hairdos. (Yes, that’s a boat in her hair!) She often spent A LOT of money on lavish and ridiculous outfits. The picture below show what the Queen normally did in her free time. The Queen often spent most of her time entertaining guests at the luxurious Palace of Versailles and strolling through its lush gardens. Remember, Marie Antoinette was only 16 when she became the Queen of France!

Pictures of King Louis XVI at the Palace of Versailles While the Queen was called “Madame Deficit” by the French people for spending a lot of money on unnecessary things, King Louis XVI was the origin of many of the excesses. An observer at the Palace claimed that the king once ate four plates of soup, a whole pheasant (chicken), a partridge in garlic sauce, two slices of ham, a salad, a plate of pastries, fruit, and hard-boiled eggs in a single sitting! Nearly 500 cooks, waiters, and other servants worked to satisfy him. Every morning, King Louis XIV’s chief valet (servant) woke the king at 7:30. There would be 100 nobles outside of his bed to help him dress.

Diamond Necklace for Marie Antoinette: King Louis XVI spent $40 million dollars!!!

American Revolution: King Louis XVI spent $25 billion dollars American Revolution: King Louis XVI spent $25 billion dollars!!! (this DOUBLED France’s debt)

Causes of the French Revolution Cause #2: High taxes & famine (mainly affected the peasants) Taxes and the price of basic foods, like bread, DOUBLED for the peasants! In France, bread was their main food that people ate everyday. In 1788, there was a drought (no rain) followed by a REALLY cold winter. The rivers froze and there were no crops (like wheat). This caused a FAMINE (shortage of food). Peasants were STARVING TO DEATH!!!!! (literally)

Here is an example of how a peasant would have to spend their money BEFORE the revolution Taxation of Peasants Before 1789 Peasant’s Initial Earnings $100 Nobility Tax $14 Church Tax $14 Government Tax $53 Total Left for Peasant $18 Average Cost of Basic Necessities Before 1789 Bread $8 Salt $5 Rent $10 Total Cost $23

Causes of the French Revolution Cause #3: Enlightenment Ideas (affected the bourgeoisie) Enlightenment thinkers (like Rousseau) helped convince the bourgeoisie that an absolute monarchy was wrong. The bourgeoisie started wanting more basic freedoms (like freedom of speech) and a representative democracy. Remember, most of the peasants could not read, so most of them did not know who the Enlightenment philosophers were or their ideas!

Quotes from the Bourgeoisie “The Third Estate is the People and the People are the foundation of the State.” “We have acquired enlightenment…Each man must forget himself and…detach himself from his individual existence and belong only to the great French society.”

Causes of the French Revolution Cause #4: Inequity of Old Regime (the inequality of the 3rd Estate system) The 3rd Estate paid ALL of the taxes (even though they were the poorest estate) Nobles paid very little taxes, but the clergy did not have to pay ANY taxes Nobles and clergy had all the political power; this made the bourgeoisie resentful! Many times the nobles and clergy got special privileges from the monarchy because they were part of the 1st and 2nd Estate.

Remember this political cartoon Remember this political cartoon? How does this image show the inequality of the 3rd Estate system?