1. The French Revolution Begins
October 4, 2012

2. OLD REGIME
In the 1700s, the French people were divided into a very strict social class system
The different classes were known as estates

3. 1st Estate Roman Catholic Church 1% of pop. owned 10% of land
paid 2% of income in taxes

4. 2nd Estate
Rich nobles
2% of pop.
owned 20% of land
paid NO taxes

5. 3rd Estate 97% of pop. paid 50% of income in taxes
Included bourgeoisie (middle class) urban workers & peasant farmers
97% of pop.
paid 50% of
income in taxes

7. Forces of Change Ideas of Enlightenment & American Revolution
French people began to question old notions about the society
Economic troubles (heavy taxes, increasing cost of living, crop failures): price of bread doubled in 1789, people faced starvation
Government debt

8. Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette’s debt
Antoinette was a big spender
Louis inherited debt from other kings
Helped Americans in Revolutionary War, creating even more debt

11. Louis’ Leadership Louis was an apathetic king
Refused to deal with problems of debt
Antoinette, who was Austrian, was very unpopular (“Madame Deficit”)
Louis finally decided to raise taxes

12. Estates General
In order to raise taxes, the Estates General had to meet
EG: representatives from all 3 estates
For the 1st time in 175 years, EG met (May 1789)
Rules: each estate had one vote

13. Deciding How to Meet
3rd estate insisted each delegate get a vote, rather than each estate
King wanted to follow old rules
3rd estate decided to meet alone in the name of the French people and call themselves the National Assembly (June 1789)

14. Tennis Court Oath
3 days later, the 3rd estate found themselves locked out of their meeting room
Broke down door of nearby indoor tennis court, vowing to write up new constitution (some 1st and 2nd estate members joined them)
King Louis scared, places army around his palace

16. Storming the Bastille
The army made Parisians nervous, many took up arms
July 14, mob storms the Bastille, a Paris prison, looking for weapons
They killed several guards, paraded their heads on sticks around the city
Storming of Bastille became a symbolic act of Revolution, still celebrated in France today

18. Great Fear People panicked as rumors spread
Many peasants began acted recklessly
Oct Many marched to Versailles, broke into the palace, demanding King and Queen come to Paris