chapter 23 section 1. key terms old regime estate louis xvi marie antoinette estates-general ...
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Chapter 23Chapter 23
Section 1Section 1
Key Terms
Old Regime Estate Louis XVI Marie Antoinette Estates-General
National Assembly Tennis Court Oath Great Fear
The Old Order
Old Order-social and political structure that created inequalities
King was at the top and three groups called estates were under him
King Louis XVI was the king at the time
Lived extravancantly
Economic Troubles
Lived at Versailles Marie Antoinette was
from Austria (enemy of France)
She was unpopular Frivolous and self
indulgent Wore fancy clothes,
lavish parties
The Privileged Estates
Most people wore rags First Estate
Roman Catholic clergy 1 percent of the population
Clergy had several privileges since the Middle Ages
Only the church could try priests or bishops
The Privileged Estates
Did not have to pay taxes
Land that belonged to the church was not taxed
Church owned 10% of France’s land
Bishops and clergy became very wealthy
Many people resented the wealth and priviledge
Second Estate
Made up of nobility 2 percent of the
population Controlled much of
the country’s wealth Paid few taxes Held key positions in
government and military
Second Estate
• Many lived in country estates
• Owned 20 percent of the land
• Peasants did all the work
• Charged high fees and rents
• Some lived at the king’s court
• Lived in luxury, jobs ceremonial
Third Estate
• Largest group 97% of the people
• Made up of several groups
• Bourgeoisie- top, city dwelling merchants, factory owners and professionals
• Some very educated and rich
• Did not buy influence of government
Third Estate
Next were artisans-shoemakers, bricklayers, dress makers laborers
If they had no work they went hungry
Sans culottes-”without knee beeches
Third Estate
• At the bottom peasants who farmed (80%)
• Paid rents and fees to landowners
• Paid 1/10 of income to the church
• Performed labor like working on the roads without pay
• Peasants were miserably poor with no hope of a better life
Enlightenment Ideas
Social inequality driving people to revolt
Enlightenment ideas were inspiring revolution
Bourgeoisie- knew of Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu
Great Britain limited the kings power
Enlightenment Ideas
American colonists had rebelled against the king
Economic Troubles
Third cause for revolution
France was deeply in debt
Borrowed huge sums of money
Some for American Revolution
King spent lavishly
Economic Troubles
1787 King Louis XVI tried too tax the Second Estate
Nobles refused to pay
King backed down Year later country
faced bankruptcy Half the taxes
covered the debt
Economic Troubles
Winter of 1788 was the worst in years
Frozen rivers could not turn mill wheels
Food and firewood were scarce
Hunger and cold made life wretched for thousands
Economic Troubles
Country was broke People were hungry Price of bread doubled Eliminating tax
exemptions for the First and Second Estate would have helped
Clergy and nobility resisted all efforts
Meeting of the Estates General
Estates General made up the three estates
Wanted to approve new taxes on the third estate
August 1788 Louis agreed to the meeting
Had not met in 175 years
Wrote notebooks to document grievances
Meeting of the Estates General
People wanted the Estates to pass sweeping reforms
Each Estate had one vote
First and Second usually voted together
Enlightenment philosophers gave Third Estate feeling of importance
Dawn of the Revolution
King went over voting rules
Third Estate which had more representatives refused the king’s order
June 1789 Third Estate proclaimed themselves legislature
National Assembly had the right to make laws
Dawn of a Revolution
King locked the Third Estate out of the meeting
Third Estate met indoors at a tennis court
Swore the Tennis court Oath
Would not leave the court till they wrote a constitution
Storming of the Bastille
Louis ordered troops to Paris and Versailles
National Assembly feared the king would use violence
Paris had sympathy for the national Assembly and started to arm themselves
Storming the Bastille
July 14, 1789 a mob went to the Bastille looking for weapons
Mob tried to negotiate with the commander
Mob and prison guard exchanged fire
Mob killed the commander and put his head on a stick
A Great Fear Sweeps France
Storming the Bastille was a powerful symbol of the French Revolution
Great Fear- wave of senseless panic
They feared the king would punish them
Spread rumors the king had hired foreign soldiers
A Great Fear Sweeps France
Great Fear swept France
Rumors of massacres spread
Peasants took revenge on landowners
Destroyed records listing feudal dues and rents
Burned nobles homes
Restrictions on Power
Louis called troops to Versailles to protect his throne
Angered the common people of Paris
7,000 women march on Versailles demanding bread
Mob broke into the palace
A Great Fear Sweeps France
Women demanded that Louis and Marie return to Paris
Louis agreed King, family and
servants would never return
Change of power Beginning of radical
reforms