BEFORE THE REVOLUTION
The Old Regime society before the revolution
Three Estates divisions based on class and rank
1. Church clergy which owned 10% of the land, paid no tax
2. Nobles 2% of the population, owned 20% of the land, 70% of wealth
3. Third Estate everyone else
-bourgeoisie craftsmen, merchants, professionals
-working poor worst off in the entire country
-rural peasants were de facto property of the landowners
1780s A series of successive crop failures, food prices double
-government repeatedly raises taxes (esp. la taille the salt tax)
Response of the Monarchy Kings of the day believed they were put
in their place by God
Louis XIV died in 1715 leaving France with a huge debt after fighting
numerous wars
and building Versailles, his grand palace
Louis XV Decadent, known for the line Apres Moi, le deluge (after
me,
the torrent)
Louis XVI careless, heartless, spendthrift, foolish wrong man at
the wrong time
Most hated for his Austrian wife, Marie Antoinette
They lived extravagant lives
He left the treasury empty, but did aid America in its revolution