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Viva la Resistance!
The causes of the French
Revolution
Ms. Stiles
River Dell High School
1. Social Inequalities
 Old Order (ancien regime): social &
political structure in France
 Estates: social classes
 King/Queen at the top of the social
pyramid
 King Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette lived
at Versailles, 12 miles outside Paris
Versailles
Old Order
King
Head of
French
Society
1st Estate
1% of French
Population
(Clergy)
2nd Estate
2% of French
Population
(Nobility)
3rd Estate
97% of French
Population
(Everyone else)
The Royal Family
 King Louis XVI & Queen Marie
Antoinette
 Marie Antoinette was from Austria
(traditional enemy of France)
 Not popular with French people
 Austrian background
 Frivolous spender while people were starving
 Who played her in the movie “Marie Antoinette”?
1st Estate
 1% of French population
 Clergy (Roman Catholic Church)
 Had special privileges:
 Only church courts could try priests/bishops, didn’t have
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to follow regular laws
Clergy & Church didn’t have to pay taxes
Any land owned by church was also exempt from taxes
(church owned 10% of land in France)
Collected rents & fees from this land - made higher clergy
very rich (didn’t have to pay taxes on this, either)
Priests who served lower classes were poor, but people
still resented their privileges
2nd Estate
 Nobility - 2% of the population
 Paid little to no taxes, held key positions
in government & military
 Majority lived on estates were peasants
did all the work
 Some lived at court with the King (their
jobs were ceremonial)
3rd Estate
 Largest group, 97% of population
 Made up of 3 sub-divisions:
 Bourgeoisie-city dwelling merchants, factory owners,
lawyers, doctors; had no role in government, but had
education
 Artisans & City workers: shoemakers, carpenters,
bricklayers, dressmakers; if they didn’t work, they didn’t
eat (known as sansculottes “those without knee
breeches”-proud of that nickname
 Peasants: farmed nobles fields, paid rents & fees to
nobles, paid 10% of income to the church (tithes),
performed much of their labor for no payment, and paid
taxes
2. Enlightenment Ideas
 Social inequalities pushed 3rd Estate towards revolt
 Ideas of the Enlightenment help fan the flames
 Educated bourgeoisie read works of Rousseau, Locke,
Montesquieu & knew that in England Parliament
limited the power of the King
 More importantly, they knew that the British colonies in
America successfully revolted against what they
considered unfair treatment and tyrannical rule by the
British government
 This made them wonder how they could use this
information in France
3. Financial Crisis
 Economic Problems hit most of France
hard
 Already existing debts & troubles
compounded by aid to the Americans
during their revolution
 Sent soldiers, supplies, weapons, and ships
that they really couldn’t afford
First Events of the Revolution
 Spring 1789: no one in France is happy with
the way things are going
 1st & 2nd estates unhappy about losing
political power to the king
 Bourgeoisie resented government restrictions
that limited their business growth & the fact
that they were kept out of higher ranks in
government & military
 3rd Estate: poorer & hungrier than ever
Meeting of the EstatesGeneral
 King Louis pushed by nobility to call a meeting of the
Estates to discuss new taxes for the 3rd Estate
 Spring 1789: 1st meeting of the Estates-General in 175
years
 No one really knew what to do
 Everyone wrote their grievances in notebooks that
were sent to the meeting
 It was clear that everyone wanted drastic changes
BUT the voting process could destroy any
chance at change
How the Voting Works
 Each estate gets 1 vote
 Usually the 1st & 2nd Estates voted together
 Completely shut out the 3rd Estate
 After the Enlightenment, 3rd Estate thought
they were more important (knew they were the
largest group, wanted more votes)
 Wanted to change the voting procedures
The Tennis Court Oath
 At the first meeting, Louis instructed everyone to vote
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as usual
 The 3rd Estate refused
There was a stand-off & the 3rd Estate renamed
themselves the National Assembly (a legislature)
At the next meeting, the National Assembly was locked
out of the meeting place
The representatives moved to an outdoor tennis court,
where they took the Tennis Court Oath
 Swore they wouldn’t disband until they wrote a
Constitution for France
Louis eventually caved & allowed everyone to have an
individual vote in the Estates-General
Storming the Bastille
Storming the Bastille
 After the Oath of the Tennis Court, Louis began to
worry & ordered troops to protect Paris & Versailles
 Just in case he needed to defend the monarchy by force
 The National Assembly began to panic (worried
that Louis would use violence to end their
meetings)
 National Assembly had the sympathy of the
Parisians, they needed weapons to arm themselves,
where would they get them?
 The BASTILLE!
The Bastille
 July 14, 1789 (now known as French Independence

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Day)
The Bastille was an armory & prison
 People who spoke out against the monarchy were
kept there, including Voltaire
 Sign of government oppression
When it was stormed, only 7 prisoners were kept there.
The mob tried to negotiate with the guards for weapons
 When this failed, the mob killed the commanding
guard, cut off his head, & paraded it around the
streets of Paris
Powerful symbol of the French Revolution
What Happened Next?
 The people of France were shocked after the
storming of the Bastille & afraid of retaliation
from the king
 The Great Fear: rumors spread that Louis
hired mercenaries to punish the 3rd Estate
(fact & fiction)
 Many peasants took revenge after years of
abuse
 They burned houses, destroyed records, & crops
Creating a New Nation
 After the violence of the Revolution
lessened, the National Assembly began
to form a new government
Legislating New Rights
 August 1789: the National Assembly abolished all feudal
dues & services owed by peasants to landowners
 Eliminated all legal privileges of 1st Estate
 Adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
Citizen
 Basic principles of Liberty, equality, & fraternity
 Inspired by American Declaration of Independence,
English Bill of Rights, and work of Enlightenment
writers
 All men are born equal & remain equal before the law
(guaranteed freedom of speech, press, & religion)
 Didn’t apply to women, the National Assembly turned
down Olympe de Gouges’ declaration of rights for
women
Restrictions on Power
 Louis made another mistake
 Called troops to Versailles to protect the throne
 Angered the commoners who were afraid he’d use
force to crush the Revolution
 October 1789: 7,000 women marched from Paris to
Versailles to demand bread
 Broke into the palace
 To appease them, Louis took the royal family out of
Versailles
 November: The National Assembly took church
property & sold it to pay off France’s debts
 Religious orders were disbanded
Restrictions on Power
 1791: The National Assembly completed a
constitution
 Created the Legislative Assembly (created
laws)
 Expanded voting rights (though only
taxpaying men over the age of 25 could vote)
 Kept the monarchy, but greatly limited it
Foreign Interference
 July 1792: Austria & Prussia warned against harming
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the monarchs
Threatened war (sent 50,000 troops to French border)
Legislative Assembly declared war, but the army wasn’t
prepared & was easily defeated
Louis was blamed for defeat & the royal family were
made commoners & sent to prison
The Legislative Assembly disbanded itself & created the
National Convention
 National Convention ended the monarchy & declared
France a Republic