Class 12/11

FRENCH REVOLUTION !! 

What were the causes of the French Revolution?

• So France is super in debt from the 7 Years War. Who is the French Crown depending on get money from to pay back these war debts? --> the 3rd estate.
• The nobility is exempt from paying taxes. Therefore, people bought patents of nobility because if they are a noble then they don't have to pay taxes.

• 'Merica contributed
• America borrowed a ton of $$ from France during the French and Indian War.
• The French who went over to America to help fight were inspired by our ideas of liberty and government system in which a larger amount of people had a say. The fact that there were no divisions(like the estates in France) was also appealing. The French were inspired and brought back these ideals which spread. 
• Enlightenment influence 
• Ideas about representative government, individual rights, political freedom were appealing.

But what actually starts the French Revolution? What group?

• Louis XVI inherited all the problems which Louis XV left behind. Because France is in such great debt, Louis XV imposed a general tax to basically keep France running. Meanwhile, a large portion of the money that France does have is going toward Versailles and paying back war debts. This general tax requires everyone to pay taxes, including the nobility who were previously exempt. The nobility is not happy about this and tells Louis XVI that he needs to get approval from the estate general, who had not been summoned for an extremely long time before this. Louis XVI doesn't care and does whatever he wants--> nobility very mad 

What is the Tennis Court Oath?

• Basically, all vowed to protest together until they got what they wanted. --> what do they want?
• Before, there was one big vote during which each estate got 1 vote. The 3rd estate thinks this is unfair because the first 2 estates can always overrule the 3rd. They want 1 vote per person. 
• What was the King's response?
• "disastrously ambivalent"--> he seemed as if he was going to comply but then used violence 

Why is the French Revolution seen by some as the "Revolt of the 3rd Estate"?

• The 3rd estate is angry about each estate getting a single vote. They believe that each person should get 1 vote because the majority of the population is in the 3rd estate. 
• However, some see the French Revolution as Poor vs. Wealthy
• This implies that the connections between the rich in all 3 estates and the connections between the poor in all 3 estates were stronger than the connections between people in the same estate. 
• Not everyone in the 3rd estate(everyone besides clergy and nobility) was necessarily poor just as not everyone in the 1st(clergy) and 2nd estate(nobility) were rich.