The French Revolution
Turning Point, Pointless
Bloodbath, Model for Change,
Radical Litmus Test?
Importance and Interpretations
France was cultural
center and home of
Enlightenment
 Most populous nation
in Europe
 The revolution was a
surprise
 A complex interaction
of causes
 Long-term structural
problems combined
with immediate crises
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Social Causes
Clergy
135,000
(.5% of pop.)

Nobility
400,000
(1.5% of pop.)
Third Estate (25M or
Bourgeoisie
Nonagric. workers
Landowning/tenant
farmers
Sharecroppers
Day Laborers
Serfs

98%)
1M
2M
5M
11M
5M
1M
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The deepest and most
persistent cause
Interpretation of
Marxist school
(Georges Lefebvre)
Unequal class system
based on privileges
and exemptions
France—an untapped
giant with skilled and
productive labor force
First Estate—The Clergy (Upper
and Lower)
Church had tax
exemption but made
annual
“contributions”
 Owned 10% of land &
ran most schools
 Division between high
clergy and curés
 Collected tithe that
amounted to 3-6% of
peasant income

Second Estate—Aristocracy (the
Privileged Few)
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Tax exemptions, legal
privileges (hunting,
courts, laws, etc.)
40% of nobles gained
titles in 17th/18th c.
Middle-class aped nobles,
left business when titled
Lived in high style—Paris
and Versailles, revived
feudal dues
Invested in commerce &
industry, searched for
sinecures
Third Estate—the Burdened Many
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Very diverse—hid social
reality
Industrialists, merchants,
lawyers, professionals
Bourgeoisie owned 2025% of land
Could become nobles
Growth of urban poor
and bread riots—
1770s/80s
Remnants of feudalism
Squeezed by land
shortage and economic
changes
Typical Peasant Obligations
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Aides—excise tax on
wine, cards, soaps
Capitation—poll or
head tax
Cens—fixed land rent
Champart—land rent,
1/8 of crop
Fees for dovecotes
Banalites—use of mill,
bakery, winepress
Gabelle—salt tax
Lods et ventes—tax
when land changed
hands
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Taille—basic tax based
on income
Tithe—annual sum paid
to Church
Tolls on manorial roads
Traites et douanes—
customs duties when
crossing provincial
borders
Vingtieme—income tax,
set at 5%
Allow lord to hunt on
land
Corvee—work on roads,
lord’s land, lend tools for
military
Economic Problems
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France undergoing rapid
commercial expansion,
some industry
Burden of heavy but
inefficient taxes
(Farmers-General—150
families)
Rising bread prices (up to
80% of peasant income)
French society WAS
changing but government
not responsive
Political Conflict—King v. Nobility
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Absolutist tradition required
strong monarch
Rising nobility after Louis XIV
Louis XIV had tamed
parlements but feudal
system remained
Weak reign of Louis XV
(1715-74)—mistresses and
hunting
Major losses in wars
Conflict with Parlement of
Paris (1771)—dismissal and
exile of others
Parlements—18 provincial
courts, register decrees,
remonstrance, king could
force them—lit de justice
Louis XVI—well-meaning wimp?
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Early view of Louis and
Marie Antionette
Kindly but weak-willed,
interest in locks & hunting
Marie—reputation as
vivacious, extravagant,
promiscuous,
underground literature
Diamond Necklace Affair—
church official gave 2500
carat diamond to imposter
of queen
Called parlements back in
1774 to appease nobles
TRIED reforms but lack
willpower, skill to follow
through
Intellectual Causes—Enlightenment
Blueprint for Change

Ideas of philosophes
– natural law
– inalienable rights
– Spirit of Laws (balanced
govt.)
– Rousseau (Social Contract)
– Voltaire
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Protests, grievances would
be expressed in language
of the Enlightenment
American Revolution
– Enlightenment ideals could
be implemented (U.S.
Constitution)
– Many nobles fought in Amer.
Rev. and returned
– Major debt from French
involvement
Financial Woes—the “Spark”
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Massive debt from wars—1/2 of budget for
interest
Bankruptcy in 1785
Turgot (1774-76)
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Ambitious Physiocrat program
Convert corvee
Eliminate guilds, tariffs
Dismissed in 1776 b/c of noble opposition
Jacques Necker (1776-83)
– Popular French banker
– Comte Rendu—itemized budget
– cost-cutting alienated officeholder
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Calonne (1783-87)
– Tried to tax nobles, called…
– Assembly of Notables—hand-picked but still
opposed taxes
– Calonne hated, flees to London
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Archbishop Brienne (1787-89)
– Last chance
– Committee of 30 calls for Estates-General
– King banishes Parlement of Paris but national
protests
“The Moment”—Estates-General
Meets
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Hadn’t met since 1614 (175 years)
King calls for cahier de doleance –
politicization
Popular election filtered through 2
layers
Liberal leaders—Mirabeau, Lafayette
(“Hero of Two Worlds”), Sieyes
What is the Third Estate?—
”everything—the assembled will of
the nation”
Big Issues
– Doubling (agreed—578 reps. for 3rd
Estate, 300 each for 1st/2nd)
– Voting by head or order (1st and 2nd
can outvote 3rd)
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Agreement impossible—leads to
revolution
Note: nobles began revolution by
refusal to be taxed
“No, Sire, it is a revolution!”