(c) The 3rd estate included big businessmen, merchants, court officials, lawyers, peasants, landless labourers, servants and artisans. (b) The 2nd estate consist of the nobles. (a) The 1st estate consist of the clergy. How was the society divided before the French Revolution?īefore the French Revolution, the society was divided into three estates. The term Old Regime is usually used to describe the society and institutions of France before 1789. To meet the regular expenses such as cost of maintaining an army, the court and running the government offices or universities, the state was forced to increase taxes. Why did the French government increase the taxes?

It added one billion livres (currency unit in France) that had risen to more than two billion livres with interest. The French army supported thirteen colonies of America in the war of independence against Great Britain. How did the American War of Independence add more debt to France? The extravagant lifestyle of the monarch brought France on the verge of bankruptcy and hastened the revolution. What activity of the French monarchy hastened the revolution? Louis XVI of the Bourbon family ascended the throne of France in 1774.

Which ruler came to power in France in 1774? The high price of bread was the immediate cause of rioting in Paris. What was the immediate cause of rioting in Paris? The French Revolution of 1789 stood for the ideas of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. What did the French Revolution of 1789 stand for? The revolutionaries attacked the Bastille prison with a hope to find hoarded ammunition for the revolution.īastille was hated by all because it was seen as a symbol of the despotic power of the king.

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