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The Starting Government
Before the revolution, France was ranked in three groups. There was the first estate, which was the clergy. This was the people that were associated with the church, which are the bishops, and priests. Next is the second estate which consists of the nobles. Neither the first estate or second estate had to pay taxes, and they owned the majority of the land. Then was the Third estate. The majority of France was the third estate, they were underprivileged and they had to pay taxes. -
The Third Estate Became Discontent
After a while, when the enlightenment period began, the Third Estate became discontent with how the government was. They were tired of the first and second estate being extremely privileged, and they weren't okay with being the only ones to pay taxes. This is important to the revolution because this is the key turning point when the revolution began. -
Economic Troubles
France was slowly getting more and more in debt. In the beginning of the 1700's the costs were raising, then in 1789, "half it's tax income went just to pay interest on the enormous debt." This is important to the revolution because the King started to think about the fact that the first and second estate (the richest estates), were not paying taxes. At this point, the king had to get more money and making the 1st and 2nd estates pay taxes was a choice. -
Failure to Improve
Once the King realized that he needed to gain more money. He was in the hole too deep to fix anything. He failed to improve the government. This is a key point in the revolution because this leads to the shortage of food and goods, which makes the citizens rebel. -
The King Calls the Estates General
The Job of the Estates General was to represent the Third Estate, but the King had no called for the Estates General for more than 175 years. Finally, when France was on the edge of bankruptcy, the King called to meet with the Estates General. This is important because this is when the Third Estate had the chance to bring there wants to the King. -
The Cahiers
To prepare for the meeting with the King, the Estates General had a meeting with the Third Estates to figure out what they wanted to change about their government. These grievances were called cahiers. This is important to the French Revolution because this made the people especially have a vision for something better, it made the people dwell on what they wanted to have changed. -
The Creation of the National Assembly
Shortly after the Estates General met with the king, the Third Estate created a group called the National Assembly. The motivation of the National Assembly was to make the voting count by head. The National Assembly invited the first and second estates to join, but of course, they did not want to join because they did not want the vote count to be by head. This is important to the revolution because the National Assembly was the group that was not pleased and caused change in the country. -
The Tennis Court Oath
Shortly after the National Assembly was created, the 1 & 2 Estates were very displeased. Then the N.A. was planning to meet in their chamber, and the door was locked. The 1 & 2 Estate locked the door so the N.A. could not meet. This created anger and the N.A. then met in a nearby tennis court and created the Tennis Court Oath which stated that no matter what happens, they will continue to meet. This major to the revolution because this was the motivation and gave 3 estate energy to persevere. -
Storming of the Bastille
The Storming of Bastille was when there was a large crowd outside of the Bastille demanding for weapons. Many people were trampled and killed when the commander of the Bastille opened fire on the people. Then the crowd broke through the defense of the Bastille and killed the commander and 5 guards. This is important to the French Revolution because this is the symbol of the french revolution, and it was seen as a "blow to tyranny, a step toward freedom." -
The King is Arrested
Towards the end of the revolution, King Louis XVI was arrested for high treason, and crimes against state. He was killed by the guillotine, and his wire died the same way 9 months later. This is important to the Revolution because this was the final defeat. This is when the new government was finally made because the king was no longer there to argue.
