Chapter-1 History
The French Revolution
The French Society during the Late 18th Century
The French Society Comprised:
1st Estate: Clergy
2nd Estate: Nobility
3rd Estate: Big businessmen, merchants, court officials, peasants, artisans, landless labourers,
servants, etc.
• Some within the Third Estate were rich and some were poor.
• The burden of financing activities of the state through taxes was borne by the Third Estate
alone.
The Struggle for Survival: Population of France grew and so did the demand for grain. The gap
between the rich and poor widened. This led to subsistence crises.
The Growing Middle Class: This estate was educated and believed that no group in society
should be privileged by birth. These ideas were put forward by philosophers such as Locke
English philosopher and Rousseau French philosopher. The American constitution and its
guarantee of individual rights was an important example of political theories of France. These
ideas were discussed intensively in salons and coffee houses and spread among people through
books and newspapers. These were even read aloud.
THE OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTION
The French Revolution went through various stages. When Louis XVI became king of France in
1774, he inherited a treasury which was empty. There was growing discontent within the society
of the Old Regime.
1789: Convocation of Estates General. The Third Estate forms National Assembly, the Bastille is
stormed, peasant revolts in the countryside.
1791: A constitution is framed to limit the powers of the king and to guarantee basic right to all
human beings.
1792-93: France becomes a republic. Jacobin Republic overthrown, a Directory rules France.
1795: A new Convention appointed a five-man Directorate to run the state from 26 October,
1795.
1799: The Revolution ends with the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. 2
The French Revolution
The French Society during the Late 18th Century
The French Society Comprised:
1st Estate: Clergy
2nd Estate: Nobility
3rd Estate: Big businessmen, merchants, court officials, peasants, artisans, landless labourers,
servants, etc.
• Some within the Third Estate were rich and some were poor.
• The burden of financing activities of the state through taxes was borne by the Third Estate
alone.
The Struggle for Survival: Population of France grew and so did the demand for grain. The gap
between the rich and poor widened. This led to subsistence crises.
The Growing Middle Class: This estate was educated and believed that no group in society
should be privileged by birth. These ideas were put forward by philosophers such as Locke
English philosopher and Rousseau French philosopher. The American constitution and its
guarantee of individual rights was an important example of political theories of France. These
ideas were discussed intensively in salons and coffee houses and spread among people through
books and newspapers. These were even read aloud.
THE OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTION
The French Revolution went through various stages. When Louis XVI became king of France in
1774, he inherited a treasury which was empty. There was growing discontent within the society
of the Old Regime.
1789: Convocation of Estates General. The Third Estate forms National Assembly, the Bastille is
stormed, peasant revolts in the countryside.
1791: A constitution is framed to limit the powers of the king and to guarantee basic right to all
human beings.
1792-93: France becomes a republic. Jacobin Republic overthrown, a Directory rules France.
1795: A new Convention appointed a five-man Directorate to run the state from 26 October,
1795.
1799: The Revolution ends with the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. 2
