French Revolution Causes Lesson

The French Revolution

Open Ended

What causes a revolution? What kinds of conditions do you think make it so that people try to overthrow their government or leaders?

French Revolution

Description:
• End of Europe’s old order dominated by rich

nobles and monarchs

• Shift to a new order valuing representative

government, individual rights, and nationalism

• occurred over the course of a decade and

came in a number of stages

The Old Regime

• Old Regime:
• social/political system

placing people into 3 social
classes called estates.

• Estates:
• three social classes of

France’s Old Regime

Multiple Choice

Who dominated French society before the revolution?

• Monarchy and Rich Nobles

• Military and bureaucracy
• Communism and socialism
• Dictatorship and clergy

French Society Class system: The First Estate

• Catholic clergy

(priests)

• 1% of population
• owned 10% land
• paid few taxes

• The catholic church used to

be much more powerful and
influential than it is now

Second Estate

• Rich nobles
• 2% of population
• owned 25% land
• paid no taxes
• Held positions of

leadership and influence

• The second estate consisted

of the wealthiest most
powerful people in France.

Multiple Choice

Who was a part of the first estate?

• Catholic Clergy

• Merchants
• Peasants
• Nobility

Multiple Choice

Who was a part of the second estate?

• Clergy
• Rich Nobles

• Merchants
• Peasants

The Third Estate

• Peasants, Urban workers, middle class

• 97% of population
• paid heavy taxes
• Little to no voice in

government

The Bourgeoisie (part of the third estate)

• consisted of bankers, merchants, lawyers, etc.
• supported ideas of the Enlightenment
• wanted to reform the French monarchy

Multiple Choice

Who was a part of the 3rd estate?

• Foreign diplomats
• Nobles and clergy
• Commoners, including peasants, merchants, and middle class

• Soldiers and generals

Multiple Choice

Which estate was the poorest but was forced to pay the most taxes?

• Third Estate
• First Estate
• Fourth Estate
• Second Estate

Causes of the French Revolution

Causes:
• inspired by Enlightenment

and American
Revolution

• economic hardship,

food shortages, tax
system and land
policies

• the near financial

collapse of the govt

Open Ended

Write down to of the causes of the French Revolution from the previous slide

Monarchs: King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

Causes: King and Queen

• King Louis XVI and his

wife Marie Antoinette
were not popular in
France

• Spent too much $$ on

lavish things and parties

• All while people starved

Multiple Choice

Why were the King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette not popular?

• Extravagant spending, insensitivity to the needs of the people, and economic crisis
• Austerity, focus on the needs of the people, and economic prosperity
• Generosity, empathy towards the people, and stable economy
• Moderate spending, responsiveness to the people, and economic stability

Estates General

• King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette

lived extravagantly
– debt doubled
– banks refused to lend more money

• Meeting of the leaders of each estate
• forced King Louis XVI to call a meeting of the 3

estates. it had not met for over 150 years

• each estate was represented

Estates General

• It is decided that government will tax the

people of France to fix financial hardships

• 1st and 2nd estates work together to vote on

having only the 3rd estate be taxed

• 3rd estate outraged

Multiple Choice

Why was the third estate outraged after the estates general meeting?

• They were forced to pay much more taxes than the richer 1st and 2nd estates

• The third estate was pleased with the privileges granted to them
• The third estate was satisfied with their representation
• The third estate felt superior to the other estates

National Assembly

Actions:
• 3rd Estate breaks from EG and forms

National Assembly

They are locked out of all government buildings and are forced to meet on a tennis court

• “Tennis Court Oath”
• Took an oath to draw up a new constitution
• the king threatened to use force to put down

the new assembly

Multiple Choice

What oath did the national assembly take in the Tennis Court Oath?

• To appoint a new king
• To dissolve the national assembly
• To not leave until they had drafted a new constitution

• To declare war on neighboring countries

Storming the Bastille

• after rumors that Louis XVI would use the

military against the National Assembly

• an angry mob stormed a prison and armory

known as the Bastille

• the mob cut off the head of the garrison leader

defending the fortress and marched it through
the streets of Paris

• peasant uprisings filled the French countryside
• women peasants took Louis and Mary

Antoinette from Versailles to Paris

Multiple Choice

What was the storming of the bastille?

• The storming of the Bastille was a peaceful protest in Paris
• The storming of the Bastille was a military parade
• The storming of the Bastille was a celebration of the monarchy
• The attack and capture of the Bastille prison