French revolution

French revolution

1. Background ideas

   • In 1789 the estates general started again
     • Let people complain and say what tehy wanted
     • Exspectations of the king to sort out the problems were very high!
   • bad weather
     • Bad harvest
       • exspensive harvest
         • So the cycle went round and round ,people stopped buying things to pay for bread, people were then fired because the company's were not making enough money and then more people came unemplyed and it goes on and on
         • unemplyement
     • freak weather storm

2. Grievances of the people

   • Unfair taxes and money to landlords
   • Bread prices
     • the Reveillon riotes
       • didn't blame the king
         • thought he would solve there problems
         • blamed the 1st and 2nd estate
           • landowners
           • Factory owners
       • large riots
       • treated unjustly
         • everyone agrees
   • Kings power
     • no limits
     • needs a parliament like england
     • his wife
       • spent lots of money, was foreighn and had favourites
   • want freedom

3. Economic problems leading to resentment

   • 3 estates by law
     • 1st estate
       • 130,000 people
       • Belong to the church- clergy
       • Very wealthy and powerful- controlled education, medicine
       • Split up in the estate- poor village priests or the rich archbishops!
       • Didn't have to go to war
     • 2nd estate
       • Nobility
         • Position by birth- of the sword
         • work they did- of the robe
           • Such as being a judge got u into the 2nd estate
           • You could by the jobs from the king
       • 350,000 people
       • Lots of privileges
         • didn't have to pay many taxes
     • 3rd estate
       • 27 million people
       • everyone else
         • mixed group of people
           • 80-90% were pesants
       • no privileges
   • System had become outdated and no longer worked well
     • people started to complain
   • Bread prices were rising to exspensive
     • Bad weather

4. Failure of the king to deal with the revolution