French Revolution
...s well as the Nobility of the Sword. This enabled the king to observe and control them (Hunt 1984). As mentioned above, the members of the First Estate were exempt from any kind of taxes. Moreover, they collected rent from their vassals, and received various customary dues, such as labor, salt and wine, and use of mills and ovens. Finally, the third and the largest estate included the remaining population or those who did not belong to either of the privileged estates. The third estate was composed of three classes, peasants, artisans and bourgeoisie. However, despite the fact that these three classes all belonged to one estate, there were notable differences between them. The representatives of the bourgeoisie unlike the other two classes, were relatively wealthy, and sometimes much wealthier than representatives of the First and Second Estates. However, individuals were often ranked within society based on prestige and status, and not by their material position. Therefore, those belong to the bourgeoisie, or the middle class were merchants, manufacturers, bankers, and doctors. They did not possess noble status but often experienced influence of the nobility, whom they tried to imitate. The last class of the third estate was the peasants. Unlike the bourgeoisie, they possessed little wealth. It is important and interesting to note that French peasants were in somewhat better positions than peasants in other European countries. This being said, they still live at or below the poverty line. One of the contributing factors was how heavily they were taxed. Peasants, together with the bourgeoisie had to pay taxes to support the two upper estates of the French society. In addition, they had labor obligations to their lords for which they were not compensated. Furthermore, they continually experienced increasing rents and taxation. At the times preceding the Revolution the various estates had different perceptions as to the existing situation. The second estate logically tried to maintain things as they were as long as possible because their success depended only on their prestige and status, which was often given to them from birth, and thus did not have to be earned. Bourgeoisie on the other hand was in favor of the changes. Various liberal ideas such as limiting the monarch’s power, creation of a fair Parliament, and religious tolerance, were not uncommon. Bourgeoisie believed that all persons holding position of power should be chosen on the basis of their abilities and not nobility. In essence, two fundamental changes were necessary, reduction of taxation, and participation in the government. Peasants and artisans were obviously also in favor of these changes. The heavy taxation prevented them from changing their status within society and pursuing a better life with greater wealth and opportunities. This became more evident in the second half of the eighteenth century in part due to the very poor harvest of 1778. Artisans in this respect were in a difficult situation as well. According to historians the cost of living at that time increased by sixty two percent, whereas the wages grew only by twenty two percent. Due to these varying social and economic factors it is not surprising that the majority of the population was willing to accept the liberal ideas. Existing social structure and heavy taxation restricted trade and commerce, and created a great contrast between the different layers of society. This culmination of factors helped to achieve the critical mass and the Revolution was thus formed in 1789. Another factor was that France was an absolute monarchy which lacked a fair system of justice. In theory, the king was not only the absolute ruler in the country, but also someone maintaining the interests of the state. Yet, during the reign Louis XVI France had virtually become bankrupt fighting England in the American Independence War. One other contributing facto to the Revolution was the high level of the education especially among the bourgeoisie. This together with the encouraging examples of English and American revolutions, led to the popularization of the ideas of Enlightenment, and eventually, liberalization of the French society. As a result, the following ideas were shaped and accepted by a large part of the French population: (1) arms should be used to fight tyranny; (2) there would be no taxation without representation; (3) all individuals would have human rights and freedoms; (4) a republic is better than monarchy (Hilton). These ideas formed the slogan of the revolution: “Liberte, Egalite, et Fraternite,” which can be translated as “Liberty, Equality, and Brotherhood.” One of the important events that initiated the Revolution was the calling of the Estates General. They were an elective body which lost its significance and was not called into session since 1614. Yet, having met on May, 5, 1789, the Estates General could not achieve agreement on how voting should be conducted. Finally, on June 17, 1789, the third estate broke this balance by calling itself a National Assembly, and thus starting the Revolution. A few days later the third estate took the “Oath of the Tennis Court,” which stated that they would not end their session before a draft of the new constitution would be created. On July, 14, 1789 another event became the symbol of the revolution, the fall of the Bastille. Bastille served as a political prison and on that day had only seven prisoners. It was attacked by about 800 Parisians, 98 of whom were killed. Yet, it was more important that the symbol of monarchal power fell, and thus, in the minds of the people, there w...