Question

explain how French society was before French Revolution

Answer 1

Before the French Revolution, French society was structured on the relics of feudalism, in a system known as the Estates System.  The estate to which a person belonged was very important because it determined that person’s rights and status in society.  Usually a person remained in one estate for his or her lifetime, and any movement from upwards in the estate system could take many generations.  The first estate was the clergy, the second estate was the nobility and the third estate was the peasants.  While the peasants made up the vast majority of the people in French society, over 96%, they lacked any political or economic power.  In contrast, the clergy and the nobility controlled the majority of the land in France and held all of the important positions in the government, military and church.  This is the period before the French Revolution and is a time known as the Ancien Regime.