What was the social structure of france before the french revolution?
Answers
The French Revolution was a 1789 revolution which began the modern era. In a sequence of upheavals, it saw the downfall of King Louis XVI, rise of Robespierre and the Reign of Terror, a chaos wherein thousands were guillotined for political differences.
Radicals saw the Catholic Church as the enemy and promoted in its place a Cult of Reason. The Revolution emerged in part from the rationalism of the Enlightenment which distrusted all established institutions. It inspired fear into European monarchs and aristocrats as well as conservative intellectuals like Edmund Burke in Britain, who mobilized to fight the Revolution, and finally succeeded in 1815.
Before the Revolution, France had three levels in its social system: The First Estate (The Clergy), Second Estate(The Nobility) and Third Estate(Anyone else). The First Estate consisted of about 0.6%. It owned roughly 10% of the land, which it rented to peasants in return for a proportion of crops produced. On top of this it collected tithes, a tax on the income of parishioners, which was meant to contribute to the upkeep of the local clergy.
The First Estate were exempt from most taxes because of the Church's role in poor relief, health care and education, and instead they paid a voluntary gift called the don gratuit to the monarchy. The Church paid this annually, and decided how much it would pay and varied depending on the power of the King or the mood of the Church, which was usually about 5% of its income. The Second Estate was about 2% of the population and they controlled 20% of the land. These were the nobility, and they too paid very little taxes. The Third Estate was everyone else, and they were badly overtaxed by the monarch. This overtaxing was one of the major causes of the French Revolution.
The leaders of the Third Estate were the upper middle class, especially lawyers; they are called the bourgeoisie. They were educated in the ideas of the Enlightenment, most importantly Jean Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau's book, "The Social Contract" supported a direct democracy. The social contract spoke against titles for nobility and demanded complete equality for all people.
French Revolutionary ideals, especially thanks to Napoleon, later inspired liberal and democratic movements of the 19th Century.
The society was divided into three estates, is the right answer.
Prior to the French Revolution in 1789, the society of France was divided into three estates, known as the First (the clergy), Second (the nobility), and the Third Estates (all others). The members of the first estates were exempted from paying most of the taxes. The members of the second estates, as they were the nobles, they also paid very fewer taxes. The third estate was badly overtaxed by the monarchy. This overtaxing even became one of the major causes of the revolution in French.