Write a short note on the Estates General
meeting that occured on 5th May 1789.
Answers
Answer:
The political and financial situation in France had grown rather bleak, forcing Louis XVI to summon the Estates General. This assembly was composed of three estates – the clergy, nobility and commoners – who had the power to decide on the levying of new taxes and to undertake reforms in the country. The opening of the Estates General, on 5 May 1789 in Versailles, also marked the start of the French Revolution.
Anecdote
"Louis XVI opened the session with a speech in which he reviewed the circumstances that had led to the convocation, and what he expected from the Estates General. As a peaceful king, he declared himself “the people’s greatest friend”.
The solemn opening ceremony began on 5 May. The convocation had been sent out on 5 July the previous year, assembling the Estates General for the first time since 1614. A temporary hall with columns had been built behind the Menus-Plaisirs building on Avenue de Paris. However, contrary to the depiction in the famous engraving, the hall was very small. The king officiated from his position at the end of the hall beneath a majestic baldachin, with the queen and the princes of the blood around him. The deputies were seated in rows around the edge. The members of the Third Estate and a few of the Clergy and the Nobility would later constitute the first National Assembly.
Louis XVI opened the session with a speech in which he reviewed the circumstances that had led to the convocation, and what he expected from the Estates General.
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