HIST-210 Study Guide - Winter 2019, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Paris, French Revolution, Tyrant
13 Feb 2019
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HIST-210
The French Revolution.
Social and Political Structure of the Old Regime.
• Three estates: Clergy, nobility, commoners.
Positions in society are defined by laws.
The clergy is 1% of the population and own 10% of the land but pay 3-5% of taxes.
Nobility don't pay taxes at all and have their own privileges and are 2% of the
population.
The nobility and clergy are often very close together.
Not all commoners were necessarily peasants; they could be
doctors/merchants/lawyers and still part of the third estate at 96-97% of the population.
• Talleyrand.
Deputy to the Estates General, from an old aristocratic family and he was supposed to
be in the army but an accident happened during his childhood therefore he became a
cardinal.
Had several illegitimate children and the aristocracy knew of his lovers yet he was still a
bishop and made a huge income.
• Absolute monarchy.
Every law that was issued was created with the pleasure of the king.
The king is not just ruling because of an idea of power, but because of a legend that he
is different/special and his power is divine.
Louis and Marie Antoinette came to power young in 1774. Marie was doing the most as
Louis was said to be very shy.
• Intendants (royal officials in the provinces).
The king started forming his own bureaucratic system that is independent from the local
nobility. These are local rulers in their own domains.
Many of the intendants survived throughout the revolution. Their appointments were not
based on birth but usually on marriage.
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Royal officials sent into the provinces by the king as his officials and responsible to
supervise the collection of taxes and important interactions.
• Provincial Estates.
• Parliaments: Court of appeal (guardians of traditional law).
The highest court of appeal is the Parlement of Paris and the king is unable to be a
tyrant there are the Parlement can protest and argue with any laws.
Still a system of checks-and-balances exist even though the king could exile them if
their relationship sours.
Judges in Parlement buy their position (and also have some education).
The taxation system is very conflicted in France at the time and to add more money to
the treasury, they sell positions.
Causes of the Revolution.
• Financial difficulties (1/2 of the budget; to servicing the debt).
• 1788; catastrophic harvest.
• New ideas: the Enlightenment.
Very popular concept with the need for people to be equal toward the law.
As a result of the Enlightenment, more of the nobles who were educated wanted to
know more about these ideas.
Some of the noble women opened a salon that they had a meeting who would invite
popular philosophers/artists/writers who were not nobles. These educated people were
mixing up and discussing new ideas/possibilities.
Several great writers such as Rousseau and Voltaire who became famous as a result of
the Enlightenment.
There are about 500 young men in Paris because they are new aspiring writers. Most
fail due to not many publishers and live in the poorest parts of Paris, so many of them
become police spies and some started writing cheap books that sell very quickly. Some
kind of scandal or sexual story sold very fast with most stories about the king and
queen.
• Growing resentment of noble privileges.
Many rumors about Versailles.
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find more resources at oneclass.com
• Radicalization of public opinion.
As a result, nobody was interested in the ideas of the high Enlightenment and the
reform.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Social and political structure of the old regime: three estates: clergy, nobility, commoners. The clergy is 1% of the population and own 10% of the land but pay 3-5% of taxes. Nobility don"t pay taxes at all and have their own privileges and are 2% of the population. The nobility and clergy are often very close together. Not all commoners were necessarily peasants; they could be doctors/merchants/lawyers and still part of the third estate at 96-97% of the population: talleyrand. Deputy to the estates general, from an old aristocratic family and he was supposed to be in the army but an accident happened during his childhood therefore he became a cardinal. Had several illegitimate children and the aristocracy knew of his lovers yet he was still a bishop and made a huge income: absolute monarchy. Every law that was issued was created with the pleasure of the king.
