法国大革命-French-Revolution.pptVIP

The French Revolution …setting the stage for democracy France in the 1780s Around 1780, France fell upon hard times. Bad weather caused many crops to fail. With so little wheat from the crops, many of France’s people could not afford bread. Many people starved to death. The ruler of France was King Louis XVI. King Louis was a weak king who borrowed large sums of money from his nobles so that he could have riches and palaces. He often chose to play games and go hunting rather than govern France. The poorest people in France had little power and paid half of their income to the nobles. People wanted more liberty and were interested in democracy and equality. Because France was in severe debt, the nobles forced Louis to call an assembly of the nobles, priests, and peasants. This meeting was called the Estates-General and took place in 1789. The King of France, Louis XVI The Meeting of the Estates General The Estates-General was made up of three groups, or estates. The assembly was called to solve the financial crisis and pass a new tax law. Each estate was a social class. The First Estate was made up of the priests of the Roman Catholic Church. The Second Estate was the nobles, and the third was the representatives of the peasants. Each estate had one vote and met in a separate hall to decide what their vote on the issue was going to be. The Estates-General assembly in 1789 Although the peasants had their voice, they were not happy. The Third Estate represented most of the people in France. For every nobleman or priest in France, there were a hundred commoners. But the Third Estate together got just one vote, meaning their opinion had no value if the noblemen and clergy disagreed with them. The Third Estate tried to change this by suggesting that the estates get one vote for every delegate they had. King Louis turned down their request. The Tennis Court Oath When King Louis turned down the commoners’ request for a more equal assembly, many members of t