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AP Causes of The French Revolution GLASS 2020
AP Causes of The French Revolution GLASS 2020
Louis was born at Versailles in 1754. In 1770 he married Marie Antoinette, daughter of
the emperor and empress of Austria, a match intended to consolidate an alliance
between France and Austria. In 1774, Louis succeeded his grandfather Louis XV as king
of France. Louis initially supported attempts by his advisors Jacques Turgot and later
Jacques Necker to relieve France's financial problems by cutting spending and raising
taxes on the 1st and 2nd Estates. However, France’s debts increased due to aiding the
American revolutionaries, and the clergy and nobles refused most reforms. This led to
Louis XVI calling a meeting of the Estates General.
III The Estates General 1789
A) The Estates General was a representative assembly of the Ancien Régime. It did
not meet regularly; it was summoned by the king, usually in times of war or crisis. The
Estates General had no legislative power: its role was simply to advise the king. In
1789 the Estates-General had not met for 175 years! Louis XVI called the meeting to
raise necessary funds. The edict summoning the Estates-General stated that the
traditional procedures of meeting and voting by order were to be used. [Traditionally
the Estates General met as 3 separate estates. Voting was conducted by order; each of
the Estate deliberated on matters separately and cast one vote in unison. This meant
the 3rd was regularly outvoted by the 1st and 2nd Estates.]
B) This triggered outrage among the bourgeoisie. This gave rise to two slogans:
“voting by head” (a call for votes to be decided by the ballots of individual deputies)
and “doubling the Third” (a demand that representation for the 3rd Estate be
increased twofold).
C) December 27th the king, by way of compromise, agreed to double the number of
seats for deputies from the 3rd Estate. However, this did not change the fact that the
3rd estate could still be outvoted by the 1st and 2nd.
The Estates General 1789 Continued…
D) January 24th, 1789 Louis XVI issued another edict providing instructions for
electing deputies to the Estates-General.
For the 1st and 2nd Estate, each formed an electoral assembly to elect its deputies. All
nobles and clerics could participate.
The election of 3rd Estate deputies was more complex. In the countryside, male
taxpayers over the age of 25 were invited to participate in parish assemblies, which
elected representatives to assemblies. In towns and cities, guilds and corporations
sent representatives to a town assembly, which then chose representatives to attend
the assembly that would elect the deputies for the Estates-General.
This lengthy and indirect process was designed to limit radical voices. Also, deputies
needed to be wealthy enough to pay their own way to Versailles and remain there for
several weeks.