History: The French Revolution

The French Revolution was a period in history where French citizens changed the way their country was run thus getting rid of an absolute monarchy and shaping modern history by showing the power of the people. It began in 1789 and ended in 1799. The revolution was effective as the third estate obtained greater power in society, a constitution was introduced which limited the powers of the upper class to make decisions, greater freedom for all and human rights were introduced. Section A- Summary of evidence
From the evidence gathered, I can conclude that if it wasn’t for the increase in civil disobedience by the peasants and creating awareness about the injustices of the class society France wouldn’t be the Democratic country that we know

Due to the lavish life of the Monarchy, an increase in taxes was placed on the Third Estate which created more difficulties for them as they were already struggling to survive. Marie Antoinette was not well liked as she only focused on being a figure of authority. In October 1779, women protested at the Palace of Versailles against high prices of bread and other goods. Marie was loathed as her response to the peoples struggle was “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”- let them eat cake. The royals were captured and imprisoned by the people. In August 1792, France was at war with Austria which they lost. Due to this defeat the Queen was blamed. Shortly after King Louis was executed and Marie soon followed as she was executed by the Guillotine at 37. The cartoon depicts Marie as someone who is selfish and is mocked as she looks plus sized as she has a lot of food available compared to citizens who were struggling

French society was divided into three estates. The higher and lower clergy were opposites as the higher clergy lived expensive lives whilst the lower clergy did not gain any wealth however they served every other estate. The second estate is divided into nobles, who are divided into court and provincial nobles. Court nobles were similar to the higher clergy as they obtained wealth and had a lack of interest in the needs of the people however the provincial nobles were similar to the peasants as they cared for the people and did not share the same values as the other nobles. The third estate was sub-divided into the poor and the bourgeoisie. As the revolution started, peasants became rebellious as they wanted change. The Bourgeoisie obtained wealth however it was taken away which led them to collaborate with the lower class. This source demonstrates how unequal each class was and how the failures of the country fell on the peasants as they bared most responsibility and contributed the