InNo+seank2013+09.03.10

= = **Revolution in France** toc

Pages 21-25 (19-23 on scanned)
 * ||~ Things that people disliked ||~ People who disliked these ||
 * Society || The privileges that the nobles and clergies had. || Third estate or peasants and working class. ||
 * Taxation || The people who were exempt from taxes such as nobles and clergies || Third estate or peasants and working class. ||
 * Feudal Rights & Dues || Had to pay landlord for each use of anything he owned such as ovens, mills. Also had to pay tax every year to landlord. || Third estate or peasants and working class. ||
 * Laws || If one got accused for something such as murder and most people agreed with the accuser, the one accused would get executed even if there is no evidence. The Calas Affaire was one of these incidents. || All three estates ||
 * Government || Marie Antoinette was one of the figures in the government that almost everyone disliked. People also disliked the fact that the government was in debt because of its greediness. Another thing people disliked was the **sealed letter** which people thought gave the king too much power. They also disliked the fact that the government was wasting money on useless things such as the Royal Queens hamlet. || All three estates ||

**I. The Estate General**

 * 1) Nobles and clergies didn't disapprove of the Estate General because it was possible that it could block Louis's plans of taxing them.
 * 2) They also thought it was a good idea for an Estate General because of the voting system it used.

**II. The Voting System**

 * 1) The king met with the Estate General whenever he wanted to consult with it, but this was not very often
 * 2) The last time there was such a meeting was in 1614 which composed of around 750 members, 250 from each of the estates
 * 3) Each estate had one vote and many thought this was unfair
 * 4) It was unfair because the nobles and clergy could outnumber the third estate making the votes 2 to 1.
 * 5) It was then requested to double the third estate to make this system more fair.
 * 6) Jacques Necker, the king's new finance minister, proposed the doubling of the third estate.

**III. Food Crisis**

 * 1) In the countryside, another problem arose: mass hunger
 * 2) On July 13, 1788 a massive hail storm destroyed crops all over central France
 * 3) This was then followed by a drought which led to really bad crops for the winter of 1788
 * 4) To make matters worse, this was one of the coldest winters in living memory
 * 5) After the snow had melted, it then flooded and ruined huge areas of farmland.
 * 6) Following this horrible season, there was a sharp increase of price in bread.
 * 7) Most peasant families had to spend all they had to just by bread
 * 8) Since they spent all their earnings on food, there wasn't enough money to buy clothes, shoes or candles.
 * 9) This led to disemployment in the business which also eventually led to riots and strikes in many parts of the country

**IV. The Complaint Lists**
When the Estate General and the King met at the Versailles in May 1789, millions of people had high expectations of it. It seemed to them that the King was interested in their problems and that he was going to take action to solve them.
 * 1) In 1789 Spring, there was an election for the Estate General as well as electing deputies to speak for them.
 * 2) Voters were to write up a 'list of changes' that they wanted the deputies to discuss with the Estate General
 * 3) Over 60 000 of these were drawn up.
 * 4) **"We want tax-free salt"** was one of their lists of changes
 * 5) Drawing up this list of changes drew up excitement all over France.

**V. The Estates Meet**

 * 1) After the speech by the king and his chief ministers, the Estates were told to split up into three separate halls.
 * 2) The third estate didn't like this order and wanted to discuss as a 'National Assembly' in which all three estates were together discussing
 * 3) The nobles refused to do so
 * 4) This was an act of defiance by the third estate by not following the king's orders for the Estate General
 * 5) Louis found that he was losing control of events at the Versailles because the clergy estate was joining the third estate.
 * 6) The morning of June 20th, the third estate was heading to their hall to welcome the clergy estate but found themselves facing it locked with soldiers guarding the entrance

VI. The Tennis Court Oath

 * 1) This angered and excited the third estate. They feared that Louis was going to break their assembly by force.
 * 2) It was raining that day so they took shelter in a tennis court two minutes away
 * 3) Packed inside, they took an oath to carry on the meeting until they changed the way France was governed
 * 4) On June 23rd when Louis had his Royal session, he told the estates to go into their separate halls but the two estates refused to move.
 * 5) Louis could've forced them to leave using his soldiers but faced with such determination, he gave in.
 * 6) On June 27th he ordered the nobles, the clergies and the third estate to join together in making the parliament out of the **National Assembly**.
 * 7) To many people, it seemed the revolution had ended, but in reality, it had just began.

Summary
The estate general was soon desperately needed in order to keep order in France. The voting system was unfair, and many people soon began to realize and rebel against that fact. Food crisis happened during this period which even further promoted rebellion. The estate general, in order to keep order, had to make this 'complaint list' in which people can list what they don't like of the government. The clergy estate started to form a union group with the third estate. Louis disliked this and tried to break their union by force. The tennis court oath happened after the third estate and clergy estate found their discussion hall locked and guarded by soldiers. They took shelter at a nearby tennis court where they all took an oath of not stopping the revolution unless they get their ways of how France was governed. Louis gave in and created a National assembly, having all three estates joined together. Though, to some people, it seemed everything was over, but their revolution just began.

**Question(s) **
Were the 'complaint lists' met with changes?