French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century

Under the Old Regime, French society was divided into estates by birth. The clergy and nobility enjoyed privileges and tax exemptions, while the Third Estate bore heavier taxes and obligations. Thus, the demand to end the Old Regime rejected birth-based privilege and unequal obligations. Equal citizenship, equal taxation, and representative participation were demands of reformers, not ideas they rejected. Exam tip: link the Old Regime with privilege, estate inequality, and unequal tax burdens.

The demands of middle class and poor people together created broad pressure. Exam tip: write coalition of grievances.

The rise of the Third Estate shows movement toward modern citizenship. Exam tip: write transition to citizenship.

The experience of the Third Estate became the basis of opposition to the estate system. Exam tip: write lived experience.

The social direction of the Revolution was against privilege and toward equality. Exam tip: write privilege to citizenship.

Along with economic hardship there were social and political demands. Exam tip: write economic plus social political causes.

It shows obligations imposed on peasants under the feudal system. Exam tip: link it with noble privilege and peasant burden.