basics

Question 1

When does the French Revolution go to?

Answer 1

1774 to 4 August 1789

Question 1

When was King Louis XVI born?

Answer 1

1754

Question 2

what type of period was it?

Answer 2

France was one of the most powerful empires in the world with colonies around the globe. However, they were engaged in a battle for global supremacy with the British Empire, and it was into this struggle Louis was born.

Question 3

what type of birth order was he?

Answer 3

He was not the first-born son, so whilst he received a royal education, he did not learn the particulars of being an absolute monarch and the subtleties of this type of leadership.

Question 4

When did Louis XVI come to the throne?

Answer 4

1774

Question 5

Why did Marie Antoinette marry King Louis?

Answer 5

Marriage used to consolidate peace treaty between France and Austria

Question 6

When did Marie Antoinette marry Louis XVI?

Answer 6

Married to Louis XVI at 15 in 1770

Question 7

How was feudal France ruled?

Answer 7

By an absolute monarch.
This meant that whilst there were people making decisions about policy on a day to day basis, the King had absolute power of veto (refusing a law change) without the need for explanation or question.

Question 8

What system was in place under the King?

Answer 8

Under the King, there were three Estates (or classes); The First Estate (which included the clergy),
the Second Estate (the aristocracy),
and the Third Estate (everyone else).

Question 9

First Estate

Answer 9

The Clergy (which numbered 130,000 or 0.5% of the population in 1789) was divided into the higher and lower clergy.

The clergy held about 15% of the total land of France, and like today, were exempt from paying tax.

Question 10

Second Estate

Answer 10

The nobility (about 1.5% of the population) were broadly divided into two separate groups; the ‘nobility of the robe’ and the ‘nobility of the sword’.

they were also exempt from payment of taxes

Question 11

Third Estate

Answer 11

‘the 98%’) was a diverse group comprising of people both rich and poor. This included urban wage-labourers, free peasants who owned land, serfs who worked the local lord’s land, and the bourgeoisie, a growing group of middle-class Frenchman like doctors and engineers who were often well educated.
All of these people bore the tax burden, which meant they essentially paid for the upkeep of the entire country, and paid for the King’s lifestyle. They were, however, shut out from any type of representation and without any real political power or social mobility, seemed doomed to stay voiceless.