Ancien Régime, Enlightenment & French Revolution Causes

Stratified Society in the Ancien Régime

One of the main features of the Ancien Régime was civil inequality, dividing society into two distinct groups: the privileged and the underprivileged.

Privileged Classes

The nobility and clergy were the privileged classes.

The Nobility

The nobility lived on rents and accumulated great wealth.

The Clergy

The clergy lived on income derived from the exploitation of their land and the heritage of the tithe.

Underprivileged Classes

The Third Estate was the sector of the underprivileged. They were the vast majority of the population and encompassed very different people, both economically and socially.

The Bourgeoisie

The bourgeoisie included the great artisans, merchants, and bankers.

The Working Classes

The urban working classes consisted of manual workers in cities.

The Peasants

The peasants were the largest group of the population.

The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement developed in eighteenth-century Europe, which questioned all the principles of the Ancien Régime.

Economic Theories

Mercantilism defended the theory of accumulating precious metals as the main source of wealth.

Physiocracy proposed the theory that a country's wealth is based on agriculture.

Enlightened Despotism

It was a political system of absolute monarchy but took into account the people.

English Parliamentarism

The King shares his powers with a parliament consisting of two chambers: the Commons and the Lords.

The Causes of the French Revolution

Several factors contributed to the French Revolution:

• Since 1760, poor harvests led to rising food prices and popular discontent.
• The bourgeoisie, enriched by the economic growth of the eighteenth century, were dissatisfied with their political marginalization.
• The monarchy was in a deep financial crisis.

Stages of the Revolution

Constitutional Monarchy

Supported by the conservative bourgeoisie, it aspired to reach an agreement with the king and the privileged to abolish the old regime and impose liberalism.

Democratic Republic

Promoted by the radical bourgeoisie and the popular sectors.

Bourgeois Republic

Entailed a return to power of the conservative bourgeoisie.

Napoleon: From Consul to Emperor

Napoleon was made consul, and his government policy aimed at consolidating the gains of the bourgeois revolution, preventing the return of absolutism and keeping power away from the more radical sectors.

Napoleon's troops managed to conquer much of Europe.