1789: End of The Estates General
See main article French Revolution.
In May 1789, Louis XVI convened the Estates-General in order to address the financial crisis of the kingdom, which was effectively bankrupt. By this point, however, the French aristocracy has declined in power and influence, while the bourgeoisie had become much more important and conscious of itself as a class. The Third Estate, containing representatives of the bourgeois, asked for greater share of representation than it had possessed in earlier centuries; they were given twice as many representatives, but since voting was to be by the three Estates rather then by individual representatives, this gave them no immediately meanigful advantage. The Third Estate then asked for all estates to meet together as a single body.
When Louis XVI did not respond, the Third Estate declared itself (June 17, 1789) the National Assembly, invited representatives of the other two estates to join them, and signed the Tennis Court Oath demanding a constitution for France. The Third Estate, along with the support of sympathetic clergy and aristocrats, managed to win support of both the popular mobs of Paris and of much of the national military, and thus found itself itself in a position to reorganize the French state as it saw fit.
Quote
- 1st. What is the third estate? Everything.
- 2nd. What has it been heretofore in the political order? Nothing.
- 3rd. What does it demand? To become something therein.
- -Abbé Sieyès, "What is the third estate?"("Qu'est-ce que le Tiers-Etat?"), January 1789 [1]
See also
See also:
References