Question

Explain briefly about the composition of French society in late 18th century.

Answer 1

Dear Student,
French society before 1789 was divided into three estates.
The first estate was the clergy. They were the rich and the propertied class in the society. They were exempted from paying taxes to the state.
The second estate was the aristocracy. They occupied the top ranking positions in the government,parliament and defence services.They too were exempted from taxes.They led a luxurious life.
The third estate consisted of all apart from clergy and nobility. They occupied almost 97% of the French population.The bankers, lawyers, doctors, merchants, shopkeepers, craftsmen, peasants etc. belong to this class.They were denied political power and social status.The burden of heavy taxation was also on this class.
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