Question

wat were d social , economic and political conditions on france during the french revolution ?

Answer 1

The social, economic and political conditions of French society were as follows:

• Social: French society in the eighteenth century was divided into three estates, and only members of the third estate paid taxes. The society of estates was part of the feudal system that dated back to the middle ages. Peasants made up about 90 per cent of the population. However, only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated. About 60 per cent of the land was owned by nobles, the Church and other richer members of the third estate. The members of the first two estates, that is, the clergy and the nobility, enjoyed certain privileges by birth. The most important of these was exemption from paying taxes to the state. The nobles further enjoyed feudal privileges. These included feudal dues, which they extracted from the peasants. Peasants were obliged to render services to the lord – to work in his house and fields – to serve in the army or to participate in building roads.
• Economic: The Church extracted its share of taxes called tithes from the peasants, and finally, all members of the third estate had to pay taxes to the state. These included a direct tax, called taille, and a number of indirect taxes which were levied on articles of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco. The burden of financing activities of the state through taxes was borne by the third estate alone.
• Political: The third estate included professions such as lawyers or administrative officials. All of these were educated and believed that no group in society should be privileged by birth. Ideas envisaged a society based on freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all. Philosophers such as John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau sought to refute the doctrine of the divine and absolute right of the monarch.