Events which led to the French Republic

Events which led to the French Republic Homework 14/03/2013

The French Revolution had great consequences and led to France becoming a Republic in 1792. But what are the main events which influenced the French people.
Most French people didn’t question the way their society was organised but during the XVIII century, also called the Enlightenment, a group of writers, journalists and scientists called the “Philosophes” shared a way of thinking which they called reason. They believed that the only way to k now if something was true was to observe and test it. Three of the most important writers of the Enlightenment were Rousseau, Montesquieu and Voltaire. They argued in books and pamphlets that:
The king’s power should come from the people, not from god.
Government should be based on reason, science and a respect for humanity.
No group in society should have privileges; all people should be treated in the same way.
France was governed by King Louis XVI who was an absolute monarch. This meant that he could decide for everything and did not have to be approved by a parliament. When Louis married Marie Antoinette, an Austrian Archduchess, they were first popular with the French public but as the years went by, they lost popularity, especially because of Marie Antoinette. It wasn’t only Marie Antoinette who made the royal government unpopular. Many people thought the king had too much power and they thought that king’s power should come from the people, not from god. The French people were divided into three groups:
The first estate which was the clergy, had about 130 000 people and had some privileges.
The second estate which was the nobility had between 120 000 and 350 000 people and had many privileges.
The third estate, which was the biggest as it included everybody else, had about 27 million people and had no privileges.
This unfair system revolted the poor when they started to lack of money. Rich people had many privileges and didn’t have to pay taxes but the biggest group which included the poorest people had no privileges and had to pay all the taxes.
Most of the people were poor but they still had to pay taxes. The average family paid between 10% and 15% of its yearly earnings in tax to the government. Every citizen were meant to pay them but in practice, the nobles and the clergy did not have to pay them. This didn’t really please the peasants.
At this period, France had spent much of its money helping the Americans with their Revolution and was deeply in debt. To solve this problem, King Louis XVI decided to increase taxes. As they were already expensive for the poor, most people couldn’t pay them and people everywhere in France protested angrily against this.
All these facts revolted the French people and with the help of Robespierre, led to the King’s execution and to the creation of a Republic.