Third Estate: The group of common people who lead the French Revolution

The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789. The political and constitutional changes that came in the wake of the French Revolution led to the transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to a body of French citizens.
The revolution proclaimed that it was the people who would henceforth constitute the nation and shape its destiny.

Before the revolution, France was a monarchy ruled by the king. The political system of France before the French Revolution was called the “Ancien Regime.” The king had total power over the government and the people. The people of France were divided into three social classes called “Estates.”
First Estate: The First Estate was made up of the clergy. These Estate included priests, monks, bishops, and nuns. This was the smallest estate in terms of population.
Second Estate: The Second Estate was the French nobility. These people held most of the high offices in the land, got special privileges, and didn’t have to pay most of the taxes.
Third Estate: This estate constituted most of the population of (about 98%). They included the peasants, craftsmen, and labourers. They paid taxes including the gabelle (a tax on salt). Each year peasants had to work a few days for their local landlord for free. This labor tax was called the “corvee.” They used to work on improving roads or building bridges.

Inequality among Classes:

The First Estate was the clergy, the Second Estate was the nobles, and the Third Estate was the commoners. Most of France belonged to the Third Estate. There was little chance for people to move from one estate to another.
The nobles held all the powerful positions in the government and the church. The first two estates were exempted from almost from all of the taxes and enjoyed many privileges by birth but on the other hand, commoners lived a very hard life. They have to pay for all the types of taxes including the salt tax. Thus there was inequality among the classes (Estates).

In 1789, the French government was in a major financial crisis. To maintain a lavish lifestyle the king had borrowed heavily. The government had also borrowed to fight Great Britain in the Seven Years’ War and to help the Americans in the Revolutionary War. Thus there was a huge debt.
The king had no other choice than to try and raise taxes. The first two estates were exempted from almost from all of the taxes. The commoners of France (the Third Estate) had to pay the majority of the taxes.

France was experiencing famine at the time. Due to a bad harvest, the prices of grains rose high and many people were not able to afford it and this led to a crisis of subsistence.
The main food of the commoners was bread. A poor French economy had led to a scarcity of bread and high prices. The people were hungry.
The commoners had to pay a tax on salt called the “gabelle.” They needed salt to flavor and preserve their food.

For hundreds of years, the people of France had blindly followed the king and accepted their place in life. In the 1700s, the culture began to change. The “Era of Enlightenment” presented new ideas such as “liberty” and “equality.”
The American Revolution represented a new type of government where the people ruled rather than a king.

King Louis XVI and queen Marie Antoinette led a luxurious life. The whole administration of the king was corrupt and people were tired of such a rotten system and wanted a change. The King Louis XVI was weak and had been losing power within the French government.
The members of the Third Estate formed the National Assembly to force the king to make reforms. The king and nobles refused to reform.

The philosophers like john locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu played important role in the French revolution .
These people had given ideas for the betterment of the society. There ideas got popularised among the masses . As the result, the middle class emerged in France and started seeking their rights.

In May of 1789, the King Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates General. It was the first meeting of the Estates General called since 1614. The representatives of each estate at the Estates General assembly were elected by the people from their estate.
The meeting was called to discuss the financial problems faced by the French government. On the issue of voting the king said that each estate would vote as a body i.e. each estate would get 1 vote. The members of the Third Estate knew that they could always be outvoted by the much smaller First and Second Estates and hence insisted that the vote to be based on the number of members.

There were arguments over the manner of voting. When the king refused to give them more power, the Third Estate created its own group. This group began to meet on a regular basis and run the country without the help of the king.
Ultimately the Third Estate began to take matters into their own hands. On June 13, 1789, the Third Estate declared itself the “National Assembly” And decided to make their own laws and running the country. Some members of the First Estate (the clergy) were commoners before they became clergy sided with the issues and concerns of the Third Estate.
The National Assembly demanded that the king make economic reforms to insure that the people had food to eat. It took over control of the government and ruled France for around 10 years.
The members of the assembly were called deputies. They didn’t really represent all the people. They were generally wealthy commoners elected by other wealthy commoners.

King Louis XVI did not condone the formation or the actions of the National Assembly. He ordered the building where the National Assembly was meeting (the Salle des Etats) closed.
The members of the National Assembly met on a local tennis court (called the Jeu de Paume). While at the tennis court the members took an oath to keep meeting until the king recognized them as a legitimate government body. This incident is known as the Tennis Court Oath.

There were many different factions within the National Assembly that were constantly fighting for power. Some of these groups formed Clubs.
There was a fighting within the Clubs. When the Mountain group gained control during the Reign of Terror, they had many of the Girondins (other members of the Club) executed.
The terms “left-wing” and “right-wing” politics originated with the National Assembly at the start of the French Revolution. When the assembly met, the supporters of the king sat to the president’s right, while the more radical revolutionaries sat on the left.

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