Classism and the French Revolution

French Revolution
Name
Institution
Basic History of the French Revolution
The French revolution is an uprising in France in a period from 1789 to 1814 when the revolutionaries overthrew the monarchy, and it was caused by political, economic and social issues and led to the establishment of France as a republic (Livesey, 2009). It is worth noting that the uprising severely affected the world history because it changed the history of not only France but also other regions especially Europe. Primarily, the revolution was triggered by the need to have equality, but it later got more sophisticated and violent — the people who had nothing united against the rich people because they wanted to be equal.
Classes Involved in the French Revolution
During the French Revolution, the social classes were divided into three estates that clashed to cause the uprising. The first estate involved the Catholic clergy who were significant in France by then because the church advised the king and was tax exempted (Robitaille, 2009). The second social class was the second estate that included the nobility who inherited titles and wealth, did not pay taxes and had considerable influence with the king and the third estate involved everybody else including peasants, lawyers, and businessmen (Livesey, 2009). The third estate, which was primarily the middle class, comprised of the large population with the tax burden.
Other factors that caused the French Revolution apart from Class
Apart from class, the French revolution was caused by discontent with the monarchy because the king had complete control over the society and did not get his power from the people. People questioned the powers of the king, and the monarch and people contemplated other forms of administration that could ensure equality and liberty, because King Louis XVI was regarded as indecisive and a lousy leader (Steinberg, 2013). Also, the change in weather conditions also led to poor crop production, which affected mostly the poor because the price of food went high. The poor population felt that the king was incompetent because he could not solve the hiking prices of food, particularly bread leading to protest which led to the imprisonment of Louis XVI. Also, the French monarchy lived an e...